Caught in the Middle of Belmont Stakes : Brian’s Time, Granacus Must Contend With a Fast Starter and a Fast Closer

The trainers of Brian’s Time and Granacus, the late runners who might have a chance to overtake the speed and win the 120th Belmont Stakes, are in a tough spot.

They need Risen Star to pressure Winning Colors today, to make sure she doesn’t steal the race at the front end, but then they also have to worry about catching Risen Star at the wire.

John Veitch is familiar with the role of the chaser in Triple Crown races. Ten years ago, Veitch handled Alydar, who had the unwanted distinction of finishing second to Affirmed in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont, and three weeks ago, Veitch was second again in the Preakness when Brian’s Time lost to Risen Star by 1 lengths.

Asked the other day if he knew who put this curse on him in the Triple Crown, Veitch smiled and said: “It’s the same Guy who gave me this pretty face.” Veitch, 42, looks like bald Charlie Whittingham from the eyebrows up.

Brian’s Time was sixth in the Kentucky Derby, losing to Winning Colors by only 4 lengths after once trailing by 24, and when Veitch was asked what horse he would like to have in the Preakness other than his own, he said: “Alydar.”

Veitch would no doubt prefer stepping into a time machine and punching up a recycled Alydar for this Belmont, but he will have to make do with Brian’s Time, the smallest horse in a six-horse field that also includes Cefis and Kingpost.

“The Derby and the Preakness didn’t take much out of this colt,” Veitch said. “He weighs about 900 pounds, and he’s probably heavier now than he was for the Derby, and he’s as heavy as he was in the Preakness.”

Veitch used blinkers on Brian’s Time for the first time in the Preakness, and the son of Roberto and grandson of Graustark will wear a hood again today.

“We thought that if we had used the blinkers in the Derby, they might make him too aggressive,” Veitch said. “But they helped in the Preakness, getting him closer to the pace than he was in the Derby, and we hope to be even closer early in the Belmont.”

Veitch is more concerned about beating Risen Star than he is Winning Colors, who was the third filly to win the Derby and is attempting to become the third filly to win the Belmont.

“If Risen Star runs back to his race in the Preakness, he’ll be very tough,” Veitch said. “I’m not totally convinced that the filly wants to go a mile and a half. And I don’t think all the talk about her rough trip in the Preakness had anything to do with her getting beat there.

“The camera angles are deceptive when you look at her possibly bumping with Forty Niner. It was just like the Genuine Risk thing with Codex (the winner of the 1980 Preakness)--Forty Niner and Winning Colors didn’t collide. I just think the filly came up empty.”

Veitch is guessing that Winning Colors might run a Belmont a lot like Spectacular Bid’s in 1979.

“Spectacular Bid ran the first mile and a quarter in the Belmont as he did in the Derby,” Veitch said. “But then he didn’t want to go any farther.”

Shooting for the Triple Crown, Spectacular Bid lost a 3-length lead in the stretch and finished third, beaten by more than 3 lengths, as Coastal and Golden Act preceded him to the wire.

Veitch and other trainers who feel that Risen Star, the 8-5 morning-line favorite, is the horse to beat were buoyed by the Secretariat colt’s untimely 3-furlong workout Friday morning at Belmont Park.

Risen Star, with 60-year-old exercise rider Jimmy Nichols in the saddle, galloped a mile and a half and then worked three-eighths of a mile in :33 3/5, which was only three-fifths of a second slower than the American record. Now, trainer Louie Roussel, after crinkling his brow all week because of a swelling near Risen Star’s right front ankle, has a new worry--whether the colt has left his Belmont on the training track.

Roussel had hoped that Risen Star would work about two seconds slower. “It’s over with, and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Roussel said. “Jimmy wasn’t even asking him to run, and he went that fast.

“I don’t know of a horse in America who can gallop a mile and a half and then work that fast. Sure, I’m upset. It may have taken too much out of him, and I’m concerned, but we’ll run him, because he’s as close to 100% as we can get him.”

With Risen Star, Roussel is in the same position that Woody Stephens was with Forty Niner before the Preakness. Roussel is the only trainer with a horse capable of testing Winning Colors’ early speed.

“What did Bet Twice win this race in last year?” Roussel asked earlier this week.

