Wednesday's Belmont Stakes Report: 'Let's Get It On'

ELMONT, NY – Well before unbeaten Triple Crown hopeful Justify (Scat Daddy)'s highly anticipated early afternoon arrival from Kentucky–more on that in a bit–there were plenty of GI Belmont Stakes runners out stretching their legs for routine gallops during early training hours on a beautiful Wednesday morning on Long Island.

The Todd Pletcher-trained pair of Vino Rosso (Curlin) and 'TDN Rising Star' Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy) were out at 6 a.m. sharp without their Belmont S. saddle towels on as the rising sun attempted to make its way through partly cloudy skies.

With the legendary D. Wayne Lukas riding shotgun aboard his stable pony, GI Preakness S. runner-up Bravazo (Awesome Again) wasn't far behind the Pletcher duo entering the track about a minute or two later.

Blended Citizen (Proud Citizen), winner of the Belmont's traditional prep GIII Peter Pan S., stood by the rail by the clubhouse gap and took in the somewhat surprising serene scene at 6:15 a.m. You can expect a much different atmosphere here in the coming days, that's for sure.

Hofburg (Tapit), the 9-2 second-choice on the Belmont S. morning-line, entered through the tunnel accompanied by a pony after taking a tour of the paddock at 6:55 a.m.

'TDN Rising Star' Tijori, the first winner for champion 3-year-old colt and freshman sire Will Take Charge, really made her presence felt during this early timeslot as well. The striking chestnut, a $525,000 OBS March purchase by Kaleem Shah this spring, headlines Thursday's Astoria S. after airing in a Santa Anita maiden special weight for Simon Callaghan last month.

Streaking European invader Gronkowski (Lohnro {Aus}) was the final of the Belmont contenders spotted training on the main track, galloping in a pair of black blinkers after the break just before 9 a.m.

There was plenty of activity in the picturesque Belmont paddock just before noon, too. With trainer Chad Summers keeping a close eye on his every move, school was in session for popular New York-bred Mind Your Biscuits (Posse). The two-time G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen winner is the 5-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday's prestigious GI Runhappy Metropolitan H.

Assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes led dual Classic winner Justify off the van to the familiar sound of clicking camera shutters in front of a packed house at Barn 1 just after 2 p.m. Just as he did in Baltimore, Barnes passed the baton to Baffert, who walked the big horse under the shedrow as the slew of media in attendance continued to snap away.

“He was, like, 'Let's get it on,'” Baffert said during a 15-minute press conference once Justify settled in. “He got off the van and he was dragging me around there and all the horses in the barn were all screaming and yelling–he got their attention somehow. It's almost like they were greeting him. It's a pretty cool feeling.”

Baffert concluded, “You're in New York. The place is going to be rocking.”