ELMONT, N.Y. - Thus far, it has been a pretty good Triple Crown for trainer Dale Romans. It could get a lot better.

It was bad enough when the Aqueduct casino contract fell through. Tougher still when the state of New York let them twist in the wind before coming up with money needed to operate. Then Monmouth Park piled on with its mega-meet, dwarfing the purses in a thousand-mile radius.

Now, after all that, the New York Racing Association must somehow pick itself up from the mat to present the 142nd running of its cherished Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5, without

The Belmont Stakes is one better. It now goes to 11.

Dave in Dixie, based in Southern California with trainer John Sadler, has joined the cast for the final leg of the Triple Crown on June 5 at Belmont Park, Sadler announced on Thursday after Dave in Dixie worked one mile in 1:39.60 at Hollywood Park.

Calvin Borel will have the mount, Sadler said.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The last time the Belmont Stakes was held without the Kentucky Derby winner and the Preakness winner in the field was 2006, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin won the race with Jazil.

McLaughlin will hope for history to repeat itself in the 142nd Belmont Stakes on June 5, when he starts Uptowncharlybrown in the third leg of the Triple Crown, a race that will not include Super Saver, the Derby winner, or Lookin At Lucky, the Preakness winner.

At Santa Anita on Tuesday, Game On Dude, the Lone Star Derby winner, worked seven furlongs in 1:26.60 with jockey Martin Garcia aboard. Trained by Bob Baffert, Game On Dude worked in company with Sangaree, who also is trained by Baffert. If he runs in the Belmont, Game On Dude will reunite Garcia and Baffert, who teamed with Lookin At Lucky to win the Preakness Stakes. Lookin At Lucky is skipping the Belmont after running in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Mike Maker was a stablehand and assistant for D. Wayne Lukas during a six-year stretch when Lukas won four runnings of the Belmont Stakes.

"Never went to one," said Maker, who remained behind in Kentucky while Tabasco Cat (1994), Thunder Gulch (1995), Editor's Note (1996), and Commendable (2000) won the final leg of the Triple Crown for Lukas. "Wayne always had a barn up there, so I'd just watch on TV."

The road to this year's Triple Crown has taken plenty of detours for the WinStar Farm of Bill Casner and Kenny Troutt. It culminated with a victory in the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver, but there have been plenty of twists and turns along the way, enough to test their fortitude.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Accustomed to watching Make Music for Me zip over the synthetic surfaces of Southern California and Kentucky, trainer Alexis Barba said she suffered a little bit of "culture shock" as she glanced between her stopwatch and her Belmont Stakes hopeful during his morning workout Sunday at Belmont.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Two of the 10 horses expected to run in the $1 million Belmont Stakes here on June 5 put in half-mile workouts Saturday in New York.

At Saratoga, Fly Down, who figures to go off as no worse than the third betting choice in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, worked four furlongs in 49.40 seconds Saturday morning at Saratoga.

Meanwhile, at Belmont Park, Uptowncharlybrown breezed a half-mile in 50.16 seconds in company with the promising 3-year-old Trappe Shot.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has been tabbed by WinStar Farm to ride Drosselmeyer in the $1 million Belmont Stakes, it was announced Thursday.

Smith replaces Kent Desormeaux, who had ridden the horse in seven of his eight career starts including, most recently, a runner-up finish to Fly Down in the Dwyer on May 8. Drosselmeyer is trained by Bill Mott.

Smith had ridden Jackson Bend in the first two legs of this year s Triple Crown. Jackson Bend is not running in the Belmont.