Union Rags arrives; all Belmont runners in stakes barn

Union Rags, the 6-1 third choice on the morning line behind Triple Crown

hopeful I'll Have Another (4-5) and Dullahan (5-1) for Saturday's Grade 1, $1

million Belmont Stakes, arrived at Belmont Park shortly after 11 a.m. (EDT) and

was quickly settled into to the stakes barn.

All the Belmont Stakes contenders were required to be in the special stakes

barn by noon (EDT) on Wednesday.

Trainer Michael Matz said Union Rags, who drew post position 3 for the 1

1/2-mile race, departed Fair Hill training center in Elkton, Maryland, around

7:45 a.m.

"We were the first ones on the track at Fair Hill -- we were waiting to get

on it at 5:30," Matz said. "He galloped a mile, we got him back, cooled him out,

gave him something to eat, got him on the van and tried to be here before 12

o'clock. The driver did a wonderful job."

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another was the last of the 12

Belmont contenders to arrive at the stakes barn. Trailed by a phalanx of

reporters, cameramen and videographers, I'll Have Another pranced down the horse

path before stepping into the shedrow at 12:04 p.m. following a short walk from

Mark Hennig's barn, where he had been stabled since May 20.

"No complaints, no hurdles," trainer Doug O'Neill said. "He's being good."

(Click

here for video of I'll Have Another, plus comments from O'Neill)

On Saturday, I'll Have Another will attempt to become the 12th horse to win

the Triple Crown and first in 34 years. Since Affirmed swept the series in 1978,

11 horses have tried and failed to add the Belmont Stakes to their Kentucky

Derby and Preakness victories, most recently Big Brown in 2008.

Bet the Belmont Stakes at TwinSpires.com