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Belmont Stakes Notes: Casino Drive In; Big Brown Gets Patched Up
The connections of Casino Drive, the second choice behind Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown in Saturday’s 140th running of the Belmont Stakes (post time 6:25 pm), said Friday they expect the horse to run as he appears to be recovering from a possible stone bruise in his left hind hoof.
“Right now we are in,” said Nobutaka Tada, spokesperson for owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto and trainer Kazuo Fujisawa. “I expect him to run. If he stays like this, he’s OK. I expect him to run.”
“We don’t have to make a decision, yes, he will run or no, he will not run,” said Tada. “We are just going ahead. He is there, he is in the race.”
Casino Drive, half-brother to 2006 Belmont Stakes winner Jazil and three-quarter brother to last year’s winner, Rags to Riches, did not go to the track Friday morning and instead stood in a tub of Epsom salts and ice water for 20 minutes at a time throughout the day.
“The hoof was a bit warm,” said Tada. “We will monitor it closely. It’s not just the heat but how he walks, how he behaves. If he is not well, we will scratch him, of course.”
A son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft and the Deputy Minister mare Better Than Honour, Casino Drive traveled from Japan after a maiden victory and then won the Grade 2 Peter Pan on May 10.
Tada said he did not know when the injury might have occurred. Casino Drive galloped on track Thursday, but did not seem to like the muddy/sealed track. He repeatedly switched leads through the lane.
“It is hard to say when it happened,” he said. “Especially as you guys know he did not go that fast.”
Casino Drive is one of two undefeated horses entered for the Belmont Stakes. The other, Kentucky Derby/Preakness winner Big Brown, is seeking to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner. His record is 5-0, and only Seattle Slew in 1977 ever won the Triple Crown while undefeated (9-0).
Big Brown
Shortly after noon on Friday, hoof specialist Ian McKinlay successfully applied an acrylic and fiberglass patch to a quarter crack on the left-fore hoof of Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown.
“The patch is on and everything looked perfect,” said McKinlay. “There were no problems whatsoever.”
McKinlay said the procedure took about 40 minutes.
“Things couldn’t be better,” he said. “It’s time for history.”
Earlier, trainer Rick Dutrow said that both he and Big Brown were “doing good” on the eve of his attempt to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner in the 140th edition of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.
“It’s been nothing but thrilling,” said Dutrow. “I’ve been having as much fun as anybody could have. Maybe it doesn’t show, but really, I’m having a ball.”
Dutrow said he would not be meeting with jockey Kent Desormeaux before Big Brown is led over to the paddock as he tries to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes.
“I’ll give him a leg up in the paddock,” said the trainer. “He knows the horse. Kent knows what’s going on. So does the horse.”
Dutrow said he would be spending Saturday with Big Brown and will leave the saddling duties for Benny the Bull in the Grade 2, $250,000 True North, to be run as the sixth race on the 13-race card, to an assistant.
“I want to be there with him,” he said. “It’s too special a feeling to leave him.”
Tale of Ekati
Tale of Ekati, winner of the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, galloped a mile and a half under assistant trainer Robin Smullen this morning.
“Robin was up on him and said that he felt better than any horse she’s ever been on,” Tagg said. “He’s feeling good.
“We’re all in, Babe,” he added with a smile.
Five years ago, Tagg saddled New York-bred Funny Cide to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He caught a sloppy track on Belmont Stakes day and ran third behind Empire Maker and eventual Travers winner Ten Most Wanted and lost his chance for the Triple Crown.
Big Brown has dominated the competition in each of his starts, but the Belmont Stakes presents a different challenge. Longer than both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, its mile and a half is a distance at which most of its entrants will never race again.
Anak Nakal & Da’Tara
Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito is quite familiar with the Belmont Stakes. Since Morning Bob ran third in 1984, he has saddled a total of 18 starters in the race, winning once – in 2004, when longshot Birdstone ended Smarty Jones’ Triple Crown bid.
This year, Zito will be saddled two starters in the Belmont – Four Roses Thoroughbreds’ Anak Nakal and Robert V. LaPenta’s Da’ Tara.
“Anak Nakal is similar to Birdstone, believe it or not,” said Zito. “The reason is that Birdstone had a very good 2-year-old year and he didn’t have such a good winter. Anak Nakal was a good 2-year-old, Birdstone won the Champagne and Anak Nakal won the Kentucky Jockey Club.
