Sir Winston, Intrepid Heart targeting Belmont Stakes

While Peter Pan winner Global Campaign is unlikely to run in the Belmont Stakes, two horses who finished behind him on Saturday are being pointed to the third leg of the Triple Crown.

Sir Winston, who rallied from last to finish second to Global Campaign, and Intrepid Heart, who finished third after stumbling at the break of the race, are both targeting the Belmont Stakes, according to their trainers.

Mark Casse on Monday said Sir Winston “ran well enough in there” to advance to the Belmont. Casse noted that, according to the timing service Trakus, Sir Winston got his last quarter in 23.46 seconds.

“That’s big going a mile and an eighth,” Casse said.

Intrepid Heart, the even-money favorite in the Peter Pan, stumbled at the start of the race under John Velazquez. But trainer Todd Pletcher said it was more the colt’s immaturity that hurt him.

“Johnny said he was still kind of green,” Pletcher said. “He finished okay, galloped out really well. He’s bred top and bottom for a mile and a half.”

Intrepid Heart is a son of Tapit, whose progeny include recent Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist, Creator, and Tapwrit. Intrepid Heart is a half-brother to Commissioner, second to Tonalist in the 2014 Belmont.

Danny Gargan said he would train Kentucky Derby 14th-place finisher Tax as if he were going to run in the Belmont Stakes with a chance of re-routing to the July 6 Belmont Derby on turf.

Tacitus, third in the Kentucky Derby, will soon ship to Belmont Park from Kentucky to prepare for the Belmont Stakes, trainer Bill Mott said Sunday.