Fusaichi Pegasus Out of Belmont

The $1-million Belmont Stakes, already riddled by the defection of Red Bullet, the Preakness winner, lost the Kentucky Derby winner as well when trainer Neil Drysdale announced Sunday that Fusaichi Pegasus, injured in a freak barn incident, won’t run next Saturday.

Fusaichi Pegagus, second to Red Bullet at the Preakness two weeks ago, would have been the odds-on favorite in the Belmont, but Drysdale said his colt suffered a small cut on the side of his right front hoof Saturday at Aqueduct, where he’s been stabled since the Preakness.

Drysdale said that at about 2 p.m. Saturday, Fusaichi Pegasus was asleep in his stall when a noise startled him. The horse rushed to the front of his stall and slipped, catching his hoof on the door.

“He gouged a small piece the size of a dime out of the side of the hoof,” Drysdale said. “There is no soreness, but he couldn’t work [Sunday], and we want to preclude further injury.”

Red Bullet was withdrawn from the Belmont last weekend because his trainer, Joe Orseno, wanted to rest him for the second half of the year. With Red Bullet and Fusaichi Pegasus both out, this will be the first Belmont since 1970 that will have both the Derby and the Preakness winners on the sidelines. That year, Dust Commander won the Derby and didn’t run in the last two Triple Crown races. Personality, the Preakness winner, was scratched the day before the Belmont, which was won by his stablemate, High Echelon.

The Belmont was going to be at least a 10-horse race even before Fusaichi Pegasus came out, but now a few more trainers may consider the 1 1/2-mile test. This year’s race will be in marked contrast to the last three years, when Silver Charm, Real Quiet and Charismatic were beaten, but drew large crowds to Belmont Park as they tried to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978. Last year, when Lemon Drop Kid spoiled Charismatic’s Belmont bid, the crowd of 85,818 was the largest in track history.

Aptitude, second in the Derby before skipping the Preakness, may become the lukewarm Belmont favorite, even though he’s won only one of six starts. He worked six furlongs Sunday morning at Hollywood Park and will be flown to New York on Tuesday.

“Any time something happens that helps the chances of one of my horses, I don’t complain,” said Bobby Frankel, who trains Aptitude. “I won’t kid you like a lot of guys and say that I’m sorry [Fusaichi Pegasus] isn’t running. That wouldn’t be honest.”

Other horses that may run in the Belmont include Impeachment, Wheelaway, Postponed, Globalize, Chief Seattle, Curule, Tahkodha Hills, Appearing Now, Commendable and Hugh Hefner. Unshaded, who has three wins and a second this year, including a victory in the Lexington Stakes, was considered out of the Belmont picture after a second-place finish behind Postponed in the Peter Pan at Belmont on May 27, but his handlers might reconsider. Not nominated to the Triple Crown, Unshaded would have to be supplemented into the race for $100,000. First place is worth $600,000.

The injury to Fusaichi Pegasus is the latest in a series of setbacks for top 3-year-olds trained by Drysdale. In 1992, A.P. Indy, who would have been second choice, was scratched on the morning of the Kentucky Derby, although he returned to win the Belmont. In 1986, Tasso, the champion 2-year-old from the year before, was preparing for the Wood Memorial, a Derby prep, when he was spooked by a large lead pipe that dropped off a truck at Aqueduct the day before the race. The colt kicked himself, suffering a small cut on his right foreleg, and as the odds-on choice ran fourth in the Wood before dropping off the Triple Crown trail.

Fusaichi Pegasus will be returned Tuesday to Hollywood Park. Drysdale said that he and Fusao Sekiguchi, the Tokyo-based owner of the $4-million yearling purchase, will determine the colt’s immediate future. Fusaichi Pegasus is not expected to miss much training time.

BELMONT STAKES

Saturday,

2:25 p.m.,

Channel 7

*

THEY HIT IT OFF

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