Georgia bred Mucho Macho Man's rare bad showing in Saturday's Preakness had less to do with the colt and more to do with his blacksmith. 

Expected to compete in the third leg of Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, is the Peach State's own Mucho Macho Man [pictured below] who finished a close third in the Kentucky Derby. The 3-year old colt's disappointing sixth place finish in the Preakness was due to the horse losing his left front shoe early after charging out of the starting gate. Mucho Macho Man was wearing glue-on shoes, in lieu of the more traditional nail on variety. But Mucho Macho Man also lost his right front shoe in the Louisiana Derby, when his shoes were affixed with nails. So he's been plagued with throwing a shoe both ways, due to a toe grab he needs to wear.

The three-year old's notorious late kick is tailor made for the Belmont, where the race stretches to a mile and a half -- one quarter mile longer then the Derby and a full three-eighths of a mile beyond the Preakness. 

The Belmont Stakes is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year olds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds, and fillies carry 121 pounds. The race is Saturday, June 11, with Post Time at about 6:30 p.m. 

ANIMAL KINGDOM STILL THE ONE TO BEAT IN THE BELMONT 

Animal Kingdom returned last Saturday night  -- after his heart-breaking second place Preakness finish to pacesetter winner Shackleford -- to the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, where he had been based with his trainer's stable, following the Derby.

The chances of Shackleford running in the Belmont are "better than 50-50," his trainer, Dale Romans told Daily Racing Form reporters this week. 

"I think it would be great if we could develop a little bit of a rivalry in the 3-year-old division," Romans said. "I think these 3-year-olds are better than most people realize."

Romans promised Shackleford would run in the Belmont "if he trains like he did" coming out of the Derby. 

"The first day back on the track after the Derby, he was bucking and playing," Romans said.

Shackleford was nothing short of spectacular in his Preakness victory. He bolted out of the gate and stayed right with Flashpoint, who eventually faded to finish last in the 14-horse field, even after being hung out to dry around the first turn. The colt then fought off a frenzied challenge by Derby winner winner Animal Kingdom under jockey Jesus Castanon to win by half a length. 

"He's just so game," Romans said. "He's a big horse, but he's very well-balanced. He's light on his feet, very athletic."

Romans opined that having Flashpoint draw inside of Shackleford was beneficial.

"It gave us options," he told DRF. 

Animal Kingdom closed from 13th to second in only his second career start on dirt. The faster pace and early kickback of dirt caused him to drop farther off the pace than in the Derby, his handlers said. 

"He really ran a big race to close all that ground," his trainer, Graham Motion offerd, after the race. 

Motion said it would be at least a week before he made a decision regarding running Animal Kingdom in the Belmont. He said Animal Kingdom was scheduled to go back to the track Wednesday and would simply jog this week before resuming galloping next week.

In a post race press conference, Motion said he had "mixed emotions" in the aftermath of the Preakness.

"Certainly, I'm disappointed, but it's hard to be too disappointed," he said. "I think there's an air of disappointment around the barn. It's been a real roller-coaster ride from the week before the Derby to the week after the Derby to now."

Meanwhile, Mucho Macho Man was vaned to Belmont on Sunday by trainer Kathy Ritvo and will likely complete the Triple Crown series by competing in the Belmont. "We're on it. I think it's his kind of track and his kind of race," she said. "We have plans to run in the Belmont, and we want to run in the Belmont, but we have to see how he does," she told the New York Daily News. 

Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing (70 percent) and Dream Team Racing (30 percent), Mucho Macho Man has won over $500,000 this year in five starts, notching one win. But the Preakness was the first time he was off the board in 10 career starts.

The top contender not to run in the Preakness -- who has already committed to the Belmont is Nehro, who made an early move to the front before finishing second to Animal Kingdom in the Derby.

"THE TEST OF CHAMPIONS"

The right mix of speed and stamina is needed to capture the longest dirt race many Belmont contestants will ever run. Racing enthusiasts coin it, "The Test of Champions." 

