Animal Kingdom's Irwin upset with Isn't He Perfect

NEW YORK (AP) - Isn't He Perfect. Not according to Barry Irwin, not even close.

Irwin of Team Valor International, which owns Animal Kingdom, took to his Facebook page to criticize the presence of Isn't He Perfect in Saturday's Belmont Stakes. He blamed Isn't He Perfect for causing the chain reaction that nearly caused Animal Kingdom to fall at the start of the race.

``Mud didn't cost AK the Belmont,'' Irwin wrote on Facebook. ``At the break, Isn't He Perfect came over at the break, intimidated Mucho Macho Man, who slammed into Animal Kingdom so hard that our colt nearly went down. Our jockey lost his left iron, which was not corrected until the turn. We never had a chance. Isn't He Perfect had no business being in this race and he screwed it up for a lot of horses today. Classics are no place for amateurs.''

Earlier in the week, the outspoken Irwin started a friendly feud with Shackleford trainer Dale Romans. He said he wasn't worried about the Preakness winner in the Belmont, and that Mucho Macho Man was the horse to beat.

Isn't He Perfect broke from the No. 11 post, with Mucho Man in No. 10 and Animal Kingdom in No. 9.

Ruler on Ice won the Belmont, Shackleford was fifth and Animal Kingdom sixth. Isn't He Perfect finished last in the 12-horse field.

Isn't He Perfect ran ninth in the Preakness, and also finished fifth in the Wood Memorial.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Stay Thirsty loves New York, and showed it again with a second-place finish in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

When Shackleford faltered at the top of the lane, Stay Thirsty made a strong run up the muddy rail.

Stay Thirsty, at 16-1, lost by three-quarters-of-a-length to the even higher priced Ruler On Ice, at 24-1.

Stay Thirsty was the Belmont fallback horse for New York-based owner Mike Repole after Uncle Mo, last season's champion 2-year-old, was sidelined the morning before the Kentucky Derby with a liver infection.

That left it up to Stay Thirsty, who had run poorly in the Florida and Kentucky derbies, to step up his game.

``The horse ran a super race,'' trainer Todd Pletcher said. ``Of course, we would have loved to win this race. We are very proud of him.''

Stay Thirsty has two wins and three runner-up finishes in his five races in New York. He was badly beaten in three out-of-town starts; 12th in the Kentucky Derby, seventh in the Florida Derby and fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs, when he finished 14 1/2 lengths behind Uncle Mo.

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PROBLEM CHILD: Belmont winner Ruler On Ice was a problem child from the start.

The unruly colt was gelded to make him easier to handle before he began racing. That wasn't the complete answer, as Ruler On Ice was only 2 for 6 coming into the final leg of the Triple Crown.

Trainer Kelly Breen added blinkers for the Belmont in an effort to sharpen Ruler On Ice's focus. Blinkers are a hood with eye cups that restrict a horse's field of vision.

What he can't see won't distract him.

``He wouldn't grow up,'' Breen said. ``We were trying to see, if with time, he would mature without having to put blinkers on him.''

The answer was no, especially after Ruler On Ice disappointed Breen and owners George and Lori Hall by running second in the Tesio Stakes at Pimlico.

``He was already a gelding so we couldn't castrate him again,'' Breen said. ``So we put the blinkers on.''

The first time the hood was added for a workout, Ruler On Ice was still goofing around. Last week, he came around and got down to business.

``Sometimes the bulb just goes on,'' Breen said.

With the blinkers, Ruler On Ice was much sharper early on in the Belmont, sitting second behind the pacesetting Shackleford before kicking home strongly in the lane for his first stakes victory.

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NO SECOND FOR NEHRO: Nehro got a face full of mud in the Belmont, and he wasn't pleased.

The lightly raced colt was making only his seventh start. He had run second in his three prior races, including the Kentucky Derby.

In his first time on a wet track, Nehro finished fourth.

``He ran a gutty race,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said. ``He looked like he was swimming there a little bit. He ran another solid race without winning.''

Jockey Corey Nakatani knew the colt was struggling with the slop.

``Everything was new,'' he said. ``He never really settled like I wanted him to do. He's a young horse who has done a lot to this point. I'm looking forward to him putting it together one day.''

Despite just one victory in seven starts, Nehro has earned $885,140 for owner Ahmed Zayat.

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IN THE MONEY: A crowd of 55,779 wagered $10,098,573 on Belmont Stakes Day races, a 32.9 percent increase over $7,598,840 in 2010.

An additional $1,465,484 was wagered on incoming simulcasts, bringing the total on-track handle to $11,564,057, compared to $8,229,318 in 2010, a 40.5 percent increase.

Attendance was up 23.3 percent from last year's Belmont crowd of 45,243.