Denis of Cork, Macho Again on target for Belmont

Big Brown will make the cavernous Belmont grandstand resound if he completes a sweep of the Triple Crown (Joseph DiOrio/Horsephotos.com) Two Churchill Downs-based three-year-olds — DENIS OF CORK (Harlan’s Holiday) and MACHO AGAIN (Macho Uno) — remain on target for the $1 million Belmont S. (G1) on June 7 at Belmont Park. Southwest S. (G3) winner Denis of Cork, third in the Kentucky Derby (G1), and Derby Trial S. victor Macho Again, runner-up in the Preakness S. (G1), will challenge BIG BROWN (Boundary) in the Belmont. Big Brown, the undefeated dual classic winner, will seek to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner in the 1 1/2-mile “Test of the Champion.” Denis of Cork galloped under the Twin Spires on Thursday in his second trip to the track since working five furlongs in 1:01 on Monday. The David Carroll trainee jogged on Wednesday. “He came out of the work beautifully and we’re very happy with him,” Carroll said. “It just seems like he’s coming back into form, and we’re getting some nice weather, too. He just seems to be coming back to himself. We still have a couple of weeks and I’m very happy with him.”

Carroll said Denis of Cork is scheduled to work on Monday. Jockey Robby
Albarado, who will ride the colt in the Belmont, will be in the saddle for the
Memorial Day move.

Trainer Dallas Stewart said that Macho Again jogged Thursday in his first
visit to the track since Saturday’s Preakness. The gray colt finished second in
the 1 3/16-mile classic, 5 1/4 lengths behind Big Brown.

Stewart said that the colt would go to the Belmont if all continues to go
well.

“It’s been a while, but it’s great to have a good three-year-old,” Stewart
said. “It’s a shame we didn’t get going earlier. We were thinking he was a
Louisiana Derby (G2)-type horse, but we just got set back with him. But it’s all
working out now. He needed a little time to mature. It would have been nice to
have a Kentucky Derby horse, but it doesn’t always happen. That’s why the Derby
is the Derby.”

Stewart plans to work Macho Again four furlongs on May 31. The colt is
scheduled to ship to Belmont Park on June 3.

Among those expected to challenge Big Brown in the Belmont are: ANAK NAKAL
(Victory Gallop), BEHINDATTHEBAR (Forest Wildcat), CASINO DRIVE (Mineshaft),
Denis of Cork, ICABAD CRANE (Jump Start), Macho Again, READY’S ECHO (More Than
Ready), TALE OF EKATI (Tale of Cat) and TOMCITO (Street Cry [Ire]).

In other Belmont news:

On Sunday, Nobutaka Tada, spokesman
for the connections of Casino Drive, will meet with the press
after the horse gallops and announce who his jockey will be for the 140th
running of the Belmont.