DROSSELMEYER POSTS UPSET VICTORY AT BELMONT

After falling short of the money winnings needed to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, the Bill Mott trained Drosselmeyer gained some degree of vindication by pulling an upset victory in the Belmont Stakes.  With Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard, Drosselmeyer outlasted a hard charging Fly Down to take the win in the third leg of the Triple Crown by ¾ of a length.  First Dude finished third, while Game On Dude took fourth.  Prerace favorite Ice Box was never in contention and wound up finishing 9th.

The horse racing betting odds on Drosselmeyer gave his backers a nice payback—he went off at 13-1 and paid $28.00, $11.60 and $7.70.  Nick Zito’s Fly Down was the second choice behind Ice Box at 5-1 and paid $6.80 and $5.10.  First Dude returned $4.90 to show.  The winning time was 2:31.57, the slowest Belmont winner since Thunder Gulch in 1995.  Following the race, Uptowncharlybrown was disqualified and unplaced due to a weight violation—he had lost his lead weight pad during the race and thus didn’t carry the required 126 pounds.

Elliot Walden, the racing manager for Drosselmeyer’s owners Win Star Farms said that he’d finally lived up to their expectations:

"We've had a lot of hopes for him. You get tired of making excuses. He had a great four weeks after the Dwyer. It was the perfect set-up race. He had a big work on Monday. We were hopefully optimistic. We felt like he had it in him. It was nice to see him do it. And it was nice for Billy."

Trainer Bill Mott suggested that it was simply a matter of time:

"It all came together. I think it was just a matter of time with some of the good horses I get to train that it was going to happen."

Kent Desormeaux had been aboard Drosselmeyer for seven of his eight starts, and Walden explained the thinking behind the switch to Mike Smith:

"I felt like the horse needed a little change in routine.  We went to Mike because we felt he would get him in a rhythm and keep him running. This horse really kicked hard turning for home and finished strong."

It’s been a good year so far for Win Star Farms—in addition to the Belmont victory they won the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver.  Now Walden is pointing both horses toward the Travers Stakes:

"We hope one of them ends up being the 3-year-old champion. We've put ourselves in that position going into the second half of the year. We will probably split them for their next race, then get them back together for the Travers and see what happens."

Both horses are expected to run a prep race before the Travers. The most likely races for both are the Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 31 and the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on Aug. 1.  The Travers Stakes will be held at Saratoga on August 28.