Belmont Stakes: Palace Malice targeting Jim Dandy, Travers

ELMONT, N.Y. – Palace Malice, who won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, came out of the race in good condition and is likely headed to Saratoga for the Jim Dandy Stakes on July 27 and the Travers on Aug. 24, trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday at Belmont Park.

Both Preakness winner Oxbow, who was second in the Belmont, and Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who was third, also could point to the Travers, making that race potentially a pivotal showdown for the 3-year-old male title.

Pletcher said this Belmont win was “very satisfying” because of his long-held belief that Palace Malice had that kind of ability, and the support of Dogwood Stable’s Cot Campbell and co-owner Paul Orrefice.

“I was very happy for Mr. Campbell, very happy for Mr. Orrefice, very happy for everyone at Dogwood because they’ve supported me a long time, from back when I didn’t have any horses,” Pletcher said. “And it was satisfying because of the horse. We kept believing in him because of what we saw in the morning, and he showed up with a race we thought he had in him.

“And it’s nice to win a race like that,” added Pletcher, who also won the Belmont with Rags to Riches in 2007.

Pletcher ran five horses in the Belmont and said all came out of the race in good condition.

He said because of Campbell’s fondness for Saratoga, the Jim Dandy and Travers “are probably where we’ll go.”

Pletcher said he needed to speak with WinStar’s Elliott Walden about plans for Revolutionary, who finished fifth in the Belmont, but his day-after instinct was that Revolutionary “might get a freshening.”

Unlimited Budget, the filly who finished sixth, will race against fillies next time, Pletcher said, with the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 20 at Saratoga most likely.

Pletcher said he was “not sure what we want to do” with Overanalyze, who finished seventh. He said the Jim Dandy and Travers are possible, as is the Haskell on July 28 at Monmouth, a race that is the intended target for the once-beaten Verrazano, who has not raced since the Derby.

Midnight Taboo, who finished 12th of 14 in the Belmont, will run in a first-level allowance next time, Pletcher said.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas left Belmont early Sunday for Churchill Downs with Oxbow and Will Take Charge, who was 10th on Saturday.

Orb was tired Sunday, trainer Shug McGaughey said. McGaughey said he was thinking of sending Orb to the Fair Hill training center with Bruce Jackson to get him away from the racetrack environment and freshen him before a return to training.

“Hopefully, we can get him back on his feet,” McGaughey said. “I’d love to run in the Travers. My main objective, if he bounces out of this the way I hope, would be the Travers.”