Summer Squall Won’t Run in Belmont Stakes

Summer Squall, second to Unbridled in the Kentucky Derby, will start in the Preakness on May 19 but skip the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

The colt will be rested after the Preakness and be prepared for a fall campaign that will point toward the Breeders’ Cup in New York, Cot Campbell of Dogwood Stable, which manages the partnership that owns Summer Squall, said today.

“Due to a bleeding incident on Feb. 19 in Florida, we’ve been on an aggressive schedule with the colt,” Campbell said. “The Preakness will be his fifth race in nine weeks. Even though he is bright, sound and sharp, and we couldn’t be happier with his condition coming up the Preakness, it is not fair to ask him for more in the Belmont Stakes.”

Because he bled during a workout, Summer Squall raced on the diuretic Lasix in Kentucky and will race on it in the Preakness at Pimlico. It is not legal to race on any medication in New York.

“His trainer, Neil Howard, and I agree that if we are to run without Lasix--which New York would require--it would have to be after a good summer’s rest,” Campbell said.