Four Roses Thoroughbreds’ Silver Wagon went four furlongs in a bullet :47.81, handily this morning at Aqueduct as he prepares for Monday’s 114th running of the Grade 1, $600,000 Metropolitan Handicap - -Belmont Park’s traditional Memorial Day feature race.

The 6-year-old Wagon Limit horse is looking to give trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. his second consecutive Met Mile victory. Last year, Dutrow won the Met Mile when Silver Train got his head in front of Sun King at the wire.

“I really liked his breeze today,” Dutrow said of Silver Wagon, who is winless in three tries at Belmont Park and in three tries at a mile. “Going in, he’s very, very live. If I were a handicapper, I would be betting on him. I’ve always loved this race, and it would be great to win it a second year.”

Jockey Javier Castellano has the mount on Silver Wagon, who is co-highweight at 119 pounds with Lawyer Ron.

Sun King (118 pounds) will be back to try and gain some revenge for his Met Mile loss, and also expected are Ah Day (114), Corinthian (117), Half Ours (117), Latent Heat (118), Lawyer Ron, Political Force (116) and Silent Name (JPN) (117).

Fans on Monday will receive a free Belmont Park baseball cap with each paid admission, while supplies last.

J. Paul Reddam’s Great Hunter worked five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 over Hollywood Park’s cushion track this morning with exercise rider Tony Romero up, his first work since finishing 13th in the Kentucky Derby on May 5. The Aptitude colt is a definite starter for the 139th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, the 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion” on Saturday, June 9.

“He worked great,” trainer Doug O’Neill said from California. “I got him galloping out in 1:13 and 1:27.”

O’Neill said the colt has given him all the right indications that he is ready to bounce back off his poor Derby performance.

“His coat and weight looks as good as it did going into the Derby,” O’Neill said.

One of the key factors leading to Great Hunter’s Derby disappointment was his coming undone in the paddock.

“He’s either going to New York on June 4th or 5th,” O’Neill said. “That will give him a couple of chances to school in the paddock there.”

Jockey Corey Nakatani rode Great Hunter in the Derby, but O’Neill said he “hasn’t figured to a rider” for the Belmont.

Despite a nice five-furlong breeze of 1:00 1/5 over Belmont’s fast main track this morning, Elizabeth Valando’s Nobiz Like Shobiz is doubtful to run in the Belmont Stakes, according to trainer Barclay Tagg.

“He worked great, I thought,” Tagg said of the move with jockey Cornelio Velasquez up. “He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13, but I’m not planning on running him in the Belmont.”

A number of factors were considered by Tagg and Valando concerning the Wood Memorial winner’s potential run in the Belmont.

“If it were a walkover or a two-horse race, I would run,” Tagg said. “A $1-million race is a $1-million race.”

Tagg obviously has much respect for Curlin, Hard Spun and Street Sense and he feels that giving his trainee some more time to develop is the best thing for Nobiz Like Shobiz.

“Right now, I’m planning on races like the Dwyer, Jim Dandy and Travers,” Tagg said.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said this morning that Circular Quay and the impressive filly Rags to Riches are both training well, but he would not make a decision on whether or not either or both would run in the Belmont Stakes for at least another week.

If she runs, Rags to Riches would be the first filly to run in the Belmont Stakes since Silerbulletday in 1999. Only 21 fillies have ever competed in the Belmont Stakes and only Ruthless, in the first Belmont Stakes at defunct Jerome Park in 1867 and Tanya at May 24, 1905 – 20 days after Belmont Park opened for business – ever won the race.

Should Street Sense, Curlin and Hard Spun start in the 139th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 9, it would mark the first time that the same top three finishers in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness squared off in the 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion.”

Street Sense won the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 5, well ahead of Hard Spun, with Curlin third.

Curlin came back to defeat Street Sense by a head in the May 19 Preakness at Pimlico, with Hard Spun third.

Five times, the top three Kentucky Derby finishers also finished in the top three in the Preakness. This happened in:

1963: Kentucky Derby/Belmont winner Chateaugay, Preakness winner Never Bend, Candy Spots. Never Bend did not run in the Belmont Stakes.

1964: Kentucky Derby/Preakness winner Northern Dancer, Hill Rise, The Scoundrel. The Scoundrel did not run in the Belmont Stakes. Quadrangle was the Belmont winner.

1973: Triple Crown winner Secretariat, Sham, Our Native. Our Native did not run in the the Belmont Stakes.

1978: Triple Crown winner Affirmed, Alydar, Believe It. Believe It skipped the Belmont

1997: Kentucky Derby/Preakness winner Silver Charm, Free House, Captain Bodgit. Captain Bodgit did not start in the Belmont Stakes. Touch Gold was the Belmont winner.

In 1949, Ponder, Capot and Palestinian ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown. They finished in that order in the Derby. In the Preakness, it was Capot, Palestinian, and then Ponder back in fifth. Belmont was Capot, Ponder and Palestinian.
source www.nyra.com