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.

Belmont Park: Track – Fast; Weather – Sunny; Temp – 63
Aqueduct: Track – Fast; Weather – Sunny; Temp – 63

ELMONT, N.Y. – Anybody looking for a chink in California Chrome’s armor heading into the Belmont Stakes certainly didn’t find one Saturday at Belmont Park, where the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner turned in an outstanding final workout a week in advance of his quest to complete the elusive Triple Crown sweep with a victory in the Belmont Stakes.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In sharp contrast to the large throng of cheering spectators who assembled at Belmont Park early Saturday morning to watch California Chrome turn in his final work for the Belmont Stakes, trainer Rick Violette and a few disinterested members of the cleaning crew were about the extent of the crowd on hand when Samraat did likewise across town at Aqueduct later that morning.  

General a Rod will join the field for the June 7 Belmont Stakes, his co-owner, Jack Wolf, said Saturday morning following a five-furlong workout in 1:00.20 at the Trackside training center in Louisville, Ky.

General a Rod will join California Chrome and Ride On Curlin as the only horses to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year. He had compromised trips in both the Kentucky Derby, in which he was 11th, and the Preakness, in which he was fourth.

“I thought he worked very well,” Wolf said by phone.

ELMONT, N.Y. – After watching California Chrome gallop over Belmont Park’s main track for 10 straight mornings, the connections of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner said their horse was ready for a workout.

On Saturday, on a gorgeous spring morning in front a few hundred early-rising fans here for “Breakfast at Belmont,” California Chrome showed just how ready he was with an eye-catching half-mile move in 47.47 seconds over Belmont’s main track, according to Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch.

Jockey Victor Espinoza, who did a superlative job guiding California Chrome to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, will remain in New York and accept mounts throughout the week, according to his agent, Bryan Beach. Espinoza flew Friday to New York and was scheduled to breeze California Chrome four furlongs Saturday morning.

He is named to ride Miz Owell for trainer Mike Maker later that afternoon in the Kingston Stakes, two horses on Sunday’s card, and has taken calls later in the week, including Ever Rider in Friday’s Brooklyn.

ELMONT, N.Y. – After spending the past three mornings watching the same prospective Belmont Stakes starters go through virtually the same routines, there finally was some welcomed diversity during training hours at the main track Friday, with some relevant activity also taking place over at the training track during the course of the session.

Mickey Taylor knows just how Steve Coburn and Perry Martin feel, coming from a place in the Thoroughbred world so far removed from the bluegrass of Kentucky and the ivied walls of Belmont Park to try and win the Triple Crown.

“After Triple Crown winners from Meadow Stable, and Calumet, and King Ranch, there we were with a horse bought at public auction,” Taylor said, harking back to the spring of 1977. “We weren’t just from the far side of the moon. We were from somewhere out past Mars.”

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though Dallas Stewart is bringing the Kentucky Derby runner-up to the Belmont Stakes for the second consecutive year, the trainer believes the similarities between Commanding Curve and Golden Soul end there.

Stewart said that Commanding Curve, second to California Chrome at odds of 37-1 in the May 3 Kentucky Derby, came out of his effort better than did Golden Soul, second to Orb at odds of 34-1 in last year’s Derby. Golden Soul, who like Commanding Curve skipped the Preakness, finished ninth in the Belmont Stakes as the sixth betting choice in the 14-horse field.

In 2000, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the Belmont Stakes with Commendable, a colt who had raced in the Kentucky Derby and then skipped the Preakness.

Lukas has been a trend-setter in many ways during his legendary career, but little could he know what he was starting that day. In the 14 runnings of the Belmont since 2000, a total of seven horses have done what Commendable did: lose the Derby, skip the Preakness, win the Belmont.