The Truth Or Else likely to take a shot

ELMONT, N.Y. – American Pharoah lost one rival but may have picked up another in his bid to become Thoroughbred racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner in the June 6 Belmont Stakes.

Conquest Curlinate, the runner-up in both the Illinois Derby and Peter Pan Stakes, was removed from consideration for the Belmont on Thursday, while The Truth Or Else, a 1 1/2-length winner of a first-level allowance at Belmont on May 22, is now under strong consideration to start in the 1 1/2-mile race.

The connections of Conquest Curlinate were planning to supplement the Canadian-bred son of Curlin to the Belmont for a fee of $75,000 because they had opted not to nominate him to the Triple Crown series earlier in the year. But trainer Mark Casse said Thursday that the horse’s recent training “failed to show us he’s ready to run his absolute best.”

Conquest Curlinate didn’t train Thursday morning at Churchill Downs and will soon be shipped to Woodbine to prepare for the July 5 Queen’s Plate there, Casse said.

“Nothing is wrong other than the last few days we just didn’t think he was ready to bring his ‘A’ game,” Casse said. “To run in a race like this, you’ve got to be on top of your game to have any chance at all.”

Meanwhile, trainer Ken McPeek said Thursday that The Truth or Else is “60 to 70 percent” likely to run in the Belmont.

The Truth Or Else, a son of Yes It’s True, is 2 for 12, and both of his wins have come at Belmont Park. He won a one-mile maiden race here last September and a first-level allowance race going 1 1/16 miles here May 22, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 91.

In between those wins, The Truth Or Else competed in seven consecutive graded stakes, with his best finish being a second to Far Right in the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn. He twice lost to American Pharoah at Oaklawn Park, finishing fourth, beaten 10 lengths, in the Rebel, and seventh, beaten 15 1/4 lengths, in the Arkansas Derby.

McPeek’s biggest victory came in the 2002 Belmont Stakes when Sarava, at 70-1, became the longest shot ever to win the race. That year, the Bob Baffert-trained War Emblem was going for the Triple Crown. Under Victor Espinoza, War Emblem stumbled at the break and finished eighth. Baffert and Espinoza will be going for the Triple Crown again June 6 with American Pharoah.

“We were third with Atigun [in 2012], and this horse is comparable to Atigun and a more impressive physical specimen than Sarava was,” McPeek said. “If a horse like American Pharoah stubs his toe ... it happens.”

McPeek noted that 1992 Belmont Stakes winner Colonial Affair is the sire of The Truth Or Else’s dam, Lakenheath.

“He won’t have any trouble handling the distance or surface as long as it’s dry,” said McPeek, who co-owns The Truth Or Else with Harold Lerner.

McPeek said he had Edgar Prado lined up to ride The Truth Or Else. Prado rode Sarava and also won the Belmont in 2004 on Birdstone, who stopped the Triple Crown bid of Smarty Jones.

◗ It was an uneventful day for the other Belmont Stakes contenders stabled at Belmont Park.

Trainer Todd Pletcher’s trio of Carpe Diem, Materiality, and Madefromlucky had routine gallops in advance of their scheduled workouts on Friday. Carpe Diem and Materiality galloped on the main track, while Madefromlucky went to the training track.

Preakness runner-up Tale of Verve and Mubtaahij, who both had strong training sessions Wednesday, had slow, controlled one-mile gallops over the main track. Tale of Verve backed up to the seven-furlong pole accompanied by an outrider.

“He hadn’t been with a pony in a long time,” said trainer Dallas Stewart, who planning to work Tale of Verve on Friday or Saturday.

Frosted, the Wood Memorial winner, galloped a solid 1 1/2 miles shortly after 9 a.m. over the Belmont main track. He also was scheduled to breeze Friday.