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Rags to Riches doing well after historic score
Rags to Riches wasn't Pletcher's only winner on Saturday, as Cotton Blossom (Broken Vow) captured the Acorn S. (G1). The trainer also finished second in the Manhattan H. (G1) with English Channel (Smart Strike) and second in the Just a Game S. (G2) with champion Wait a While (Maria's Mon). "This morning it looks like everybody came back good," Pletcher said. "No wounds or anything like that. We'll have to sit down and figure out where everybody is going next." Curlin and HARD SPUN (Danzig), the only two horses to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown, both returned to their home bases on Sunday. Curlin, trained by Steven Asmussen, left Belmont Park around 6 a.m. (EDT) and was scheduled to arrive in Kentucky later in the afternoon, while Hard Spun arrived safely back at trainer Larry Jones' Delaware Park base. "He ate well last night and his legs are good and cold," Jones said of Hard Spun, who finished fourth in the Belmont. "We're not going to plan on anything right away. We'll let him recharge his batteries. He won't run again until August." C P WEST (Came Home) set the early pace in the Belmont before fading and eventually crossing under the line in fifth for trainer Nick Zito. The dark bay colt came out of the race in good order and is set to ship to Saratoga in the next couple of days. "This race is more unique than any race ever because that mile and a half gets them all," Zito said of the Belmont. "Yesterday, there were two of them that proved how good they are. It goes to show you what kind of race the Belmont is. I'm a traditionalist and I hope they never change anything about the Triple Crown." Sixth-place runner IMAWILDANDCRAZYGUY (Wild Event) trailed in last early but managed to pass SLEW'S TIZZY (Tiznow) to finish sixth in the Belmont. The Bill Kaplan-trained gray, who was fourth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), is set to ship back to Calder in the next few days. "He didn't do anything," Kaplan explained. "He just galloped around there. They were sprinting in the stretch and there was no way he was going to catch them. I knew they were going to slow the pace down, but I didn't expect a half in :50. We're very vulnerable to that. It didn't play to our hand and there was nothing we could do about it. He went out there and had a nice two-minute lick into a three-eighths breeze." Imawildandcrazyguy will get some time off and could possibly return in an allowance. "He's eligible for a two-other-than, so we'll get an easy race for him down there and then pick something out," Kaplan said. Slew's Tizzy, seventh and last in the Belmont, will van back to Kentucky on Monday, according to trainer Greg Fox, who added that his charge became jumpy hours before the Belmont went off. "He got a little nervous in there (security barn)," Fox said. "There was no quiet place for him to walk around; it was very congested. "The pace scenario in the race really hurt us. I'm glad I was there for one of the greatest Belmonts ever, though. After it became clear Slew's Tizzy was not having a good race, I shifted my focus to the drama up front. I'm so happy for the winning connections." Fox said that Slew's Tizzy could reappear in the Haskell Invitational (G1), Virginia Derby (G2) and/or West Virginia Derby (G3) this year.
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