Belmont field beginning to come together

Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will be back for the Belmont Stakes on June 6. Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra, however, is no certainty as her connections plot their next move.

Among the other 11 horses in the Preakness field, only Flying Private, who finished fourth, is a lock for the Belmont. The colt was last at the Kentucky Derby.

Luv Guv, who finished eighth, is a possibility. Both are trained by D. Wayne Lukas.

"Flying Private was going around here playing and raising hell," Lukas said. "He really was full of himself. He's as sharp as a tack."

According to the Daily Racing Form, four horses who ran in the Derby but skipped the Preakness - Chocolate Candy (fifth), Summer Bird (sixth), Dunkirk (11th) and Mr. Hot Stuff (15th) - are being pointed toward the Belmont.

Charitable Man and Miner's Escape also are expected to run in the Belmont.

Gitano Hernando, a Belmont hopeful, will not make the race, owner Team Valor said yesterday. He took a bad step in his last start, a May 8 stakes race in England, and will now be pointed toward turf races this summer.

Charitable Man won the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on May 8 by 3 3/4 lengths and his sire, Lemon Drop Kid, won the Belmont in 1999.

Miner's Escape, trained by Nick Zito, won the Tesio Stakes at Pimlico on May 2.

Friesan Fire struggles

 

Friesan Fire was shipped back to trainer Larry Jones' barn at Delaware Park yesterday after a 10th-place finish. The horse dropped out of contention on the second turn.

"Everything we ran looks good and Friesan Fire looks just fine," Jones said. "No major complaints. We ended up scoping him later Saturday and there was nothing.

"We don't see any excuses that he could have this time other than the fact that he didn't come down the lane as fast as he should have. He was sitting in a good spot at that point . . . I wish I could come up with a real good excuse, saying I know how to keep that from happening next time, but there are no reasons that we can see right now."

Jones said the colt is not heading to the Belmont; they were planning to "regroup and see what's next." *