Belmont winner steals stage

Rags to Riches’ thrilling win in the Belmont Stakes added an exclamation point to this year’s Triple Crown. While Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, Preakness winner Curlin and hard-luck Hard Spun battled toe to toe, it was trainer Todd Pletcher’s filly who eclipsed them all.

I’m sure Pletcher is receiving lots of unwanted advice as to the future of Rags to Riches. Well, here’s my two cents: I think she should face the boys only once more, in either the Haskell at Monmouth Park or the Travers at Saratoga. One of the two tracks may be able to arrange a summit meeting of the big four horses from the Triple Crown.

Rags to Riches can win that showdown. Then, she could focus on winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Pletcher could build a second-half resume strong enough for her to win Horse of the Year honors, especially if no male horse is dominant through the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The filly Azeri won Horse of the Year in 2002 with a less stressful campaign.

I sure hope the big four horses meet this summer. I expect Curlin and Hard Spun to show because both have a lot to gain with Grade I wins. Not so with Street Sense. His breeding rights reached peak value when sold to Darley Stud. There is little to gain if he races again. And the fearful specter of Barbaro looms when weighing the risk versus the reward.

Kudos to the four trainers — Carl Nafzger (Street Sense), Steve Asmussen (Curlin), Larry Jones (Hard Spun) and Pletcher — who did a lot of things right. Asmussen and Pletcher, in particular, are ready take over the Triple Crown stage formerly reserved for Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito.

As for Jones, please find a jockey with a clock in his head who can ride Hard Spun going fractions of 24, 48 and 1:12. Jones has every right to be upset about the bizarre rides he got in the Preakness and the Belmont.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.