Bluegrass Cat, the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) runner up to Barbaro, breezed five furlongs over Belmont's main track Sunday morning in 1:00.30.
Under exercise rider Eddie King, Bluegrass Cat, one of the favorites for the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) on June10, turned in the sixth fastest of 28 works at the distance.

As of Sunday morning, Belmont probables, in addition to Bluegrass Cat, included Sunriver, Bob and John, Deputy Glitters, Hemingway's Key, Jazil, Oh So Awesome, Sacred Light, Steppenwolfer and Platinum Couple. Wilentz and High Finance are possible, too.

Pletcher was pleased with Bluegrass Cat's workout.

"He worked really well," said Pletcher, who also plans on running recent Peter Pan (gr. II) winner Sunriver in the Belmont Stakes. "The defections of Barbaro and Bernardini have certainly changed the complexion of the race ... we're very optimistic."

Bluegrass Cat, a bay Storm Cat colt, was one of the nation's leading juveniles of 2005 after racking up stakes wins in the Nashua (gr. III) and Remsen (gr. II). Although he won his seasonal debut in the Feb. 18 Sam Davis, Bluegrass Cat faltered in his final two pre-Kentucky Derby races, losing the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. III) at odds of 2-5 and finishing fourth as the favorite in the Toyota Blue Grass (gr. I). The colt rebounded nicely in the Kentucky Derby, however.

"He ran big," Pletcher said. "He was like a lot of horses that didn't seem to take to the Keeneland track and improved at Churchill. A little improvement off of the Derby and we'll be tough."

Sunriver, a full brother to the multiple Eclipse Award-winning Ashado, is scheduled to work next Sunday. Jockey Rafael Bejarano has the mount aboard Sunriver in the Belmont Stakes.

Jockey John Velazquez is expected to reunite with Bluegrass Cat for the Belmont Stakes. He was on the backstretch Sunday working horses for Pletcher. Velazquez has not ridden in a race since April 20, having suffered a fractured shoulder blade and cracked rib in a spill at Keeneland. Velazquez has been the nation's champion jockey in both 2004 and 2005.

"I feel good. I'm just trying to get fit," Velazquez said. "I'm doing better than I thought I'd be doing at this point. I just need to get a little more strength in my back and we'll go from there. I was jogging and doing physical therapy before I started getting on the horses again. It's good to be back."

Velazquez hopes to ride during the week preceding the Belmont

Trainer David Hofmans will put his perfect Belmont Stakes record on the line when he saddles Amerman Racing Stables' Sacred Light. The Holy Bull colt worked seven furlongs in 1:28, handily, beneath jockey Victor Espinoza Sunday at Hollywood Park. Hofmans won with his only Belmont starter, Touch Gold, in 1997, foiling the Triple Crown bid of Silver Charm.

"He went very nice," Hofmans said of the work. "He was in company early and drew away from that horse by about five or six lengths. Victor said he was very happy."

Espinoza will ride Sacred Light for the first time in the Belmont. His previous Belmont experience includes a runner-up finish with A P Valentine in 2001 and an eighth with favorite and Triple Crown hopeful War Emblem in 2002.

"Our plan is to ship him to New York on Tuesday and work him over the track there Sunday," Hofmans said. "Touch Gold ran in the Preakness, but we gave him a good seven-eighths work before the Belmont over the track. I remember talking to Woody Stephens about the importance of getting a work over the track before the Belmont that year."

Stephens trained five straight Belmont winners from 1982 to 1986.

Sacred Light would be winless if it weren't for a forward placement via disqualification last August in a Del Mar maiden race. The colt ran credible races against top California 3-year-olds such as Bob and John and Brother Derek. Sacred Light comes off a runner-up finish in a 1 1/16-mile Churchill allowance race behind last year's Belmont third-place finisher Nolan's Cat

"He's a true distance horse," Hofmans said. "When Rafael Bejarano got off him after his last race, he said the horse probably would have won if the race were another eighth of a mile."

Other than the Santa Anita Derby when he was a distant fourth behind Brother Derek, Sacred Light has hit the board in all his other starts this year.

"The Santa Anita Derby was just a mess," Hofmans said. "He fell on his nose and it was pretty much over after that."

