Belmont Park: Uptowncharlybrown on way back

ELMONT, N.Y. – Uptowncharlybrown, the horse who finished fifth in last year’s Belmont Stakes but was ordered unplaced by the stewards after he failed to carry the appropriate weight throughout the race, is expected to arrive at Belmont Park on Sunday, where he will continue training toward a comeback.

The horse will be trained by Linda White, who was the assistant for Alan Seewald, the colt’s trainer before he died in April 2010. Kiaran McLaughlin trained Uptowncharlybrown for the Belmont Stakes.

Uptowncharlybrown has not run since last year’s Belmont, in which he was beaten only three lengths by Drosselmeyer. But a lead pad fell out of Uptowncharlybrown’s saddle at approximately the seven-furlong pole, and he did not carry the mandated 126 pounds throughout the entire 1 1/2 miles.

According to Bob Hutt, managing partner of Fantasy Lane Stable, which owns Uptowncharlybrown, the horse suffered a soft-tissue injury while training toward last summer’s Haskell at Monmouth Park.

Uptowncharlybrown has been at Sunrise Stables, in Ocala, Fla., a farm run by Eddie Colletti Sr. According to Hutt, the horse is “three-furlongs fit.”

“He’s doing very, very well,” Hutt added. “We expect him to make his debut in the middle of July or early August. Turf is in his future.”

Hutt said that his group appealed the decision by the Belmont stewards to disqualify Uptowncharlybrown from fifth in the Belmont, and after waiting seven months, he was told the appeal had been denied.