BELMONT STAKES : Unbridled 4-5 Favorite, Draws No. 5 Post

Unbridled was assigned the No. 5 post position today and was made an early 4-5 favorite to win Saturday’s 122nd Belmont Stakes.

Nine 3-year-olds were entered today for the $500,000-added stakes, which lack not only the Preakness winner Summer Squall but also the beaten Kentucky Derby favorite, Mister Frisky.

Yonder was made the second early betting choice at 9-2 odds and will start from the No. 7 post.

Country Day, to be ridden by Chris Antley, was made the third choice at 6-1 odds and will start from the No. 4 gate.

Thirty Six Red will start from the post and was listed at 8-1 odds, the same as Video Ranger.

The complete list of entries, in post position order with jockeys and odds: Thirty Six Red, Mike Smith, 8-1; Go and Go, Michael Kinane, 12-1; Baron De Vaux, Jean Cruguet, 30-1; Country Day, Chris Antley, 6-1; Unbridled, Craig Perret, 4-5; Video Ranger, Jose Santos, 8-1; Hawaiian Pass, Art Madrid, 30-1; Yonder, Jerry Bailey, 9-2, and Land Rush, Angel Cordero, 12-1.

All starters will carry 126 pounds.

Summer Squall, the horse that beat Unbridled in the Preakness, has not been entered in the Belmont because he is a bleeder, and New York bans the use of the drug Lasix, which is used to control bleeding in race horses.

Unbridled is also a bleeder, but trainer Carl Nafzger is preparing the horse to run without the drug.

If Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled breathes easily, so will Nafzger.

But if he bleeds from the lungs, “I’m going to look like an idiot,” Nafzger said.

“Unbridled has not bled since he started using Lasix,” Nafzger said. “Coming into this race, I have to do things a little differently.”

Since the Preakness on May 19, Unbridled has been on a diet to cut down his body weight and reduce his fluids. At midnight the day before the race, he will have his last meal, and his water will be reduced to a trickle. Then, he’ll jog the morning of the race, just to get his digestive system revved up. The process is called “drawing” a horse.

“We’re not trying to dehydrate him,” Nafzger said. “You can’t race a dehydrated horse. What we want to do is get all the blood out of his intestinal tract. You’ve got to get the intestines emptied.

“You’ll see a little more rib on him than you did at the Preakness, a little more tuck to him. He won’t be carrying any expendable flesh. He’ll be using all his energy.”

Mister Frisky, eighth in the Derby and third in the Preakness after winning his first 16 lifetime starts, has undergone surgery for an abscess in his throat.

Besides Unbridled, Land Rush is the only horse in the field to run in both the Derby and Preakness. He was seventh in the Derby and sixth in the Preakness.

BELMONT STAKES FIELD

Post time for the Belmont Stakes, third leg of the Triple Crown, is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. PST. Nine horses, each carrying 126 pounds, will run for 1 1/2 miles for a share of the $686,000 purse. The entries:

Horse Jockey Odds Trainer Owner 1. Thirty Six Red Smith 8-1 Nick Zito B. Giles Brophy 2. Go And Go Kinane 12-1 Dermot K. Weld Moyglare Stud 3. Baron De Vaux Cruguet 30-1 Charlie Peoples Bayard Sharp 4. Country Day Antley 6-1 John Parisella James Seibelli 5. Unbridled Perret 4-5 Carl Nafzger F. A. Genter Stable 6. Video Ranger Santos 8-1 Ian Jory Kwon Cho Myung 7. Hawaiian Pass Madrid 30-1 Humberto Aguilera Charles N. Winner 8. Yonder Bailey 9-2 Angel Penna Frank Stronach 9. Land Rush Cordero 12-1 D. Wayne Lukas William T. Young