Hofmans said he will be in New York to supervise the work next week.

On the day after Cash is King LLC's Afleet Alex dusted 10 rivals to win the 137th Belmont Stakes, presented by Argent Mortgage by seven lengths, the leading three-year-old is fine, according to trainer Tim Ritchey.

"No problems," Ritchey said. "We washed the poultice off his legs, which is a normal thing I do with every horse. His legs were ice cold, tight as could be, he walked very well, grazed for a while and everything's good."

Ritchey has always held Afleet Alex in very high regard, but after Saturday's Belmont that opinion could have only been strengthened.

"He's an iron horse," Ritchey said. "He's performing better and better and better every time. The races he's been through, for him to run like he did in the Preakness and then come back and run this kind of race in the Belmont, I think that shows he's a very special horse. I've said all along that he will run as far as they write as race."

Afleet Alex will remain at Belmont Park for at least the next couple of days, according to Ritchey. What follows is uncertain.

"He'll either stay here, go to Monmouth or Saratoga," Ritchey said. "I want to have 10 or 15 horses going to the same place he is. Probably the most likely is Monmouth Park because the Haskell is the next target we're going to shoot at."

The Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational is at a mile and an eighth August 7th at Monmouth Park. Ritchey also mentioned the Grade 1, $1 million Travers on August 27th as a strong possibility.

"He doesn't need to run in both," Ritchey said. "He could run in one and not the other. We'll see how it plays out and what happens from there."

When Ritchey was asked what he thought about going up against defending Horse of the Year Ghostzapper, he downplayed a potential meaning. Reading between the lines it seemed that Ritchey was almost saying his horse probably wouldn't run in the Breeders' Cup Classic, which is at Belmont Park this year on Saturday, October 29th.

"Ghostzapper is a tremendous horse," Ritchey responded. "Our horse is a three-year-old. We're going to run him with three-year-olds where he belongs right now. He will be running as a four-year-old, so if Ghostzapper is still out there, I suppose we'll meet up somewhere, but we'll see what happens then. That's a long way ahead."

The decision to bring Afleet Alex back as a four-year-old is more complicated than it seems at first thought. With his value as a stallion probably somewhere around $30 million right now, the Afleet Alex could stand to make significantly more money as a stallion next year instead of a racehorse.

"I see him do things that no horse I've ever been around can do," Ritchey said. "I would have estimated he was worth between $20 million and $25 million before the Belmont. I think his value has dramatically increased after the way he won the Belmont.

"We'll address that issue somewhere down the line. As long as he's healthy and sound, he will run as a four-year-old, end of story. The owners are in 100 percent agreement with that. We've had about 15 farms call. The one condition we'll have in anything that we do with any breeding farms is that we will sell breeding interests, not racing interests.

Ritchey continued to speak about the importance of bringing Afleet Alex back at 4.

"I think it's the thing to do," he said. "I think it will make the horse more valuable. I think the owners are having the time of their lives and I know I am. If we can get one more year, it makes him an even better breeding prospect. If he can run as a 2, 3, and four-year-old in major races and do some things in the future-the grass is a possibility and it may not be until 2006 that he gets on the grass. There are a lot of things we can do with this horse. Like I've said before, he's won going 5 ½ furlongs all the way to a mile and a half. If that's not a horse people would want to breed to-a horse that shows that kind of speed going 5 ½ furlongs and then still win at a mile and a half-he's the ideal prospect."

Afleet Alex has also become a very popular horse Shortly after 9 a.m. on Sunday, he, Ritchey and jockey Jeremy Rose were on NBC's Today Show live from Belmont Park. All during the interview, Afleet Alex played with Rose and then would munch on the Alex's Lemonade Stand poster that Ritchey used to promote the childhood cancer fund.

The Maryland Jockey Club today unveiled the 2006 Preakness logo and announced tickets for the Preakness Stakes® will go on sale next Monday, October 3. The 131st running of the $1,000,000 Preakness (GR I), the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, is set for Saturday, May 20, 2006 at Pimlico Race Course.

A crowd of 115,318 packed Pimlico last May 21, the largest crowd to witness a sporting event in the state. Attendance figures have topped six-figures in six of the last seven years, including five straight.

