by Max - 06/06/2005
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Scrappy T, who surprised numerous experts in the Preakness with his second place finish, has pulled out of this week's Belmont Stakes. Trainer Robert Bailes made this decision after consulting with numerous members of his staff.
"I wasn't 100 percent confident [with] him going that distance and what it was going to take out of him," Bailes said Saturday morning. "Better safe than sorry."
Part of this decision may have been the fact that Scrappy T was a gelding and not a colt.
"It was a very hard call," Bailes said. "Me and the owner talked again [Saturday] morning about it. Maybe if he were a colt we probably would have made a different decision than what we made. We doggone enjoyed New York so much, of the three [Triple Crown races] this is the one we wanted to go to the most. We thought we halfway managed him right, no sense screwing him up now."
With the loss of Scrappy T, the field will likely include 11 entries. Nick Zito has altered his barn shutting down Noble Causeway and High Fly. He has replaced them with Andromeda's Hero, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby, Indy Storm, and Pinpoint. These three come in as hefty underdogs and this may be what Zito needs to salvage an otherwise disappointing season.
The following list the likely entries into this year's Belmont Stakes along with their trainer and jockey.
1) A.P. Arrow - Lukas - Bailey
2) Afleet Alex - Ritchey - Rose
3) Andromeda's Hero - Zito - Bejarano
4) Chekhov - Biancone - Stevens
5) Giacomo - Shirreffs - Smith
6) Indy Storm - Zito - Prado
7) Nolan's Cat - Romans - TBA
8) Pinpoint - Zito - Velanzuez
9) Reverberate - Russo - Santos
10) Southern Africa - Puhich - Court
11) Watchmon - Reynolds - TBA