Preakness Winner Shackleford Expected To Run In Belmont Stakes

Added on May 23, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Horse Racing

Though the conventional wisdom on Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford is that he’s better suited to shorter distances, it looks like he’ll brave the 1 1/2 mile course at Belmont Park and run in the third leg of the Triple Crown. His trainer, Dale Romans, said on Monday that chances are ‘better than 50/50′ that Shackleford will run in the Belmont.

The likely return of Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner up Animal Kingdom to run in the Belmont appeared to have some bearing on the decision. Romans spoke of the developing rivalry between Shackleford and Animal Kingdom:

“I think it would be great if we could develop a little bit of a rivalry in the 3-year-old division. I think these 3-year-olds are better than most people realize.”

Romans briefly considered flying Shackleford directly to Belmont Park but instead returned him to his home at Churchill Downs. He said this would give him the opportunity to make a more informed decision on Shackleford’s Belmont chances:

“I want to go over him a couple of days there and then make a decision.”

The field for the Belmont Stakes is already starting to shape up. In addition to Shackleford and Animal Kingdom, the expectation is that Mucho Macho Man will also enter the field. Kentucky Derby second place finisher Nehro skipped the Preakness but is expected to be brought back for the Belmont. 5th place Kentucky Derby finisher Master of Hounds and sixth place finisher Sanitiva also bypassed the Preakness but are being considered for the Belmont start. In addition, there are a group of horses who didn’t race in either Triple Crown event being pointed toward the Belmont–Peter Pan winner Alternation and Prime Cut are the most notable in this category.

The Grade 1 Belmont Stakes is the final leg of the Triple Crown and will be run over a dirt track at 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park in New York. This is the 143rd running of the race which offers a purse of $1 million this year with $600,000 going to the winner. The race will be broadcast live in the United States on NBC with extensive coverage leading up to the event on TVG and HRTV.