Afleet Alex Arrives at Belmont Park

(from Belmont Park)
Preakness (gr. I) winner Afleet Alex, the likely favorite for the $1 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I) June 11, arrived without incident at Belmont Park Saturday at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Afleet Alex arrived a week later than anticipated due to a suspected "strangles" case at Belmont Park that resulted in one barn being locked down.

"The trip (from Maryland) was fine," said Roque Romero, assistant to trainer Tim Ritchey, who is expected tomorrow. "We had very little traffic. He seems to handle everything okay. He has a lot of energy. We're going to let him get settled in for a little while, and then walk him later. Everything went fine so far."

Romero said that Afleet Alex would likely jog Sunday with exercise rider Salomon Diego.