Belmont Stakes: Colebrook will keep Raise Cain in Kentucky for Matt Winn Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. - Raise Cain, the eighth-place finisher from the Kentucky Derby, has been rerouted from Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont Stakes to Sunday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Matt Winn Stakes at Ellis Park, trainer Ben Colebrook said Monday afternoon.

The Matt Winn was originally scheduled to be run at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs. With the decision to stop racing at Churchill due to the spate of equine fatalities this spring and move racing scheduled for Churchill to Ellis Park, the Matt Winn will now be run at 1 1/8 miles.

“It just seems like that’s a better fit for him right now than trying the mile and a half and going all the way up there,” Colebrook said Monday. “It’s not like it’s a walkover, but it’s probably a little safer than trying the mile and a half.”

The Matt Winn is expected to attract Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Disarm.

Raise Cain, a son of Violence, won the Grade 3 Gotham, a one-turn mile at Aqueduct, in March. Since then, he has finished fifth in the Blue Grass and eighth in the Kentucky Derby, beaten 10 lengths by Mage.

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The defection of Raise Cain means a field of nine is expected to be entered Tuesday when the post position draw is held at Belmont at 11:30 a.m.

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