Unbridled Is a Horse, Not the Enthusiasm

Unbridled is the name of the favorite. For sure, it doesn’t describe the enthusiasm stirred by the Belmont Stakes Saturday.

As if to underscore the lack of drama surrounding the 122nd Belmont, before the race there will be a tribute to Secretariat, who starred in perhaps the greatest racing drama ever.

Seventeen years ago Saturday, Secretariat raced to the Triple Crown and into legend with the fastest time (2:24) and the biggest winning margin (31 lengths) in the history of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.

The Belmont relies on a Triple Crown bid or an anticipated duel between the winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness for much of its appeal.

Saturday, it will have neither. The Belmont didn’t have Derby winner Spend a Buck in 1985 or Preakness winner Snow Chief in 1986. But in those years it had the spice of trainer Woody Stephens’ successful bids for his fourth and fifth consecutive victories in the race.

This Belmont does have a touch of controversy.

The dispute over the use of the diuretic Lasix for racing was fueled by the decision of Summer Squall’s owners not to race the colt in the Belmont because horses aren’t allowed to race on any medication in New York.

Summer Squall, who has raced on Lasix since bleeding in February, finished second to Unbridled in the Derby, then reversed the order of finish in the Preakness.

Even without Lasix, Unbridled is considered the class of a generally nondescript Belmont field.

He was the 4-5 early favorite to beat eight other 3-year-olds.

“He’s better now than he’s ever been,” Nafzger said. “That doesn’t mean he won’t get beat. That’s why they run horse races.”

Three of Unbridled’s rivals will be Go and Go, Yonder and Video Ranger.

The Irish-bred Go and Go prepped for the Belmont with a swim before leaving Ireland for New York. He arrived Wednesday.

“I find that mentally they enjoy it,” trainer Dermot Weld said. “I swim all my horses; that’s why we win more races than other stables.”

Go and Go has made six of his eight starts in Ireland on the grass. His other two races, which were his final two starts as a 2-year-old, were in the United States, where he won the Laurel Futurity and finished eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Go and Go is expected to duel for the lead with Thirty Six Red, who was ninth in the Derby, and perhaps Land Rush, seventh in the Derby and sixth in the Preakness.

Unbridled should be close to the pace.

Yonder is a stretch runner who got his first win in five starts this year in the Jersey Derby by a head over Video Ranger, who also is a one-run horse.

Video Ranger, who ran as a claimer in January, closed to be fourth in the Kentucky Derby.

Completing the field are Country Day, Hawaiian Pass and Baron de Vaux, who was eighth in the Preakness.