ELMONT, N.Y. – They stopped singing “Maryland, My Maryland” at the Preakness Stakes in 2020. The lyrics of the traditional song heralding the Preakness post parade suggested Maryland secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. But it was well before 2020 that Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher essentially seceded from the second leg of the Triple Crown. Pletcher, except for the two years he won the Kentucky Derby, generally has gone straight from “My Old Kentucky Home,” which serenades the horses through the Derby post parade, to “Sidewalks of New York,” Belmont’s contribution to the Triple Crown of song. Running back in two weeks at Baltimore? Not so appealing. A five-week break from the Derby to the Belmont, Pletcher’s main base this time of year? Much more so. :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, past performances, analysis, and more Two of Pletcher’s three Belmont winners, Tapwrit in 2017 and Palace Malice in 2013, ran unplaced in the Derby and skipped the Preakness before winning the Belmont Stakes. Palace Malice, racing in blinkers for the first time, basically ran off in the Derby, finishing 12th, before delivering a far more professional Belmont performance. Tapwrit was sixth, beaten more than 10 lengths, in the Derby, before improving his Beyer Speed Figure from an 88 to a 103 winning the Belmont by two lengths. All of which begs the question: Why aren’t more people talking about the Pletcher-trained Known Agenda? The Florida Derby winner, Known Agenda had his supporters May 1 in Kentucky, and though he finished ninth in the Derby, his trip was far from ideal. His 87 Beyer harks back to Tapwrit’s figure in the Derby. “I think he’s being overlooked a little bit,” Pletcher said Monday, seated in his Belmont barn office. “I think that his Derby was better than it looked.” Pletcher has two other chances in the Belmont, with Bourbonic, who won the Wood Memorial at 72-1 before finishing 13th in the Derby, and with Overtook, who, to be frank, looks underwhelming. Overtook is a one-time winner from five starts and finished third, beaten nearly four lengths, in what appeared to be a less-than-vintage renewal of the Peter Pan Stakes on May 8. Pletcher noted both horses trace to A.P. Indy – the grandsire of Bourbonic and the damsire of Overtook – a strong source of dirt stamina in American racing. “From a pedigree standpoint, it suggests they will stay,” Pletcher said. “The question is whether they’re good enough.” Probably, they are not. But Known Agenda can’t be ruled out. Known Agenda broke from the rail in the Derby, and while post 1 does not spell certain doom the way it did before Churchill began using a 20-stall starting gate for the 2019 Derby, it’s still not the place you want to be. Known Agenda got shuffled back on multiple occasions, found a couple spots of traffic, and, as Pletcher said, ran better than the nuts and bolts of his Derby appear on the page. :: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Belmont Park Clocker Report “He was one of the few horses making up ground,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the early position we wanted. Coming to the eighth pole for the first time by the stands, there was like two strides where he almost got to where he would have been seventh or eighth instead of 18th or 19th, and I think that made all the difference. Plus, the way the race unfolded, no one really came back to the field.” All three of Pletcher’s Belmont hopes galloped 1 3/8 miles over a wet training track Monday morning. Known Agenda, a son of Curlin, has trained well since the Derby, said Pletcher, who has always believed the colt would suit this 1 1/2-mile contest. All in all, it’s not impossible we hear a familiar refrain following the 2021 Belmont: A Todd Pletcher-trained winner who lost the Derby and skipped the Preakness.