Three probable starters for the June 5 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) turned in their final works the morning of May 31 at the New York racetrack, and the race got another starter in Interactif.
WinStar Farm’s Drosselmeyer worked five furlongs in :59 3/5 on the fast main track for trainer Bill Mott, who said the son of Distorted Humor galloped out six furlongs in 1:11 2/5 and seven furlongs in 1:26 and change. Mott said he was pleased with the work and believes the colt has a good chance in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, the third leg of the Triple Crown.
Drosselmeyer’s final quarter in the work was :23 4/5, and his final eighth of mile :12 4/5. Mott said he worked him in company “so he had a target to run at it.”
Ellen and Peter Johnson’s Make Music for Me was “getting lost on the big track,” trainer Alexis Barba said, so the Bernstein colt worked on the Belmont training track. Make Music for Me breezed five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:16. His final quarter-mile was :23 3/5.
Barba said she wanted an easier work for the colt, whose last work was at a mile.
Thomas and Jack Conway’s Stately Victor was scheduled to work June 1, but a chance of showers led trainer Mike Maker to move up the work by a day. The Ghostzapper colt worked a half-mile in :49 4/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 4/5.
The probable field for the Belmont grew to 12 when trainer Todd Pletcher said May 31 that Alain Wertheimer’s Interactif would compete in the race. The Broken Vow colt had been expected to race in the June 4 Hill Prince Stakes (gr. IIIT).
“We decided to call an audible and send him to the Belmont,” Pletcher told New York Racing Association officials. “Two works ago, we had it in our minds, and after surveying the field we decided to go."
A field of 12 is now expected for the $1 million Belmont.
