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Charismatic's ready to go
NEW YORK (AP) -- All was right with Charismatic on Friday, the day before the 3-year-old chestnut colt tries to win the Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown champion in 21 years.Charismatic was the first horse on the Belmont Park track, galloping 1 3/4 miles at about 5:30 a.m.
"Charismatic goes off with the first set of horses whether it's here, California, Kentucky, or wherever," Lukas said. "We always try to get them on the track when it's freshly harrowed; we think that's the best time. It's a routine we've followed with all our good horses over the years."
Charismatic will go out for a jog over the main track on Saturday morning.
"He looked like his old self," Lukas said of Friday's gallop. "I don't see anything different than going into the Preakness or the Derby."
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STOP THE CHATTER: Elliott Walden, trainer of Derby and Preakness runner-up Menifee, has had enough Triple Crown hype.
"I'm kind of talked out," Walden said Friday. "It's time to be quiet and let the horses run."
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CRUISE CONTROL: After two years of Triple Crown trials and tribulations, trainer Bob Baffert is taking it a bit easier in this year's Belmont Stakes.
Yes, Baffert will saddle his star filly, Silverbulletday, in Saturday's race, but no, he hasn't been around the barns as much as usual.
On Friday, Baffert showed up at Barn 50 at 10 a.m., allowing assistant trainer Peter Hutton to handle his filly's 1 1/2-mile gallop over Belmont Park's main track.
"She went really great," Hutton said. "She's really full of herself."
Baffert, who is staying in New York City, is comfortable with the arrangement.
"Peter doesn't need me to sit in the stands and watch him go," Baffert said. "He's been with me a long time. He knows what he's doing. I only get in the way.
"I talked with everybody at 5:30 in the morning and went over the game plan of what we were going to do."
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POST POSITION: Since 1905, the post position that has produced the most Belmont Stakes winners has been No. 1, with 22 winners.
Next is No. 5 with 13 winners, followed by No. 3 with 12 winners.
Charismatic will attempt to become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978 from the No. 4 post, which has produced eight Belmont winners.
Teletable, a 99-1 shot, leaves from the No. 1 post, with Pineaff (30-1) leaving from No. 5 and the filly Silverbulletday from the No. 3 post.
No horse has ever won from the No. 12 post, so it's best of luck to Best of Luck, who leaves from that post on Saturday.
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LUKAS COULD MOVE UP: Should Charismatic win the Triple Crown, D. Wayne Lukas would have his fourth Belmont Stakes winner, moving him into a tie for fifth in Belmont victories.
James Rowe trained eight Belmont winners, the last being Prince Eugene in 1913; Sam Hildreth had seven winners, including Zev in 1923; and Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons had six, including Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935) and Nashua (1955).
Of course, the most amazing Belmont feat was five in a row by trainer Woody Stephens, who won the race from 1982-86. Stephens, who died last year, won with Conquistador Cielo, Caveat, Swale, Creme Fraiche and Danzig Connection.
Lukas won three in a row from 1994-96 with Tabasco Cat, Thunder Gulch and Editor's Note.
Others trainers with four Belmont wins are Max Hirsch and R.W. Walden.
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UNDERCARD: The Belmont Stakes undercard will feature four stakes races -- the $300,000 Manhattan Handicap, the $150,000 True North Handicap, the $150,000 Riva Ridge and the $150,000 Just a Game Breeders Cup.
In the Manhattan, the Bill Mott-trained Yagli is the 2-1 favorite in a field of 10 that also includes Vergennes and Middlesex Drive.
Yagli, who will be ridden by Jerry Bailey, is racing for just the second time in five months. In his last start, the Allen Paulson-owned 6-year-old won the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap in February.
The True North features Artax, who has recovered after spraining an ankle when checked during the Maryland Breeders' Cup Handicap to avoid a crazed fan who ran on the track at Pimlico on Preakness Day.
Also in the 11-horse field is Texas Glitter and Punch Line.
Yes It's True, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, is the favorite in the Riva Ridge. Yes It's True was the winner of the Maryland Breeders' Cup Handicap on May 15.