Mine That Bird was full of energy when arriving at Belmont (Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com)

Under a light drizzle, Belmont S. (G1) morning-line favorite MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone) had his first tour of Belmont Park's 1 1/2-mile oval Thursday morning, galloping briskly over the sloppy, sealed track just after 7 a.m. (EDT).

Trainer Chip Woolley and owners Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach were on hand as the Kentucky Derby (G1) hero, who was second in the Preakness S. (G1), fairly skipped over the surface with exercise rider Carlos Figueroa up. The gelding came down the middle of the stretch, as the inside part of the track was closed for training.

"He gets over it so easy -- that's what I was hoping for," said Woolley, who immediately afterward departed with the owners to ring the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange, along with jockey Calvin Borel. "He carries it with him wherever he goes. He loped through the stretch real easy. If there's a track he doesn't like, we haven't found it yet."

Mine That Bird, the 2-1 morning line favorite, arrived at Belmont Park at 4 p.m. on Wednesday following an uneventful flight from Louisville, Kentucky, a departure in travel style from the first two legs of the Triple Crown, for which Woolley personally drove him by horse van from New Mexico to Churchill Downs and from there to Baltimore for the Preakness.

Charitable Man will try to keep his dirt record perfect (Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com)

"With the rain, the training track seemed to be a little better, because they race over there and seal it a little tighter," said McLaughlin, who trains the Peter Pan S. (G2) winner for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren, Jr. "I don't know what we'll do tomorrow because of the rain. He's fit, but ideally speaking, we'd like to gallop over a fast track, just to keep him in a routine. We don't mind running on a sloppy track, but there's no money in the morning, so we don't train on it."

The Warrens will be visiting Anna House, the child care center located on Belmont Park's backstretch, on Friday around 10:15 a.m. There they will be presented with two posters made by the center's preschoolers wishing Charitable Man good luck in Saturday's race. The Warrens recently donated $10,000 to Anna House in honor of McLaughlin, who is being recognized by the Belmont Child Care Association this summer for his long-standing and continued support.  

Earlier this week, Borel predicted that Mine That Bird would win the Belmont. On Thursday, trainer Todd Pletcher made an entirely different sort of pronouncement: he guaranteed it would not rain on Belmont Day.

"I would not allow it to rain on Saturday," said Pletcher, whose DUNKIRK (Unbridled's Song) turned in the worst performance of his career when 11th in the Kentucky Derby on the slop.

Dunkirk, runner-up in the Florida Derby (G1) two back, galloped over the main track Thursday.

Lukas is confident in Flying Private's chances in the Belmont (Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com)

"But I don't anticipate it would be an off-track unless it rains Saturday," added Pletcher, who trains Dunkirk for Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. "This track dries out pretty quickly."

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas sent his Belmont duo of LUV GOV (Ten Most Wanted) and FLYING PRIVATE (Fusaichi Pegasus) out early Thursday morning and later was happy to continue sharing his thoughts on restructuring the Triple Crown.

"It's the time in between races that we all struggle with," said Lukas, who has saddled four Belmont winners. "Nowadays, you need to run in two Grade 1 races to even get into the Derby -- back in the 1940s, Calumet Farm would send their horses in schooling races to get them ready for the Derby."

Lukas proposed at Wednesday morning's draw that the Derby be run on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness go off during Memorial Day weekend, the Belmont be moved to Independence Day and that the Travers S. (G1), run the last weekend in August, be added to the series.

"Nothing is going to take away from the Derby, but if you figure that the media capital is in New York, you would then have three races in the East," said Lukas, who trains Luv Gov for Marylou Whitney Stables and Flying Private for Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack.

Chocolate Candy could enjoy sweet victory on Saturday (Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com)

The Craig Family Trust's CHOCOLATE CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]), who came to Belmont Park directly from Churchill Downs, where he finished fifth in the Derby, galloped Thursday morning on the main track with exercise rider Lindsey Molina aboard.

"I didn't want to run all those (Triple Crown) races in a row," said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, explaining his decision to skip the Preakness. "I never planned on running in Preakness and all along point to this race, though we might have gotten more pressure to run in the Preakness if he'd done better in Derby."

Chocolate Candy schooled Wednesday and, weather permitting, was to school Thursday afternoon in the paddock as well.

"We did fine, so I'm not too worried about that," Hollendorfer said. "I hadn't seen him on a sloppy track here until today, and I thought he got over track fine."

Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito sent his two Belmont starters for owner Robert V. LaPenta -- MINER'S ESCAPE (Mineshaft) and BRAVE VICTORY (Lion Heart) -- out on the training track this morning.

"Everything is cool," Zito said. "They galloped and jogged about two miles and everything is going the way it's supposed to."

Zito has saddled 20 Belmont Stakes starters, winning the "Test of the Champion" twice with Birdstone in 2004 and Da' Tara (Tiznow) last year.