As little as a quarter century ago, American thoroughbred racing was all about stamina. As recently as 1975, the heralded "Jockey Club Gold Cup" tested horses by going two miles. But today, few Thoroughbred's race over nine furlongs -- a fact that makes the Belmont Stakes unique in American racing, as it is the only remaining 1 1/2 mile (12 furlongs) graded stakes run on dirt. In part, that's also what makes this the most difficult of the Triple Crown races. But a poor post position can be easily overcome, and more experienced horses don’t necessarily hold an advantage over those more lightly raced, which favors Animal Kingdom. A slow pace can adversely affect deep closers, but only if those on-pace can carry their speed over a mile and a half. Knowing which horses, no matter how lightly regarded, possess the potential to run 12 furlongs can lead to big payoffs at the betting window.

This is why Mucho Macho Man may very well be the best bet on June 11. 

THE GEORGIA CONNECTION

The "behind the scenes" horse betting story behind Mucho Macho Man (MMM) was one that filled the headlines during Derby Week at Churchill Downs. Not only was trainer Kathy Ritvo attempting to become the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby, she is also a heart transplant survivor. The colt's regular rider Eibar Coa was severely injured in a spill at Gulfstream Park on February 18 -- one day before MMM would run in the Risen Star horse betting Stakes at Fair Grounds. The spill initially left Coa temporarily paralyzed, but he has made remarkable progress in recovering from his injuries.

MMM began his career at Calder Race Course for trainer William White. When he made his career debut on July 17, 2010, he finished second to Gourmet Dinner. Tim Ritvo, then the trainer for Dean and Patty Reeves of Suwannee, Georgia, wanted his client to watch the replay of that maiden race as there was an opportunity to purchase Gourmet Dinner, who would go on to win three stakes, including the $1,000,000 Delta Jackpot. Watching the horse betting race replay, Reeves decided he liked MMM more than the race winner, and one day later he and his wife purchased a 70 percent stake in the horse.

In his second horse betting start for the new owners, MMM broke his maiden by four lengths at New Jersey shore's Monmouth Park, his first race under Eibar Coa and his first race around two turns. Later that fall Tim Ritvo accepted a corporate job and turned over the training duties to his wife, Kathy, who had been training on her own since 1987.

In his first two starts under the care of Kathy Ritvo [pictured left], MMM placed in both the Nashua Stakes and Remsen Stakes, losing twice to his nemesis To Honor and Serve -- considered at the time one of the top two-year-olds in the country.

Back in Florida MMM began his 2011 horse betting campaign with another runner-up finish in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park, behind subsequent Florida Derby winner and eventual Derby betting line favorite Dialed In. He was shipped to Fair Grounds for the Risen Star in February, and then came news of Coa’s tragic accident. In need of a new rider, Ritvo called on Rajiv Maragh, who was already at Fair Grounds to ride other races on the card. The new alliance paid immediate dividends, as MMM easily won the Risen Star and established himself as the heavy betting favorite for the Louisiana Derby one month later. He would return to New Orleans for that race, but finished third, beaten less than one length after losing that aforementioned shoe coming out of the starting gate.

Ritvo decided to rest MMM and save him for the Derby on May 7. Breaking from post 13, the massive colt raced in heavy traffic early but was never more than four lengths behind the leader. When the field hit the top of the stretch he had moved into perfect position for his closing kick. But he drifted out too much just inside the final furlong, and while he continued to gain until the wire, he missed the runner-up spot by just a neck -- while losing the race by three lengths.

Interestingly, MMM was a June foal -- meaning he will not technically turn three-years-old until after the Belmont Stakes, so he'll likely be the youngest colt in the Belmont field. 

Reporters at The Daily Racing Form and The New York Daily News contributed to this story. 

Belmont Wagering Analysis 

Belmont Stakes betting is far from an exact science, in fact since 1990 it has resembled more of a crapshoot. 

Recent racing history shows us that mediocre horses whose only redeeming quality is stamina have won the third leg of the Triple Crown and then disappeared in the same ghostly manner with which they mysteriously arrived. Horses like Sarava, Birdstone, and Go And Go came from nowhere and returned back to nowhere right after.

The reason that Belmont Stakes odds are turned upside down and why this race has become the graveyard for Triple Crown hopes is that the Belmont has gradually morphed into a somewhat anachronistic anomaly, at least as far as U.S. horse racing is concerned. It is one of only a handful of Grade 1 or Grade 2 (called Group 1 in other parts of the world) race contested over a mile and a half. Another one is the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap at 1 1/2 miles run at Belmont on Friday, June 10, the day before the Belmont Stakes. 

jfredericks@beaconcast.com 

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