For NYRA, rubber match in Belmont Stakes only part of the fun

ELMONT, N.Y. – When Kentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator turned the tables on Nyquist in last Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, it meant that for the first time under the current management team at the New York Racing Association, the Belmont Stakes will be run without a Triple Crown on the line.

Still, NYRA officials believe they have constructed a “must-see” card of racing that will draw interest from fans and bettors alike.

“The day is designed to be a championship day of racing for New York, and I think it’s probably lived up to that the last two years, and I think it will again this year,” said Martin Panza, NYRA’s senior vice president of racing operations. “I mean, it’s still going to be a very good day of racing.”

Starting in 2014, NYRA bulked up the Belmont Stakes card with several Grade 1 races from other days, including the Metropolitan Handicap, Acorn Stakes, and Ogden Phipps Stakes, as well as the Grade 2 Brooklyn Invitational. Whereas in 2013, the Belmont Stakes card offered six stakes with total purses of $2.9 million, the last two Belmont Stakes cards each offered 10 stakes worth more than $7.5 million.

NYRA enjoyed its two biggest Belmont Stakes Day handle figures in 2014 and 2015. However, in 2014, California Chrome came to the race with a chance to win the Triple Crown. In 2015, American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years when he won the Belmont by 5 1/2 lengths.

“Obviously, you want a Triple Crown opportunity every year, but realistically, that can’t happen,” Panza said. “Getting both of these horses to run back adds as much intrigue to the race as we can possibly have.”

Though Nyquist, third in the Preakness, and Exaggerator are both intending to run in the Belmont, on Monday trainer Doug O’Neill said that Nyquist had a temperature that for now has forced him to keep the horse at Pimlico. O’Neill was planning to ship the horse to Belmont on Monday.

O’Neill said Monday that Nyquist had a temperature of “102 and change” and that he pulled blood to have it tested to see if anything else may be going on with the horse. O’Neill said Nyquist would not leave Baltimore until the test results were known.

O’Neill said that when Nyquist shipped from Florida to Kentucky in early April, he had an elevated white blood cell count. At that time, Nyquist recovered quickly and didn’t miss much training toward the Kentucky Derby.

He had five weeks between races then. He has less than three weeks to the Belmont.

O’Neill said that if Nyquist recovers as quickly now as he did in April, “we’ll have no problem making the Belmont.”

As planned, Exaggerator will remain at Pimlico this week before shipping to New York over the weekend.

In 2013, when Kentucky Derby winner Orb and Preakness winner Oxbow met in the Belmont, attendance was only 47,562, and all-sources handle was $87,408,921.

As of Monday, according to Ticketmaster, there were only 253 reserved seats available. It was uncertain how many premium ticket packages were still available.

Regardless of who runs in the race, Panza believes Belmont Stakes Day “is going to be one of the best days of racing in the country. I think people will support it.”

As of Monday, as many as 11 horses were being considered for the Belmont. In addition to Nyquist and Exaggerator, they are Brody’s Cause, Cherry Wine, Creator, Destin, Governor Malibu, Lani, Mo Tom, Stradivari, and Suddenbreakingnews.

Stradivari, fourth in the Preakness, vanned back to Belmont on Sunday, and early indications are that he came out of the race well. Trainer Todd Pletcher, a two-time Belmont Stakes winner, said there are no concrete plans for Stradivari and that everything is an option, including the Belmont Stakes.

Told about Nyquist’s situation, Pletcher said a Belmont decision would be based more on what is best for his horse moving into the summer.

“First and foremost, it’ll be how our horse trains,” he said. “We feel like he’s a really talented horse that ran a very respectable race for his first start in a stakes and fourth lifetime start. It was a little bit of a tricky trip on a sloppy track. I thought he showed he belongs with those. Now the question is whether the Belmont is the next step. I’d have to think that hopefully a race like the Travers this summer is a target. We just have to figure out the best way to get there.”

Christophe Clement, who won the 2014 Belmont with Tonalist, said Monday that Governor Malibu, second to Unified in the Peter Pan Stakes, is being trained toward a start in the Belmont Stakes.

“The further, the better because it seems with his race in the Peter Pan, he seems to stay well,” Clement said. “As long as the next two works confirm where we are, the plan is to go.”

Clement said Governor Malibu would breeze Friday or Saturday.

At Churchill Downs on Monday, Suddenbreakingnews worked five furlongs in 1:00.60, his first breeze since running fifth in the Kentucky Derby.

“I’ve been very happy with him,” trainer Donnie Von Hemel said. “He’s come back, held his weight, his energy level has been good, his soundness has been great.”

Von Hemel said that Suddenbreakingnews would do all his serious training at Churchill Downs before shipping to New York on June 7.

Also working Monday at Churchill Downs were Mo Tom, the eighth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, and Creator, the 13th-place finisher in the Derby. Mo Tom went a half-mile in 49 seconds, while Creator went five furlongs in 1:02.

The connections of both horses said their horses are only possible for the Belmont.

Tom Amoss, the trainer of Mo Tom, said his horse “lost some weight coming out of the Derby.” Regarding the Belmont, Amoss said, “Nothing’s etched in stone, that’s for sure.”

WinStar Farm owns Creator and also has the breeding rights to Preakness winner Exaggerator. Elliott Walden, the president and chief executive of WinStar, said Exaggerator’s status for the Belmont would not impact decisions made regarding Creator.

“You have to look at each horse individually and decide what’s best for each,” Walden said.

– additional reporting by Jay Privman