SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When it comes to the Triple Crown, owner Mike Repole appears to have a case of FOMO.
Fear not, Repole does not plan on missing out on this year’s Belmont Stakes. He has looked deep down trainer Todd Pletcher’s bench of 3-year-olds and has plucked Uncaged from it to run in the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 7.
Repole said the small field – it was potentially just six horses before Uncaged entered the picture – was a factor. Also, Preakness winner and potential Belmont favorite Journalism has had three straight hard races, and Rodriguez, who scratched from the Kentucky Derby due to a foot issue, has not yet shipped East.
“I guarantee a top-seven finish,” said Repole, who is majority owner of Uncaged and also counts his breeder, WinStar Farm, as a part-owner.
Repole owned a piece of 2022 Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal and was the sole owner of 2022 Belmont runner-up Nest. Repole sent out the second-place finishers in the 2023 and 2024 Belmont in Forte and Mindframe, respectively. Those horses were also trained by Pletcher, who has four wins and nine seconds in the Belmont Stakes.
Luis Saez, who has won two Belmont Stakes including last year with Dornoch, will have the call on Uncaged.
Uncaged, a son of 2007 Belmont runner-up Curlin, is 2 for 4, having won a maiden and a first-level allowance race, both over muddy tracks. In his stakes debut, Uncaged finished sixth in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct under Kendrick Carmouche on May 10.
“Kendrick said he thought he made a mistake staying inside, felt like he was deterred by the kickback,” Pletcher said Friday at Saratoga. “He said if he had a do-over, he would have kept him out in the clear.”
Uncaged has not yet won beyond one mile, but Pletcher believes he has the pedigree to be effective going longer distances. This year, because it is being run at Saratoga, the Belmont Stakes is being run at 1 1/4 miles.
“He’s bred that way,” Pletcher said. “It’s somewhat surprising he was able to break his maiden going six furlongs up here last summer.”
Following that debut win, Pletcher trained Uncaged for a start in the Grade 1 Champagne before he had to stop on him. Following a fourth-place finish in a six-furlong allowance race on March 2 at Gulfstream, Uncaged won a one-mile allowance in the mud on April 6 at Aqueduct before his sixth in the Peter Pan.
“He’s got a little bit of talent. He just hasn’t put it all together quite yet,” Pletcher said.
On Wednesday, Uncaged worked a half-mile in 48.65 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
Rodriguez works
Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial winner, worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 on Friday morning at Santa Anita in preparation for a start in the Belmont Stakes. Daily Racing Form clocker Toby Turrell caught the last half-mile of that work in 46.80 seconds. Jockey Juan Hernandez was aboard for the work.
“Went nice, went well, I was happy with it. We’re all set,” trainer Bob Baffert said.
Baffert said the quarter crack on a hind foot that forced Rodriguez to miss the Derby is a now a non-issue.
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“He worked great going into the Derby until he popped that quarter, and I knew I was in trouble,” Baffert said. “I didn’t have enough time to give it a chance. Quarter cracks in a hind are different than in the front. Now, he’s got the time. He came back and worked. I’m happy he’s going up there. He looks good.”
Rodriguez was scheduled to leave California late Friday night. Mike Smith rides Rodriguez in the Belmont.
Weather dampens schedule
Bill Mott, trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, and Michael McCarthy, trainer of Preakness winner Journalism, will be keeping an eye on the weather this weekend before determining when their horses will have their final workout for the Belmont.
Under ideal conditions, both were expected to work Saturday. With potentially heavy rain coming in overnight, those moves could be postponed to Sunday or, in the case of Sovereignty, Monday.
Both horses galloped over Saratoga’s main track Friday.
Baeza, the Kentucky Derby third-place finisher, simply walked the shed after arriving late Thursday night following a flight from California to New Jersey and a subsequent van ride to Saratoga.
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