By Marty McGee
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Dublin has been withdrawn from consideration for the 142nd Belmont Stakes on June 5, meaning no horse will have run in all three Triple Crown events this year.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said early Thursday at Churchill Downs that withdrawing the colt "wasn't an easy decision, because he's really doing good."
A first-level allowance race scheduled for the turf 16 days before the Belmont Stakes isn't usually where one might find a prospective candidate for the third leg of racing's Triple Crown. But on Thursday, the connections of New Madrid are using such a race as a prep for a possible start in the $1 million Belmont on June 5.
The trainer of New Madrid is Tim Ice, who one year ago trained the lightly raced Summer Bird to an upset victory in the Belmont. The owner of New Madrid is John Ed Anthony, who 30 years ago won the Belmont with Temperence Hill at odds of 53-1.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Churchill Downs was the primary training grounds for the Preakness, with a remarkable nine of the 12 starters having prepared here, including the top six finishers in the Pimlico classic last Saturday. It won't be nearly as busy here in the next couple of weeks, although three prospects for the June 5 Belmont Stakes will be shipping from Churchill, along with one more just a few miles away at the Trackside training center.
Ice Box, the Kentucky Derby runner-up and probable favorite for the $1 million Belmont Stakes, worked four furlongs in 49.65 seconds on Tuesday morning over the Saratoga training track. Exercise rider Maxine Correa was aboard for the work, which was the seventh fastest of 22 recorded at the distance.
It was the first timed move for Ice Box since his troubled-trip second to Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby on May 1. Ice Box, who won the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March, did not run in the Preakness.
ELMONT, N.Y. - No more calls, please, we have a winner.
John Velazquez has been tabbed by trainer Nick Zito to ride Fly Down in the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 5, the Hall of Fame trainer told Daily Racing Form on Tuesday morning. Coming off a decisive six-length victory in the Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont on May 8, Fly Down figures to be among the top three betting choices in the Belmont along with stablemate Ice Box, the Kentucky Derby runner-up; and First Dude, the Preakness runner-up.
BALTIMORE - After finishing third in the Kentucky Derby, and then second in the Preakness Stakes, trainer Dale Romans is hoping he can finally get to the top in the last leg of the Triple Crown, the June 5 Belmont Stakes, which will not have the Derby winner nor the Preakness winner.
Romans trains First Dude, who finished second in the Preakness on Saturday and will go on to the Belmont. He also trains Paddy O'Prado, who was sixth in the Preakness after finishing third in the Derby for Romans, and who will likely return to turf racing.
Drosselmeyer, who finished second as the favorite in the Dwyer Stakes last weekend, will have a new rider when he competes in the June 5 Belmont Stakes, according to Elliott Walden, the racing manager for Drosselmeyer's owners, the WinStar Farm of Bill Caner and Kenny Troutt.
Walden said Kent Desormeaux, who has ridden Drosselmeyer in his last three starts, will be replaced, though no replacement has yet been named.
BALTIMORE - The stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course, which hosted a raucous postrace party on Saturday after the Preakness Stakes, was practically barren 12 hours later Sunday morning, a fitting metaphor for this year's Triple Crown.
Neither Super Saver, the Kentucky Derby winner, nor Lookin At Lucky, the Preakness Stakes winner, will compete in the final leg of the Triple Crown, the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes on June 5 at Belmont Park. The Belmont is still expected to have a large field, but neither of this year's previous Triple Crown race winners will run.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The circle is complete. Five weeks after the Triple Crown began, the two main principals, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and the filly Rachel Alexandra, who won the Preakness Stakes, are both again stabled at Churchill Downs, awaiting what comes next after an unpredictable, compelling series of races.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It was the 65th anniversary of D-Day on Saturday. At Belmont Park, that stood for Desormeaux Day.
A crowd announced by New York Racing Association officials at 52,681 was hoping to see Mine That Bird win and give jockey Calvin Borel an unprecedented sweep of the Triple Crown with two different horses. Instead, they saw Summer Bird, an 11-1 shot, overtake Mine That Bird in the final furlong and give jockey Kent Desormeaux sweet redemption for last year's Belmont, in which he pulled up Big Brown, who was going for the Triple Crown.
