KEY POINTS:
Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense chose to skip the Belmont rather than risk burnout but handlers of Preakness champion Curlin have no such fears about running their big chestnut colt in the mile and a half (2km) race.
"He got a lot out of the Derby experience and
I think that carried over in the Preakness," Scott Blasi, assistant trainer for Belmont favourite Curlin said.
"He's matured by leaps and bounds."
Curlin, who has run a total of only five races, has been installed as a 6-5 early favourite in the seven-horse field for Saturday's US$1 million ($1.3 million) race, the last and longest of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown series for 3-year-olds.
Hard Spun, the Derby runner-up who finished third in the Preakness, is rated the early second choice at 5-2.
Street Sense looked poised to add the second jewel of the Triple Crown to his resume when he ran ahead of the field at Pimlico three weeks ago before Curlin overtook him at the wire to win the Preakness by a head.
After losing the chance for a first Triple Crown sweep since Affirmed in 1978, the Street Sense camp decided to pass up the Belmont and concentrate on the Travers Stakes and Breeders' Cup in the fall season.
Curlin, however, is still going strong.
"After such a hard race in the Preakness we paid very close attention to his mood and everything," Blasi said.
"We gave him three days off after the race and he was very energetic and happy to be back at the track.
"We're very happy with his condition and how he's trained between races. He's very settled, relaxed. There are no signs of him being nervous or unwilling to train."
The absence of Street Sense encouraged the late entrance of Preakness fourth-place finisher C P West, and highly regarded Rags to Riches, a winner of four successive races.
The well-bred filly, sired by 1992 Belmont winner A.P. Indy and whose half-brother Jazil won last year's race, is trainer Todd Pletcher's latest hope for ending his Triple Crown drought.
He has saddled 28 mounts in the series without a winner.
THE DRAW
Full draw (post position, horse, trainer, jockey, early
odds):
* 1 Imawildandcrazyguy, William Kaplan, M. Guidry, 20-1
* 2 Tiago, J. Shirreffs, M. Smith, 10-1
* 3 Curlin, S. Asmussen, R. Albarado, 6-5
* 4 C P West, N. Zito, Edgar Prado, 12-1
* 5 Slew's Tizzy, G. Fox, R. Bejarano, 20-1
* 6 Hard Spun, L. Jones, G. Gomez, 5-2
* 7 Rags to Riches, T. Pletcher, J. Velazquez, 3-1
- REUTERS