In addition to expanding the successful Turfside Terrace from 1,188 to 1,485 seats, the two-day Turfside Terrace ticket will be offered once again as the popularity of Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan and Pimlico Special Day continues to grow.

The Clubhouse Turn Reserved, offering premium seating and corporate suite opportunities which debuted in 2005, will also be enlarged. The Preakness Village, with corporate hospitality tents and sky chalets, will be more spacious. And in the Infield, the Top of the Stretch seating, which also debuted in 2005, will be expanded, again providing Infield fans with a deluxe alternative to general infield admission.

“Pimlico is poised to respond to the continuing growth and popularity of the Preakness Stakes,” said Karin De Francis, Maryland Jockey Club executive vice president. “Particularly with ticket sales, we keep our finger on the pulse of fan and community interest in the Preakness. Inquiries about ticket availability for the next Preakness start immediately after the race is run and requests for information continue unabated until tickets are finally made available in the fall. Last fall, we advanced the start of ticket sales by several months and quickly sold out. The new and varied seating and hospitality options that Pimlico added for Preakness 2005, offering something for everyone at all price levels, met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Racing fans from across the country, especially from our hometown of Baltimore, fully appreciate the value of this historic event. We expect another successful sales campaign for the 2006 Preakness.”

For the seventh consecutive year, The Leffler Agency of Baltimore and Tampa designed the official Preakness logo. Bill and Laura Etter, the agency’s husband and wife design team, created the 2006 logo. Four of their last five Preakness designs have won major national awards.

This year’s logo incorporates the traditional elements that embody the spirit of the Preakness: a silhouette of Pimlico's historic cupola, a jockey & horse and the Black Eyed Susan, Maryland's State flower. A palette of burgundy, brown and gold has been selected for the logo to convey energy and excitement so abundant with the coming of the Preakness. The flower, horse and jockey elements have been illustrated in fresh and painterly style, while the text for "Preakness 131" has a more traditional feel.

"We at Leffler are delighted to be designing our seventh Preakness logo for the Maryland Jockey Club,” said Bob Leffler, agency president. “One of the best parts for our staff and designers is seeing the logo painted, giant-sized, on the Pimlico infield grass facing the main grandstand on Preakness Day."

The 131st Preakness logo will be used on all communications, merchandise and promotional materials.

Afleet Alex wrote his name into the history books after passing eight horses on the final turn and exploding to the front to win the 137th Running of the Belmont Stakes (Gr. 1) in front of 62,274 fans on Saturday at Belmont Park.

"I don’t want to hear any more criticism about my horse," said jockey Jeremy Rose. "He’s one of the best we’ve see in a long time."

Afleet Alex, who is owned by Cash is King LLC, won the 1½-mile "Test of the Champion" by seven lengths in 2:28 3/5 over a fast track to become the 18th Thoroughbred to win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Andromeda's Hero, under Rafael Bejarano, finished second. Maiden Nolan's Cat, under Norberto Arroyo, Jr., was third.

Pinpoint went to the lead and set the early fractions at :24 2/5, :48 3/5 and 1:12 4/5, with A. P. Arrow and Southern Africa coasting off his flank. Afleet Alex was content to settle back in ninth position in the 11-horse field and save ground about six lengths back for the first half of the race. The field bunched into three rows of three as it entered the turn for home. Afleet Alex was in the back row, stuck on the rail. Mike Smith asked Giacomo, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, to make his move to the outside of the pack, and, for a moment, it appeared that it would lead to victory.

Afleet Alex, however, was about to be freed from traffic. Chekhov and Reverberate drifted out slightly on the turn, allowing Afleet Alex room to advance between Watchmon and Indy Storm, then catch Giacomo and find open track in the middle of the stretch.

Then, Afleet Alex took off.

"He just exploded," said winning trainer Tim Ritchey.

The colt, who stumbled at the top of the stretch before rallying to win the Preakness Stakes, finished the grueling Belmont Stakes in :24 2/5, the fastest final quarter mile since Art and Letters in 1969.

"I had the best horse," Rose said. "The only thing that could get him beat was me, so I stayed out of his way."

