Friday, June 10, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.
There won't be a prince and his War Emblem entourage attending the Belmont Stakes looking for a Triple Crown as in 2002. There won't be a bus full of Funny Cide backers hoping for a Triple Crown at Belmont Park as in 2003. And, there won't be a Smarty Party waiting for the Triple Crown as in last year's third jewel in the Big Apple.
It is already a forgone conclusion there won't be a Triple Crown winner this year.
There will be, however, a Triple Crown classic rubber match between this year's upset Kentucky Derby winner and the miraculous Preakness Stakes winner. Giacomo and Afleet Alex will square off against an ambitious-but-intriguing field of nine others for this year's Belmont Stakes.
There are three in the Belmont Stakes field -- A.P. Arrow, Chekhov and Watchmon -- who enter the Grade I with only a maiden win apiece. Another, Nolan's Cat, enters the $1 million event still a maiden. Trainer Nick Zito, who will again send out quantity in this Triple Crown series, has three runners in Andromeda's Hero, Indy Storm and Pinpoint -- boasting combined totals of 18 starts with seven victories -- looking for his first in-the-money finish.
The one thing the connections of all 11 entrants have in common is the belief that each horse has the breeding to suggest a solid effort at the demanding and unusual distance of 1 1/2 miles. That breeding, for whatever lack of experience each may have, is the element to take their charges into the uncharted extraquarter-mile past the Kentucky Derby to a competitive if not victorious conclusion.
And, although there is a solid chance none of the 11 in Saturday's Belmont Stakes will ever be asked to race this far again, that breeding will prevail in the "Test of Champions."
Three sophomores are sons of Belmont Stakes winners. A.P. Arrow and Indy Storm are by 1992 winner A.P. Indy while Reverberate is by 1995 winner Thunder Gulch.
The last time two horses competed in all three Triple Crown races with split victories in the first two jewels was in 2001, when Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos and Preakness Stakes winner Point Given raced in the tiebreaking Belmont Stakes. Point Given blew the race wide open with a daylight win.
Since the last Triple Crown victory by Affirmed in 1978, six other split winners have contested all three Triple Crown races with the rubber match in the Belmont Stakes. In 1984 Swale won the Derby, lost the Preakness to Gate Dancer and came back to beat him in the Belmont. Winning Colors won the 1988 Derby only to lose the Preakness and Belmont to Risen Star. Strike The Gold in 1991 and Go For Gin in 1994 both won the Derby but lost the Preakness and Belmont. Hansel won the last two in 1991 while Tabasco Cat took the final two in 1994.
Both Sunday Silence in 1989 and Real Quiet in 1998 had won the Derby and Preakness but couldn't beat their Triple Crown nemesis three times in a row to take the trophy. Easy Goer got even in the 1989 Belmont while Victory Gallop got up in the final jump in the 1998 Belmont after finishing second in both the Derby and Preakness that year.
Overall, Afleet Alex will try to become the 18th Preakness-Belmont winner while Giacomo tries to become the 12th Derby-Belmont victor.
As far as the new faces in the 137th Belmont Stakes, remember Sarava's upset in the 2002 Belmont Stakes. Only five of the 11 starters come into Saturday's race off a victory, which includes Preakness Stakes winner Afleet Alex. The other four include Pinpoint, who won the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness Day undercard, Lone Star Derby winner Southern Africa, allowance race winner Indy Storm and maiden-breaker A.P. Arrow. The latter is trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who engineered four Belmont Stakes victories, with the most recent an upset by Commendable in 2000.
Although the local Belmont Stakes prep race -- the Peter Pan run on May 29 -- won't produce the winner, it will send runner-up Reverberate and beaten favorite Chekhov into the Belmont Stakes this year.
This Belmont renewal won't have viewers on the edge of their seats living out the drama of Triple Crown anticipation, then disappointment, again, but it does provide a decisive platform for the best Triple Crown performer this year. It could also set the stage for yet another sophomore star, yielding the first Triple Crown with three different winners since 1996 when Grindstone won the Derby, Louis Quatorze took the Preakness and Editor's Note annexed the Belmont Stakes.
Whatever the outcome, this Belmont Stakes is an interesting challenge for players, with another chance at big payoffs for those partaking exotic wagers.
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