Belmont Large Field Lottery
For only the fourth time will the Belmont be run without the winner of the Preakness Stakes or the Kentucky Derby.
Fusaichi Pegasus won at Churchill Downs and was second to Red Bullet at Pimlico, but neither raced at Belmont. In 1970 Dust Commander won in the Derby and Personality took the Preakness, neither made it to the Belmont.
In 1962 Bill Hartack took Decidedly home - he is tied with Eddie Arcaro for most wins.
After missing the Derby, Greek Money captured the Preakness and Jaipur took the Belmont.
Once again the winners of the first two Crown legs won't race in the Belmont - for different reasons. Barbaro is recovering from a life-threatening leg injury and Bernardini is to be rested after his win at Pimlico.
Bernardini's ultimate goal will now be the Breeders' Cup Classic on November 4.
Barbaro continuse to make amazing progress from the broken leg.
The 138 Belmont could be the largest field for ten years - including up to ten horses that didn't run on 20 May. The largest field was fifteen runners in 1983 when Caveat defeated Slew o' Gold by 3.5 lengths.