Afleet Alex — a Florida-bred 3-year-old son of Northern Afleet, out of Maggy Hawk (Hawkster) — paid $4.30 as the favorite.

"We expected this kind of performance today," Ritchey said. "All I kept saying was: 'Be patient, be patient, be patient, wait, wait, wait.' That was the plan. With these big, wide turns you have to save all the ground you can. Jeremy Rose has now ridden three Triple Crown races like a Hall of Famer."

The 137th Belmont Stakes was billed as the rematch between Derby winner Giacomo and Preakness winner Afleet Alex, and nine other horses. It was the 13th such rematch since 1956 and the updated tally has the Preakness winners up, 5-3.

Trainer Nick Zito, who saddled seven different horses for a total of 11 starters in the three Triple Crown races, finished second with Andromeda's Hero, fourth with Indy Storm and last with Pinpoint.

"It’s an honor to be second to this great horse," said Zito, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 8, 2005. "Without him in this race, we win the Belmont Stakes. (Andromeda’s Hero) just ran great. All of my jockeys did what they were supposed to do. Pinpoint may not be ready for these horses yet, Indy Storm ran great and Andromeda’s Hero ran unbelievable."

Bejarano was happy with the response he got from Andromeda’s Hero. "My horse broke really good this time," he said, "so, I stayed comfortable in good position, trying to stay close to Afleet Alex. When he moved at the three-eighths pole, I followed him, and when I asked my horse at the quarter pole, my horse started running strong. But Afleet Alex just ran away."

Nolan's Cat, whom some believed sullied the Triple Crown by running as a maiden, surprised many with a solid stretch run and his third-place finish.

"If this horse didn’t have some unfortunate events along the way, I think he would have been a contender throughout the entire Triple Crown," said trainer Dale Romans about Nolan's Cat, who is now 0-3-2 from six starts. "I was real pleased with the way he ran. He just had some nagging injuries as a 2-year-old and got caught up in quarantine early this year. I couldn’t give him enough seasoning. I was pleased with his race, and happy the public showed him respect. We didn’t have the pace that we had last year in this race. But he still ran good into a slower pace. He’s the best maiden in the country."

Arroyo, Jr., was impressed with Nolan's Cat: "I had to take him wide at the top of the stretch," he said. "He really liked the distance. I had confidence in him. I knew there would be a lot of horses stopping going a mile and a half. I just let him relax the first part and started moving up little by little."

Giacomo finished seventh under Mike Smith in his attempt to become the 12th horse to win the Derby and Belmont Stakes. Smith surmised that Giacomo displaced his palate during the race.

"Down the backstretch, I could hear him make a loud, roaring noise," Smith said. "I knew he had (displaced his palate). So, I got him to the outside and dropped his head — a lot of times that will help get it back. But he never did. At the quarter-pole, he let out another one. Galloping out was the same. When a horse is doing that, he is not breathing right. I won’t take anything away from Afleet Alex. He ran great today."

Added trainer John Shirreffs about his Giacomo: "Mike (Smith) said the horse started to make a lot of noise, and started displacing (his upper palate). He looks good now. The Triple Crown has been great to us. (Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss), my wife and I and for everyone involved, we’ve all enjoyed it. We’ve had a wonderful time with Giacomo. Every stop we’ve made, everyone has been great to us. He’s going to get a break now."

In the immediate afterglow of the Belmont Stakes, on the track where 18 horses failed to complete the Triple Crown, including Smarty Jones last year and Funny Cide the year before, Rose felt remorse for what he felt could have been.

"He should be a Triple Crown winner, but I messed up or whatever," Rose told a live national television audience on NBC as he galloped back to the Winner's Circle. "I say I messed up because I had the best horse. You can’t blame Tim (Ritchey) and you can’t blame Afleet Alex. So, if you have to blame someone, blame me."

Afleet Alex finished third in the Kentucky Derby on May 7. He stumbled in the Preakness Stakes yet still pulled away to an impressive 4¾-length victory on May 21.

After the Belmont Stakes, Afleet Alex is now 8-2-1 from 12 starts with earnings of $2,765,800. He is now a three-time Grade 1 winner, with the Hopeful as a juvenile and the Preakness and Belmont as a 3-year-old on his resume.