Todd Pletcher is apparently ‘making up for lost time’. The high level trainer had no horses in the Preakness Stakes after running five in the Kentucky Derby but by all accounts is expected to have a ‘full house’ in the Belmont Stakes. He’s already committed to running four horses and could have several more if their connections decide to enter them in the race.

Three of the horses that Pletcher will run in the Belmont Stakes also competed in the Kentucky Derby—Revolutionary, Overanalyze and Palace Malice. Revolutionary finished third behind Orb and Golden Soul but Overanalyze and Palace Malice turned in disappointing performances fishing 11th and 12th respectively. Overanalyze got a poor ride from replacement jockey Rafael Bejarano (usual jockey John Velazquez was on board Verrazano). Velazquez may be otherwise engaged for the Belmont so Overanalyze may get another jockey change. Palace Malice set wicked fractions early in the race before fading badly. The current ‘party line’ is that the addition of blinkers was a bad decision and jockey Mike Smith was unable to control the horse.

The fourth Pletcher entry is a ‘near certainty’ at this point—Mike Repole owned filly Unlimited Budget finished third in the Kentucky Oaks and the presumption is that she’ll make the Belmont Start. Repole also owns a pair of other possible Belmont entries in Micromanage and Midnight Taboo. The decision about their status will be made in the next week or so based on how they look in workouts.

Despite a 12th place finish in the Kentucky Derby trainer Pletcher remains high on the prospects of Palace Malice, who’ll once again have Mike Smith aboard. Pletcher says he expects a nice performance from Palace Malice in the Belmont Stakes:

“I still think he’s a very good horse. He ran a big race in the Blue Grass, and I feel like he’s got a big win in him. He came out of the Derby very well. He breezed great yesterday. He’s a son of Curlin out of a Royal Anthem mare, so the pedigree suggests a mile and a half is within his scope.”
Jockey Javier Castellano will be back aboard Revolutionary after he switched to Normandy Invasion for the Kentucky Derby. Pletcher reportedly wasn’t pleased with Bejarano’s ride aboard Overanalyze so it’s doubtful that he’ll be back. There’s a chance that John Velazquez could take the mount but the expectation is that he’ll be aboard one of the Mike Repole owned entries.
The Belmont Stakes is set for June 8th at New York’s Belmont Park. Entries won’t be official until the Wednesday before the race but every indication is that Kentucky Derby winner Orb and Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow will be in the field.