Belmont Stakes: Oxbow vs. Orb in the cards

Another year, another Triple Crown hopeful unable to come through.

After Oxbow upset Kentucky Derby winner Orb in Saturday’s Preakness to extend racing’s Triple Crown drought to 36 years, the next best alternative for the Belmont Stakes is a rematch.

And, it appears one is in the making. Both trainers are giving every indication their classic-winning colts will run in the Belmont on June 8.

“You know me,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said after Oxbow’s 1¾-length victory over Itsmyluckyday, with 3-5 favorite Orb finishing fourth. “I like to rack them up in the big events. So, I’ll probably go.”

Trainer Shug McGaughey says he’d like to run Orb in the Belmont as long as the colt is doing well.

“The Belmont Stakes is on our radar screen,” McGaughey said Sunday after arriving back at Belmont Park and checking on his Derby winner, who was vanned back earlier in the day.

After a talk with Orb’s owners Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps and Stuart Janney III, McGaughey said, “We just all came to the conclusion that we should just watch Orb and see. I think everything is in good shape. We’d like to run.

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