Told the time was 2:28 1/5, the trainer said: “If the filly gets away with 1:14 for the first 6 (furlongs), she could run the final 6 in 1:14, and a time of 2:28 and change wins it. We’ll try to go head-and-head with her if the pace is that slow. Because if we don’t run with the filly early, then Brian’s Time probably wins it.”

Based on Friday’s outlandishly fast workout, jockey Eddie Delahoussaye may have no choice regarding what Risen Star wants to do early. Because of the ankle problem, Roussel hadn’t worked his colt since the Preakness, and Risen Star acted like a tiger just released from a cage.

“It will be to our advantage if Risen Star and Winning Colors both vie for contention,” Veitch said. “They’ll hurt themselves doing that.”

Most of the betting money will be on Risen Star, Winning Colors at 9-5 and Brian’s Time at 5-2, but support has been building here this week for Granacus, who is listed as the 8-1 fourth choice by the Belmont linemaker.

All six of the Belmont starters ran in the Derby, but Granacus is the only horse who hasn’t raced since then. The rest appears to have done him good, his freshness resulting in several productive workouts, including 3 furlongs in 36 seconds Thursday.

A Canadian-bred horse who had never won a stake before he reached Keeneland this spring, Granacus beat a mediocre field in the Blue Grass, then ran 11th in the Derby.

Trainer Pat Collins is throwing out the Derby. At the five-sixteenths pole, jockey Jacinto Vasquez tried to send Granacus through a hole on the inside. Purdue King, a tiring horse, came out from the rail before Granacus could get through, and Collins’ horse clipped his heels.

“My horse threw his head up, and then he disappeared,” Collins said. “He lost all chance. I don’t think he would have won, but I think he would at least have hit the board.”

Today will be Granacus’ first race in more than a month. In Florida this winter, he ran after a two-month rest and won by almost 4 lengths. Belmont Park isn’t Calder Race Course, but it is a track that has been good for improbable happenings. All of the favorites in the 120th Belmont Stakes seem vulnerable.

Horse Racing Notes

The medication report: Granacus and Kingpost both ran on anti-bleeding medication in the Kentucky Derby but must run without chemical help because of New York’s rules. “Kentucky’s rules are lenient, so you use Lasix to protect your horse for the future rather than enhancing his chances when he runs in Kentucky,” said Dianne Carpenter, Kingpost’s trainer. A female trainer has never won the Belmont.

Before Winning Colors, Genuine Risk was the only filly to run in all three Triple Crown races. Genuine Risk won the Derby, then was second in the Preakness and second in the Belmont in 1980. . . . The last filly to start in the Belmont before Genuine Risk was Riverina, who was seventh in 1954. . . . Kingpost is a gelding. The only gelding to win the Belmont was Creme Fraiche in 1985.

There are two $100,000 sub-features on today’s card at Belmont--the Riva Ridge for 3-year-olds at 7 furlongs and the Colin for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles. Tejano is running in the Colin, and Perfect Spy is entered in the Riva Ridge. . . . In another stake today, undefeated Personal Ensign will shoot for her eighth straight win in the Hempstead Handicap.

Cryptoclearance will carry top weight of 120 pounds Sunday in the Nassau County Handicap at Belmont. . . . This is the smallest Belmont field since 1978, when Affirmed beat Alydar and three other rivals. . . . Kingpost is the only Belmont starter to have run over the track, finishing fourth in the Peter Pan May 29. . . . The track is likely to be fast today. . . . Cefis is a son of Caveat, who won the 1983 Belmont.

THE BELMONT STAKES FIELD

PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER 1 Cefis Laffit Pincay Woody Stephens 2 Granacus Jacinto Vasquez Patrick Collins 3 Winning Colors Gary Stevens Wayne Lukas 4 Kingpost Robbie Davis Dianne Carpenter 5 Risen Star Eddie Delahoussaye Louie Roussel III 6 Brian’s Time Angel Cordero John Veitch

PP OWNER ODDS 1 James Ryan, Robert Kirkham 12-1 2 Steven Stavro 8-1 3 Eugene V. Klein 9-5 4 Mark Warner 15-1 5 Louie Roussel III, Ron Lamarque 8-5 6 James W. Phillips 5-2

Weights: Each 126 pounds except Winning Colors at 121 pounds. Distance: 1 1/2 miles. Purse: $506,200 if 6 start. First place: $303,720. Second place: $111,364. Third place: $60,744. Fourth place: $30,372. Post time: 2:30 p.m. PDT, today. TV: Channels 7, 3, 10, 42.