Curlin Favored to Win Belmont Stakes.....Preakness Winner Gets 6-5 Odds in Field of Seven

Curlin won the Preakness by beating the Kentucky Derby winner. To win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, the strapping colt will have to beat the Kentucky Oaks winner, and five other challengers.

Derby winner Street Sense won't be around for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, but Oaks winner Rags to Riches will be in an attempt to become the first filly to win a Triple Crown race since Winning Colors took the 1988 Derby.Curlin's trainer welcomes the competition."She's just another quality horse in the race," Steve Asmussen said, "and Curlin is going to have to run extremely well to win."Curlin was made the 6-5 morning-line favorite Wednesday, and will leave from the No. 3 post position under jockey Robby Albarado.Hard Spun, the second choice at 5-2, and Curlin are the only 3-year-olds to run in all three Triple Crown races. The bay colt finished second in the Derby and third in the Preakness, four lengths behind Curlin."I've said this already, that we may hail Curlin by the fall as a superstar," said Larry Jones, Hard Spun's trainer, before adding: "Hopefully the pace scenario will be a little different going a mile-and-a-half."What was looking like a dull Belmont a few days ago, now boasts a quality seven-horse field that also includes Santa Anita Derby winner Tiago (10-1), trainer Nick Zito's C P West (12-1) and a pair of 20-1 long shots in Imawildandcrazyguy, fourth in the Derby, and Slew's Tizzy, winner of the Lexington Stakes and Lone Star Derby."It's one of the stronger fields we've had in the three years I've been here," New York Racing Association president Charles Hayward said. "It's a compact field of seven but you have to give a lot of horses a shot. That makes it a great race with a very accomplished field."Curlin came into the Kentucky Derby as the morning-line favorite after three overpowering victories, including a 10 1/2-length romp in the Arkansas Derby. He finished third by eight lengths, but rebounded with an astonishing stretch run in the Preakness to edge Street Sense by a head in the final stride.