Afleet Alex moves to Barn 5 at Belmont Park

Andromeda’s Hero tops Zito’s three Belmont entries  (Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com)

“There are a number of reasons why I’d prefer him to be in Barn 5,” Ritchey
said. “The barn provides a better situation for media access for both me and
members of the media. Smarty Jones was stabled there last year and from what I
understand, it worked very well.

“The bottom line is that since Barn 14 was no longer a security barn and he
would have to be moved on race day anyhow, I thought it would be a better
situation in Barn 5. Since there were three stalls available there it worked out
perfectly.”

The bay colt jogged a mile and galloped 1 1/2 miles in his lone visit
to Belmont’s main track Thursday morning. Ritchey sent Afleet Alex out
early to avoid the heat. Temperatures were expected to approach 90 later
in the day.

“At this point, he’s only going out once a morning anyhow because the
race is coming up in a couple of days,” Ritchey said.

In other Belmont news:

Trainer Patrick Biancone said CHEKHOV (Pulpit) will be vanned to Belmont Park
from Saratoga early Friday morning.

“We decided to change our travel plans because it is too hot to travel during
the middle of the day,” Biancone said.

Mike Smith and Jeremy Rose, the respective winners of the Kentucky Derby (G1)
and Preakness S. (G1) aboard GIACOMO (Holy Bull) and Afleet Alex, will both ring the
bell to open Friday’s session of the New York Stock Exchange at 9:30 a.m. (EDT)
(televised on CNBC).