The Truth or Else joins Belmont fray; Pletcher trio, Frosted to work Friday

The Truth or Else joins Belmont fray; Pletcher trio,

Frosted to work Friday

McPeek also trained Atigun, who finished third in the 2012 edition;

Unstoppable U, sixth in 2012; Frac Daddy, 14th in 2013, and Pineaff, ninth in

1999.

"He's just a really solid horse," McPeek said. "The Truth or Else is bigger

and stronger than both Sarava and Atigun. Weird things happen in the Belmont.

You shouldn't duck one horse in a race. American Pharoah could possibly not

handle the surface. You don't know. So long as it's a dry track, we'll pull the

trigger."

McPeek said that two-time Belmont S. winner and Hall of Famer Edgar Prado

will have the mount.

The field for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont S. is hovering at 10. On Thursday,

trainer Mark Casse said Conquest Curlinate (Curlin), who is stabled at Churchill Downs,

would not run in the Belmont. Conquest Curlinate was not nominated to the Triple

Crown and would have had to be supplemented to the Belmont for $75,000. He will

be pointed instead to the Queen's Plate.

American Pharoah is scheduled to arrive at Belmont Park on Tuesday, along with

fellow Belmont contender Keen Ice (Curlin). Coming down from Saratoga Race Course will

be Frammento (Midshipman), trained by Hall of Famer Nick Zito, who won the Belmont in 2004

with Birdstone and again in 2008 with Da' Tara, both times upsetting Triple

Crown hopefuls.

Scheduled to breeze Friday morning for their upcoming roles in the "Test of the

Champion" are the Todd Pletcher trio of Madefromlucky (Lookin at Lucky), Materiality

(Afleet Alex) and Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway);

the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Frosted (Tapit); and Preakness runner-up Tale of Verve

(Tale of Ekati) for

trainer Dallas Stewart.

Mubtaahij (Dubawi) is set to work once more this weekend before galloping up to the race.

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