Jenny Kellner
NYRA/Belmont Park

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ice Box, the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, and stablemate Fly Down, the third choice at 9-2, arrived at Belmont Park Wednesday afternoon after an uneventful van ride from Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“They’re next to each other (Fly Down drew post position 5 and Ice Box drew post 6) so that’s good,” said the duo’s Hall of Fame trainer, Nick Zito. “We’re closers, so I like being pretty close inside. The jockeys can see the way the race develops.”

Zito, who has saddled 22 Belmont Stakes starters, winning with a pair of longshots in Birdstone (2004) and Da’ Tara (2008), finds himself in a different role this year.

there’s more pressure, anxiety, on the other hand, if they run well, you have to be content,” said Zito.