Gowan happy to have hometown hero

ELMONT, N.Y. - Kentucky-based trainer Billy Gowan, who will saddle Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin in the Belmont Stakes, is still getting re-acclimated to New York after a long absence.

“I kind of miss my home food down there in the South a little bit,” said the trainer, who earlier had joked that he couldn’t find a good order of grits near the Belmont backstretch.

One member of the Ride On Curlin team who hasn’t needed to familiarize himself with Belmont Park is jockey John Velazquez, who will be aboard the colt for the first time Saturday. Velazquez is looking for his third Belmont Stakes victory.

“I don’t think we could have got any better rider for this race,” Gowan said. “He’s won the Belmont twice, and I don’t know how many races he’s won over this track, but it’s a bunch.”

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Velazquez owns 22 individual meet titles on the New York circuit, including seven at Belmont.

Ride On Curlin, one of just three colts to start in all three of this year’s Triple Crown races, has now had three different riders in the series. The colt was ridden in five of his first seven starts by Calvin Borel before finishing third in the Rebel Stakes under Kent Desormeaux and second in the Arkansas Derby with Jon Court aboard. Borel got back aboard for the Kentucky Derby, where the colt was far back early before finishing seventh. Gowan, critical of the ride, put Joel Rosario aboard for the Preakness, where Ride On Curlin closed to finish 1 1/2 lengths behind California Chrome.

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With Rosario committed to Tonalist – whom he rode to victory in the Peter Pan Stakes – for the Belmont, Gowan enlisted the services of Velazquez. The Hall of Fame jockey rode the filly Rags to Riches to win the 2007 Belmont – narrowly defeating Ride On Curlin’s sire, Curlin – then added a second victory aboard Union Rags in 2012. He also has been second in the classic three times.

“He knows this track as well as any jockey out there,” Gowan said. “So, yeah, I’m pretty happy to have him.”