Thirteen made eligible for Triple Crown via late nomination

Watch Me Go heads the late nominees to the Triple Crown (Tom Cooley Photography)

Thirteen sophomores have joined the list of horses eligible to
compete in the three spring classic races that make up the 2011 Triple
Crown series. Those horses were nominated at a cost of $6,000 each
during the Triple Crown’s late nomination period and are now eligible to
run in the $2 million Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, the $1
million Preakness (G1) at Pimlico and the $1 million Belmont S. (G1) at
Belmont Park.

The addition of 13 horses to the roster of nominees to the 2011
Triple Crown nomination roster brings the total number of nominees to
377. Early nominations to the Triple Crown closed on January 22 with 364
three-year-olds — headed by unbeaten juvenile champion Uncle Mo (Indian
Charlie) — made eligible to compete in the three-race series. Early
Triple Crown nominations required a fee of $600. The late nomination
period closed at midnight (EDT) on March 26.

The most accomplished of the horses listed among the late Triple
Crown nominees are WATCH ME GO (West Acre), winner of the Tampa Bay
Derby (G3); NORMAN ASBJORNSON (Real Quiet), runner-up to Stay Thirsty
(Bernardini) in the Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct; unbeaten SMOKE IT RIGHT
(Smoke Glacken), hero of the Mountain Valley S. at Oaklawn Park; Turf
Paradise Derby victor BEER MEISTER (Pleasant Top); Rushaway S. star
SWIFT WARRIOR (First Samurai); and JOES BLAZING AARON (Graeme Hall),
scorer of the grassy Palm Beach S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park.