The Belmont Stakes just became another race.
The final leg of the Triple Crown won’t determine a champion. It’s not even a rubber match. Instead, the June 5 classic has zero buzz.
Preakness Stakes winner Lookin At Lucky won’t enter the New York race. Kentucky Derby champion Super Saver also is not finishing the series after a poor showing at the Preakness. Without its two stars, thoroughbred racing gets a bigger dud than BP stock.
Instead, the Belmont will draw a large field of second-tier contenders. Preakness runner-up First Dude and Derby runner-up Ice Box are expected to run. Belmont officials named 11 possible entrants for the Triple Crown’s final leg who weren’t in the Preakness.
The Belmont’s favorite is probably Ice Box, whom trainer Nick Zito opted to rest five weeks, hoping to knock off Super Saver on Zito’s home track. The New York trainer is a master of upsets, including a long shot that beat undefeated Smarty Jones in the 2004 Belmont.
“I think it’s a great race to win regardless. I think it’s going to end up being a pretty good field of horses,” First Dude trainer Dale Romans said. “With horses like Ice Box, Fly Down and my horse, it’ll be a good race.”
Without incentive of immortality, the two spring classic winning trainers would rather save their colts for lucrative summer stakes like the Haskell and Travers before the Breeders’ Cup Classic, where horse of the year is often decided. Late summer and fall victories tend to outweigh spring trophies among voters at year’s end, so Lookin At Lucky trainer Bob Baffert and Super Saver trainer Todd Pletcher are scheduling for the fall with a rematch at Churchill Downs in the Breeders’ Cup.
“I like the Belmont. It’s a tough, long race,” Baffert said. “When I ran my other horses for the Triple Crown, I had to give them a break. It’s tough on them. I want to keep this horse around.”
Said Pletcher: “There’s nothing more that I would have loved to have done than to come back to Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown. … You can always look back and know you won the Derby, and that’s paramount.”
Ironically, Baffert and Pletcher still might meet in the Belmont. Baffert will enter Lone Star Derby winner Game on Dude, while Pletcher may opt for Akenite, who finished 10th in the Preakness.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
