Absent horses overshadow 12 Belmont starters

ELMONT, N.Y. — The Kentucky Derby winner is recovering from life-threatening injuries at an equine clinic in Pennsylvania, and the Preakness winner will remain in his barn for today's 138th Belmont Stakes.

Without Barbaro and Bernardini, the final leg of the Triple Crown seemingly will have trouble living up to the race's slogan of "Test of the Champion."

"It's the test of the leftovers," trainer Bob Baffert said Friday. "I mean, champions."

For the first time in years, there doesn't appear to be much to get excited about heading into the 1 ½-mile Belmont. No Triple Crown try, no rivalries, no pizzazz.

"Clearly, it's not as exciting when there isn't a Triple Crown prospect, but that doesn't mean I want to win the Belmont any less," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "For us, that would be exciting."

Pletcher has two major contenders in his bid to win his first Triple Crown event and improve his 0-for-19 record in such races. Pletcher sends out Bluegrass Cat, the 3-1 morning-line favorite, and Sunriver, the 4-1 second choice.

The field of a dozen 3-year-olds has five horses who ran in the Derby, including 2-3-4 finishers Bluegrass Cat, Steppenwolfer and Jazil (dead heat with Brother Derek). Two Preakness starters are entered, too, including third-place finisher Hemingway's Key.

A mere five weeks ago, Bluegrass Cat was 30-1 in the Derby and jockey John Velazquez was sidelined by a fractured shoulder blade. Today, Velazquez will be in charge of urging Bluegrass Cat to victory.

Velazquez, the country's leading rider the past two years, was forced to miss the Derby and give up his ride on Bluegrass Cat when he was thrown from a horse in April in the Forerunner Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. While Velazquez rehabilitated his shoulder, Bluegrass Cat rallied to finish second to Barbaro in the Derby after poor efforts in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and Tampa Bay Derby.

Although Velazquez admitted it was hard watching the first two legs of the Triple Crown from his couch, he said, "I was not feeling very good at all and I was not going to put myself out there.

"So definitely it was really hard, but on the other hand I'm very realistic. I couldn't do it."

Bluegrass Cat was an early Derby favorite after winning the Remsen Stakes as a 2-year-old and starting this year with an impressive victory in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs. His stock dropped going into the Derby after a drubbing in the Blue Grass.

"That's kind of the nature of the game," Pletcher said. "It's kind of like, 'How good was your last race?' That's fair enough. The only thing that we stood by was that we really thought the Blue Grass was a throwout. If you draw a line through the Blue Grass, he's done very little wrong."

Because there appears to be little pace in the $1 million Belmont, Velazquez said he believes Bluegrass Cat will be racing on or close to the early lead. "I want to leave him alone where he's comfortable," Velazquez said. "But I think definitely [he's] going to be very close to the lead."

Pletcher said he believes longshot High Finance will be the pacesetter.

This Triple Crown season fell apart shortly after the start of the Preakness with Barbaro's injury that has many people caring less about the Belmont and more about the brilliant colt's chances of survival.

To that end, ABC plans several updates on Barbaro's condition during its two-hour telecast. Recent reports from the clinic have been optimistic.

"A lot of people will be following and tuning in to see the update on Barbaro," Baffert said. "It's a good story for racing because it shows how modern medicine has updated everything."

Baffert-trained colt Bob and John won the Grade I Wood Memorial on April 8 at Aqueduct in Jamaica, N.Y.

"He's still like a young kid," Baffert said. "He's got to have things go his way. He's not a real, big tough kind of horse. He won't take a lot of jostling. He can't stop and go."