Master of Hounds arrived just days before the Kentucky Derby, then left town the day after his fifth-place finish in the race, bound for his home in Ireland, where he has been out of sight in the weeks leading to the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Just what has he been doing?
Animal Kingdom is the most likely winner of the Belmont Stakes. The colt has raced six times at six tracks on grass, Polytrack, and dirt and never run anything close to a poor race. Those waiting for a bounce very likely will still be waiting after Saturday.
The Wizard's selections, analysis, and wagering strategies for the 2011 Belmont Stakes.
Field for the 2011 Belmont Stakes to be run at Belmont Park in New York on Saturday, June 11. Odds by DRF national handicapper Mike Watchmaker and Eric Donovan of the New York Racing Association.
Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby winner, drew post 9, and Shackleford, the Preakness Stakes winner, landed the outside post when a field of 12 was entered on Wednesday for the 143rd Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Trainer Doodnauth Shivmangal on Wednesday said he would not run Harlan's Hello in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
The 2011 Belmont Stakes will feature the top seven finishers from the Kentucky Derby, highlighted by Animal Kingdom, Shackleford, and Mucho Macho Man.
In these interviews conducted Sunday and Monday at Belmont, jockey John Velazquez, trainer Graham Motion, and owner Barry Irwin discussed Animal Kingdom's preparation for the final leg of the Triple Crown, his third tough race in five weeks.
Barry Irwin, the president of the Team Valor International syndicate that owns Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, and Dale Romans, trainer of Preakness winner Shackleford, got into a friendly war of words during a media event in Manhattan on Tuesday.
When it pertains to the Belmont Stakes, it always comes back to Woody Stephens. The Hall of Fame trainer won an unprecedented five consecutive Belmont Stakes from 1982-86. Stephens's memory lives on in this year's Belmont -- Scott Everett worked for Stephens during that amazing Belmont run and is now working as a New York assistant to Dale Romans, the trainer of Shackleford. Romans himself worked for Stephens one winter at Hialeah.