“Unfortunately, Anak Nakal didn’t have such a good winter, either; however, Birdstone ran eighth in the Derby — not 18th — and Anak Nakal ran seventh, not 17th, and that’s the theory I’ve got. So, hopefully, Anak Nakal could get good in the Belmont Stakes like Birdstone did and could be a good 3-year old the rest of the year.”
As for Da’ Tara, Zito admitted he was something of a wild card.
“He is getting better,” he said. “It’s a wild shot, but when I looked at the race I realized that he’s the speed of the race and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
“He is by Tiznow and his colors will be flying there for a while and you never know in the race.”
Ready’s Echo
A year ago, trainer Todd Pletcher was on the eve of saddling filly Rags to Riches to her historic victory over Curlin in the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first filly in 102 years and the third ever to win the race.
“We knew we had a filly that was bred for the distance but we also knew we were going against some tough colts in Curlin and Hard Spun,” said Pletcher. “We were tossing it around, whether to run or not run, and when she stumbled coming out of the gate I was sure we had made the wrong decision. And then when she won, it was so tremendously exciting.”
Saturday, Pletcher will saddle Let’s Go Stable’s Ready’s Echo in the Belmont Stakes, as the son of More Than Ready seeks to stop Big Brown’s run at the Triple Crown.
“Some historians are looking at who Big Brown has faced, but if you pick apart what he’s done, he’s destroyed everyone he’s run against,” said Pletcher. “I think that he comes into it as a horse with the best chance to do it of the ones I’ve seen. The one question mark has been (the quarter crack) … maybe that gives the rest of us competing against him a little ray of hope. It will be interesting to see a mile and a half, a different race than the rest of them. Very interesting.”
Macho Again
Horse trainer Dallas Stewart oversaw the final preparations for West Point Thoroughbreds Macho Again as the son of Mach Uno galloped a routine mile on the main track.
“It was just a light gallop and that’s all,” said Stewart. “We’re ready to go now.”
Terry Finley, president of West Point Thoroughbreds, joined Stewart to watch the routine gallop.
Finley has said all but one of the 16 owners of Macho Again will be on hand Saturday for the Florida-bred’s attempt to derail Big Brown’s Triple Crown attempt.
Macho Again finished runner up to Big Brown in the Preakness under jockey Julien Leparoux. Jockey Garrett Gomez now has the mount on Macho Again, and the Belmont Stakes will mark the first time he has ridden the colt in a race.
Denis of Cork
New York-bred Denis of Cork jogged approximately a mile over the main track this morning as his final prep for the BelmontStakes.
The role of spoiler to Big Brown’s attempt to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner does not bother trainer David Carroll, who was exercise rider to Easy Goer when he ended Sunday Silence’s bid in 1989.
When asked about feeling bad about possibly defeating Big Brown and ending the bid Carroll was quick to provide comment.
“Are you kidding me?” Carroll said. “Everyone wants to see a Triple Crown winner, and I do, too. But if he doesn’t win it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Icabad Crane
Earle I. Mack’s Icabad Crane put in his final Belmont Stakes preparations by standing in the starting gate and then galloping a mile and a half around the main track.
Trainer H. Graham Motion will arrive in New York this evening from his base of operations in Fair Hills, Md.
The opportunity to serve as spoiler was not a concern to the London, England born trainer.
“I have no problem in being a spoiler,” said Motion. “It would be great for the sport to have a Triple Crown winner. But who’s to say that it wouldn’t be great for the sport to have another contender in this same situation next year going for the Triple Crown?”
Motion had read reports of Casino Drive’s questionable status for the Belmont Stakes and remarked on the possible loss of the contender.
“It would be very disappointing if that horse had to scratch,” Motion said. “It was so game of them to come over for this event. I truly hope that he is able to race.”
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal had an easy day Friday, according to owner/trainer Fred Seitz.
“He jogged the wrong way for six furlongs, then he galloped a mile, cooled out and ate grass for about an hour,” Seitz said. “He’s happy, and we’ll walk him tomorrow and lead him over there.”
Guadalcanal has yet to win a race in five starts, but was beaten a nose on turf at a mile and a half at Churchill Downs on May 23.
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Edited from www.nyra.com.
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