ELMONT, N.Y. – On Saturday, Wicked Strong will chase Belmont Stakes glory. On Sunday, he was chasing Belmont Stakes history. In his final workout in preparation for the 146th Belmont Stakes, Wicked Strong, the Wood Memorial winner, found himself about 30 yards behind Palace Malice – last year’s Belmont Stakes winner – who was preparing for Saturday’s Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. Exercise rider Kelvin Pahal did a good job keeping Wicked Strong in abeyance, but still, Wicked Strong worked a fast five furlongs in 59.17 seconds. “I didn’t think he’d go quite that fast,” Jerkens said afterward. “We were just looking to put the finishing touches on him. I just hope it wasn’t too fast, but it looked like he did it awful easy.” Wicked Strong was one of six horses being considered for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes – where California Chrome will attempt to become Thoroughbred racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner – to put in workouts on an absolutely perfect morning. As of Sunday, 13 horses still remained under consideration for the Belmont, with the connections of Social Inclusion and Kid Cruz still straddling the fence. The connections of Matterhorn all but declared their horse a definite runner following his workout Sunday. They will likely confirm his status Monday while also naming a jockey. A decision on Social Inclusion, who is also being considered for the Woody Stephens, was due Monday while a decision on Kid Cruz was due Tuesday. ::BELMONT STAKES WORKOUTS: Video analysis, news, and times Trainer Jimmy Jerkens was debating on which track to have Wicked Strong put in his final workout. He ultimately opted for the training track over the main track and it likely proved a prudent decision. [bc_video_id:325949:]Wicked Strong worked around 9:40 a.m., shortly after the second renovation break. He was standing at the three-eighths pole while Palace Malice, last year’s Belmont Stakes winner, was about to break off for a four-furlong work with a workmate, Celebrator. But a horse trained by Linda Rice had unseated its rider and gotten loose, prompting Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Palace Malice and Celebreator, via two-way radio, to notify his riders to abort the work before it started. As Palace Malice and Celebrator turned around and backed up to the six-furlong pole, Wicked Strong was galloping through the stretch and getting ready for his breeze. As it turned out, Wicked Strong broke off from the five-furlong pole as Palace Malice and Celebrator were galloping to the half-mile pole. Wicked Strong went his first eighth in 13.00 seconds, but picked it up thereafter as if he wanted to go after Palace Malice and Celebrator. Wicked Strong went his middle quarter in 22.50, and Palhal brought him a couple of paths wide in the stretch. He still cruised home in 23.67 while galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.08. Jerkens watched the work from upper stretch and put his hand up as if to tell Palhal to slow down. “He just sat on him, which was good because it would have been too much,” Jerkens said. Jerkens said had he opted to work on the spacious main track, he wouldn’t have been able to get Palhal’s attention. “Going over there, he would have thought something was up, and he would have worked way too fast,” Jerkens said. “He still worked fast, but at least here, the [rider] has a chance to look over at you, and you can slow him down.” Wicked Strong wasn’t the only the horse to encounter some unexpected company during a workout. Ride On Curlin, the Preakness runner-up who worked on the main track at 8:45 a.m., had a pair of horses working from the gate that went past him early in his seven-furlong move. Exercise rider Bryan Beccia took a brief hold of Ride On Curlin, who would go on to work seven furlongs in 1:28.03, with a final three furlongs in 36.35. [bc_video_id:325950:]“We’ve worked with him long enough to where he doesn’t just run into the bridle anymore and try to run off,” Beccia said. “He’s learned real quick to relax, and he just relaxed perfectly. Horses came up on the outside of me, he got into the bit for a minute, but he came right back to me.” Billy Gowan, the trainer of Ride On Curlin, said he loved the way his horse finished the work. “I loved the way he was moving down the lane, his ears up like always,” Gowan said. “Hopefully we’ll get a clean run – a good position and a clean run. I hope we get that.” Two-time Belmont Stakes-winning trainer Todd Pletcher worked his duo of Commissioner and Matterhorn in company shortly after 7:40 a.m. on the training track. Commissioner started a length in front of Matterhorn, and the two finished together, so Matterhorn got credit for a half-mile time of 49.58, while Commissioner worked four furlongs in 49.78. [bc_video_id:325952:]Commissioner, the runner-up in the Peter Pan, has always been considered a definite for the Belmont. Matterhorn, fourth in the Peter Pan, was recently purchased by Eclipse Thoroughbreds Partners. He is expected to start in the Belmont, though a final decision was to be announced Monday. “I’ve actually always felt both horses would be suited to a mile-and-a-half distance,” said Pletcher, who noted that Commissioner’s broodmare sire is 1997 Belmont winner Touch Gold. “We felt like the longer the better. With Matterhorn, he’s a big, scopy horse that just kind of keeps going and going and going.” Commanding Curve, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, worked a half-mile in 47.20 in company with Cost Effective. Commanding Curve glided away from his workmate in the stretch in what trainer Dallas Stewart called “one of the best works I’ve ever seen from him.” [bc_video_id:325951:]Lastly, Matuszak, who figures to be the longest price in the field, worked five furlongs in 1:00.92, running away his workmate, Maximus Mike, in the final furlong. California Chrome, who worked Saturday, simply walked the shed row Sunday. “Chrome came out of the work in great shape,” said Alan Sherman, son of and assistant to trainer Art Sherman. “He was pulling Willie [Delgado] around the shed row this morning. Everything is cold and tight, and we're ready for Saturday.”