The Kentucky Derby winner, Orb (Post 5, 3-1), will go to the starting gate the favorite despite finishing fourth in the Preakness Stakes. Orb turned in a swift work at Belmont Park that told his trainer, Shug McGaughey, he’s ready for the challenge.
“He came out of his work good, ate up good, walked this morning, seems to be fine,” said McGaughey, who trains the son of Malibu Moon for Stuart S. Janney, III and Phipps Stable.
A concern for McGaughey is the size of the field: 14 horses sparring against each other Saturday. For a horse who does most of his running late, the extra traffic could pose a problem for Orb.
“[The large field is] more concerning than anything else because not all of them in there belong, but they have as much right to run as anybody else, so I do think the race will be pretty spread out,” said McGaughey. “He ran with 18 in the Derby.”
Of the 18 he ran against in the Derby was Oxbow (Post 7, 5-1), the winner of the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago. Oxbow finished sixth to Orb in the Derby and found himself on an easy, non-contested lead in the Preakness, which he carried all the way to the wire.
“He’s a tough little horse,” said his trainer, D. Wayne Lukas. “The Preakness took nothing out of him. He’s full of himself. He’ll be tough again.”
Lukas will also saddle Will Take Charge (Post 10, 20-1), the third horse in this field that ran in the Derby and Preakness.
“Everything was fine. No problems,” Lukas said of his duo. “They trained well, had good energy this morning. Everything was in good order. They just jogged. They’ll gallop this week. Everything’s done now. Just keep them happy.”
Todd Pletcher, who saddled five horses in the Kentucky Derby, will saddle five more horses in the Belmont Stakes. Three of them—Palace Malice (Post 12, 15-1), Revolutionary (Post 9, 9-2) and Overanalyze (Post 3, 12-1)—ran in the Derby and skipped the Preakness. Midnight Taboo (Post 8, 30-1) and Unlimited Budget (Post 13, 8-1) are his Triple Crown new shooters. The latter is a filly.
Pletcher won the Belmont Stakes six years ago with the filly Rags to Riches. It marked Pletcher’s first win in a Triple Crown race.
Unlimited Budget, a daughter of Street Sense, breezed a swift half-mile Sunday at Belmont Park in 47.55 signifying this girl has every bit of a chance against this field of males.
Mike Repole, owner to three horses in the Belmont, including Unlimited Budget, is high on his horses. Repole is a native New Yorker and winning the Belmont Stakes is high on his list of priorities.
“I think this one year where I think the fillies are as good as the boys,” Repole said. “She ran a good race when she was third in the Kentucky Oaks, and two fillies out of that race, Midnight Lucky and Close Hatches, came back to run 1-2 in the Acorn. Unlimited Budget is a large filly, and when the 15 horses come out you’ll think she’s one of the colts. She also has a good mind for a mile and a half where she’ll settle.”
Adding to the already-alluring flavor of having a filly take on the boys, Unlimited Budget gets jockey Rosie Napravnik. Two girls looking to make history.
“She’s a big, strong filly, and obviously she’s been training well,” said Napravnik. “With a big field, it’s going to be a tough race for everyone. But I don’t think [she will be intimidated]—she looks more like a colt. Plus, she can sit close to the pace, or close into it.”
He also owns Overanalyze, winner of the Grade I Arkansas Derby. In that race he beat the eventual Preakness winner, Oxbow. Something not lost on Repole.
“Overanalyze is a Grade 1 winner, and he beat Oxbow by 5 ¼ lengths in the Arkansas Derby,” said Repole. “He ran a sneaky-good race in the Kentucky Derby where he was shuffled back but ran on, and I don’t think he loved the track.”
That track, of course, was muddy. There’s a chance of rain Saturday, which could make for another off-track. This will play to the strengths of the Grade II Peter Pan Stakes winner, Freedom Child.
Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Freedom Child (Post 2, 8-1) went to the lead in the Peter Pan then drew away to win by 13 3/4 lengths. He won that day over a sealed, muddy track and should the track on Saturday be sealed and muddy, it will play to Freedom Child’s strengths.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the horse right now,” Tom Albertrani said, Freedom Child’s trainer. “He’s in great condition, and he’s giving us all the right signals. Now, we just have to lead him over there.”
He will be involved in the first flight of horses, which will put him a nice stalking position to strike down the lane.
“We’re not going to be looking at more than two or three in front of us,” Albertrani said. “The rest will hopefully be behind me.”
And, of course, there’s Palace Malice, the speedball who sent blistering fractions in the Kentucky Derby. Trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by Dogwood Stables, Palace Malice faded to finish 12th in the Derby, but has been resting ever since. He turned in a swift breeze and is fit and ready.
Other horses rounding out the field Golden Soul (Post 14, 10-1), Giant Finish (Post 4, 30-1), Incognito (Post 6, 20-1), Vyjack (Post 11, 20-1) and Frac Daddy (Post 1, 30-1).
