By Brian Zanzonico
Weeks earlier at the Kentucky Derby, Street Sense had the look of a champion, coming back from 17th early in the race to win the Run for the Roses by 2 1/4 lengths.
With a few furlongs to go in the Preakness Stakes, Curlin and jockey Robby Albarado charged from the outside to catch Street Sense at the wire and win by a nose, guaranteeing another year of horse racing¹s Triple Crown drought.
Last week, Street Sense¹s owner, Carl Nafzger, announced the colt would not be entered in the Belmont Stakes in order to prepare for the Travers Stakes Aug. 25 at the upstate Saratoga Race Course and the Breeders Cup Classic Oct. 27 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. Curlin, however, is expected to run.
³It would¹ve been nice to see Street Sense in a rematch against Curlin, but that¹s horse racing,² said race fan Howard Melling, of Elmont, who frequents the track with brother, Joseph, and witnessed Affirmed best Alydar to win the Triple Crown 29 years ago. ³The owner wants him to get ready for other races. The Belmont Stakes will be a good race regardless.²
Hard Spun (second in the Kentucky Derby, third in the Preakness Stakes) will have a new mount at Belmont as Garrett Gomez, who rode King of the Roxy to a sixth-place finish in the Preakness Stakes, will replace Mario Pino. Tiago, who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby and is the younger half-brother of 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, returns after skipping the Preakness Stakes. Tiago¹s jockey, Mike Smith, rode Giacomo to a third-place finish in the 2005 Preakness Stakes and seventh in the 2005 Belmont Stakes.
The rest of the field is expected to include: Imawildandcrazyguy, a gelding ridden by Mark Guidry that rallied from dead last in the Kentucky Derby to finish fourth by 8 1/2 lengths; Garden City trainer Todd Pletcher is looking to break his 0-for-28 slump in Triple Crown races with either Circular Quay (sixth in Kentucky Derby, fifth in Preakness Stakes), Rags to Riches (a filly from a bloodline of Belmont Stakes winners A.P. Indy, Seattle Slew, and Jazil) or both; Slew¹s Tizzy didn¹t run in either of the first two races and will be the freshest horse in the field .
³Years like this, when there won¹t be as many horses in the field, sometimes turn out to be the most fun,² Joseph Melling said. ³You take a chance on a horse and may be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.²
Parking gates open at 8:15 a.m. and admission gates open at 8:30 a.m., with the day¹s first of 13 races set for noon. The Belmont Stakes will be the 11th race on the schedule. Admission is $5, clubhouse admission is $5 and seating areas vary in price. General parking is $10, and preferred parking is $25. For more information, visit www.nyra.com or (516) 488-6000. The Stakes race, which is scheduled for a 6:25 p.m. post time, will be televised on NBC.
The Long Island Rail Road will run frequent trains out of Penn Station, Woodside and Jamaica all day. For a complete schedule, visit www.mta.info/lirr/index.html or call (717) 217-LIRR.
Belmont Stakes at-A-Glance
n The Belmont is the oldest of the Triple Crown events, predating the Preakness by six years and the Kentucky Derby by eight. The winner of the first Kentucky Derby, Aristides, ran second in the Belmont of 1875, behind Calvin.
n The first running of the Belmont Stakes took place on June 19, 1867 at Jerome Park Racecourse. Four horses, Ruthless, DeCourcey, Rivoli and Monday started. The track was heavy and Ruthless won the mile and five furlong race in three minutes, five seconds.
n The original Belmont Park, named for banker August Belmont, opened on March 4, 1905.
n The Belmont Stakes trophy is a Tiffany-made silver bowl, 18 inches high, 15 inches across and 14 inches at the base.
Atop the cover is a silver figure of Fenian, winner of the third running of the Belmont Stakes in 1869.
The bowl is supported by three horses representing the three foundation thoroughbreds ‹ Eclipse, Herod and Matchem.
n The white carnation is the traditional flower of the Belmont Stakes. The blanket of carnations worn by the Belmont Stakes winner takes 10 man hours to put together, as between 300-400 carnations are glued onto a green velveteen spread. The flowers must be shipped in from either California or Bogota, Colombia.
n Anti-betting legislation was passed in New York State, closing Belmont and canceling the race for two years between 1911 and 1912.
n Grey Lag¹s Belmont (1921) was the first running of the Belmont Stakes in the counter-clockwise manner of American fashion at Belmont Park. This 53rd running was a mile and three-eighths over the main course. Previous renewals of the stakes at Belmont Park were run clockwise, in accordance with English custom, over a fish-hook course which included part of the training track and the main dirt oval.
n The song ³New York, New York² has been adopted by the Belmont Stakes and is a tradition to sing before the racing begins. It was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, and is performed in the 1977 film ³New York, New York² by Liza Minnelli. Two years later, the song was more famously recorded by Frank Sinatra.
Source: Docsports.com, belmont-stakes.info
