Palace Malice feeling good following Belmont win

Both Dogwood Stable's Palace Malice and trainer Todd Pletcher were feeling

good Sunday morning following the colt's 3 1/4-length victory over Preakness

winner Oxbow and Kentucky Derby victor Orb in the Belmont

Stakes Saturday at Belmont Park.

"He is a remarkable horse," said Pletcher, who was celebrating his second

Belmont victory. "He bounces out of his races really well. It was a tough

race, a demanding race, and he surprises me how resilient he is. He was feeling

very good this morning."

With three different horses having won the Triple Crown races, the three-year-old

division remains a work in progress, said the trainer.

"It's not coincidental at all that the horse who won the Belmont ran in the

Derby and skipped the Preakness," said Pletcher, who won the 2007 Belmont with

the filly Rags to Riches. "If you want to win the Belmont, it makes a lot of

sense to sit out the middle one. The fresh horse is always going to have an

edge, in my opinion.

"I think (Palace Malice) did more to leave the division wide open," he added.

"Everyone kind of goes into the rest of the summer and the fall of the year with

similar resumes. I don't think there's a clear-cut leader. Largely it will

depend on what happens in the fall of the year. It will be interesting to see

how they stack up when that happens."

For Palace Malice, that path likely will run through Saratoga Race Course and

the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy on July 27, followed by the Grade 1, $1 million

Travers on August 24.

"Honestly, the way he's feeling this morning, I don't know that I am going to be

able to give him much time off," Pletcher admitted. "He's just that kind of horse. He's a

high-energy, good-feeling horse. He'll go back to the track four days from now.

We'll probably carry forward to the Jim Dandy."

While Pletcher made history by saddling a record five starters in the Belmont,

he does not think that will happen in the Mid-Summer Derby.

"There's a lot of nice races around so I'm sure we'll find spots for them," he

said of his large contingent of talented sophomores. "We'll try to spread them

out as best as we can, but the Travers is kind of the next big coveted prize.

"Unlimited Budget (who finished sixth in the Belmont) will most likely go to the

(Grade 1, $300,000) Coaching Club

American Oaks (at Saratoga) on July 20 if she comes out of this well, which so far she has."

Revolutionary, Overanalyze and Midnight Taboo returned

from their respective fifth-, seventh- and 12th-place efforts in good order,

said Pletcher, as did Forty Tales, winner of the Grade 2 Woody Stephens earlier

on the Belmont card.

"We'd probably look at the (Grade 2, $200,000) Amsterdam (on July 28 at

Saratoga) for Forty Tales," he

said.

While Pletcher said he did not get to sleep until midnight Saturday, he was up

at 4 a.m. (EDT) to get back to the barn and work a number of horses for upcoming

races.

The horseman's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar was

caught in :49 2/5 for four furlongs over the fast training track at Belmont,

while Grade 1 victress Dreaming of Julia clocked :48 1/5 for the same

distance. Dreaming of Julia finished fourth in the Kentucky Oaks and will likely

get a rematch with her stablemate as both are pointing to the CCA Oaks.

Grade 1 hero Verrazano, who suffered his first career loss when 14th in the

Kentucky Derby last out, blazed a bullet, best of 51, half-mile in :47 2/5 in

advance of the Grade 3, $150,000 Pegasus

on June 16 at Monmouth Park.

Also on the worktab for Pletcher were Grade 2 scorer Discreet

Dancer, who went four panels in :48 3/5; multiple Grade 2 diva Kauai Katie, who

logged a half in :49 2/5; and easy stakes winner Dark Thunder, who was awarded

the bullet for going five furlongs in 1:01 2/5.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com