With exactly one week remaining until the June 6th Belmont Stakes (gr. I), three more Belmont Stakes contenders turned in official workouts this morning. Headlining the work tab was Preakness Stakes (gr. I) runner-up Tale of Verve, who breezed five furlongs in a bullet :59.02 seconds at Belmont Park, Trained by Dallas Stewart, the son of Tale of Ekati has trained sharply since the Preakness and appears to be entering the Belmont in very good form.
Also breezing five furlongs at Belmont Park was UAE Derby (UAE-II) winner Mubtaahij, who went the distance in 1:01.05 seconds. Incredibly, it was the colt’s fifth workout in fourteen days–and his sixth since May 10th!–but Mubtaahij is scheduled to take it easy in the final week before the Belmont Stakes.
At Saratoga’s Oklahoma Training Track, Kentucky Derby 11th-place finisher Frammento went a half-mile in a moderate :48.15. The colt worked in company with stablemate Hard Scuffle, and–according to a report on Bloodhorse.com–galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.37 seconds.
Triple Crown hopeful American Pharoah had another relatively quiet morning, galloping twelve furlongs at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Jorge Alvarez. According to the Churchill Downs Barn Notes for May 30th, Alvarez was very happy with American Pharoah’s training: “It was another good day,” said Alvarez. “He was a little more aggressive this morning and wanted to do more, but I just kept doing my thing. I’m feeling more excited than nervous. We just feel that we have the right horse and he’s doing well. We’re all staying positive.”
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With one week remaining until the Belmont Stakes, here is the current list of expected starters:
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
| American Pharoah | Victor Espinoza | Bob Baffert |
| Carpe Diem | Unknown | Todd Pletcher |
| Frammento | Mike Smith | Nick Zito |
| Frosted | Joel Rosario | Kiaran McLaughlin |
| Keen Ice | Kent Desormeaux | Dale Romans |
| Madefromlucky | Unknown | Todd Pletcher |
| Materiality | Unknown | Todd Pletcher |
| Mubtaahij | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | Mike de Kock |
| Tale of Verve | Gary Stevens | Dallas Stewart |
| The Truth Or Else | Edgar Prado | Kenny McPeek |
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