The Triple Crown is as popular as ever, but the 2011 edition suggested the need for some changes, and I would suggest that Pimlico and Churchill Downs consider making them in 2012.
Business figures for the Belmont Stakes and its undercard on Saturday at Belmont Park in New York rebounded considerably from the depressed numbers for the 2010 event, according to figures released by the track and television broadcasters.
Nehro, who finished fourth in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, came out of the race with a small chip in his right front ankle and will have surgery in Kentucky.
Prior to the Belmont Stakes, Barry Irwin, the president of the Team Valor syndicate that owns Animal Kingdom, said that a start in either the Arlington Million or Secretariat Stakes, both on grass, would be a likely objective this summer for the Kentucky Derby winner. But in light of the Belmont Stakes result, in which Animal Kingdom finished sixth after getting mugged at the start, Irwin is reconsidering, and said the Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 27 at Saratoga is one of two races back in play, along with the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 30.
Trainer Graham Motion said that Animal Kingdom would probably do nothing but jog for the next two weeks before training for a summer/fall campaign that will possibly begin with a start on the turf, perhaps in the Arlington Million or the $400,000 Secretariat. Both are Grade 1 races run at 1 1/4 miles at Arlington Park on Aug. 13.
John Velazquez said he believes that jockey Rajiv Maragh was careless in his handling of Isn’t He Perfect shortly after the start of Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, causing Velazquez to nearly become unseated from Animal Kingdom in the early stages of the race. Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up eventually finished sixth as the 5-2 favorite in the Belmont.
Total all-sources wagering on the 13-race card at Belmont Park on Saturday was $81,245,326, a 9 percent increase over the all-sources figure for the Belmont Stakes day card last year, according to the New York Racing Association.
Ruler On Ice, the upset winner of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, came out of the race in terrific shape, trainer Kelly Breen said Sunday morning. Breen said no concrete plans have been made for Ruler On Ice. An objective could be the $1 million Haskell Invitational on July 31 at Monmouth Park, where Breen is based in the summer, but Breen also has another potential Haskell starter in Louisiana Derby winner Pants On Fire, who most recently finished ninth in the Kentucky Derby.
Five weeks after enjoying a dream trip to win the Kentucky Derby, Animal Kingdom experienced a nightmarish start in Saturday's Belmont Stakes, leading to a sixth-place finish in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
In a Triple Crown punctuated by surprises, Ruler On Ice scored the biggest shocker in the series, holding on for a 24-1 upset as the 2011 Triple Crown came to a close in the 143rd Belmont Stakes before 55,779 on Saturday at Belmont Park.
