NEW YORK (AP) -One of the last horses to defect from the Kentucky Derby became the final horse to join the field for Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

It's been a crazy Triple Crown for Interactif.

Interactif was on target for the Derby, and had enough graded stakes earnings to secure one of the 20 slots in the race.

On Derby week, trainer Todd Pletcher started hinting he had other plans for Interactif. On Wednesday morning, only minutes before Derby entries closed, Pletcher pulled the colt out of the race, indicating he would run on turf in the future.

``I think he's a little better on the grass,'' Pletcher said at the time. ``Even though he trained well here, I just felt that a mile-and-a-quarter on the dirt is not his specialty.''

Perhaps 1 1/2 miles on dirt in the Belmont will work better.

A lot has happened since the Run for the Roses. Pletcher won his first Derby with Super Saver, now sitting out the Belmont after running eighth in the Preakness.

Left without a Belmont runner, Pletcher cycled back to Interactif, 12-1 on the morning line. He decided Monday morning to ``call an audible and send him to the Belmont.''

Interactif is well rested for his Triple Crown debut. He has not run since a fourth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 10.

The last time Pletcher made a last-minute Belmont decision was three years ago, and it was a winning one. He sent out Rags to Riches to become the first filly to win the race in 102 years.

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TENDERFOOT: Tender feet and all, Drosselmeyer is headed to the Belmont Stakes. The chestnut colt with the glistening copper coat is 12-1 on the morning line.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott took the unusual step of training Drosselmeyer in bar shoes this week to protect bruised front feet. Bar shoes, a horseshoe with a metal piece across what would normally be the open end, are often used for heel support. They are rarely applied to young horses, let alone runners heading to a 3-year-old classic like the Belmont.

Mott said Drosselmeyer will be reshod with conventional shoes on the morning of the race.

The bar shoes haven't hampered Drosselmeyer so far. He was wearing them Monday for a sensational five-furlong workout in 59.65.

``The fact it was that fast, I'm not disappointed,'' Mott said. ``He's supposedly a good horse and I was looking for a decent work.''

The Belmont will be the fifth start this year for Drosselmeyer, whose lone win came in an allowance race in January at Gulfstream Park. He followed that with two stakes at the Fair Grounds, a fourth in the Risen Star and a third in the Louisiana Derby.

Those failures left him with insufficient graded-stakes earnings to make the Kentucky Derby. Turns out that wasn't a blow to his owners, WinStar Farm. They went to their deep bench of 3-year-olds to win the Derby with Super Saver.

With the Derby out of the picture, Drosselmeyer, a $600,000 yearling purchase in 2008, tuned up for the Belmont by running second in the Dwyer Stakes here on May 8.

Mott, best known as the trainer of 1995 and 1996 Horse of the Year Cigar, has started four horses in the Belmont. His closest brush with victory came in 1999 when Vision and Verse missed by a head at 54-1.

Jockey Mike Smith, also a Hall of Famer, is winless in 12 Belmont mounts. He has won two Triple Crown races: the 2005 Derby with Giacomo and the 1993 Preakness with Prairie Bayou.

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MISSING STARS: For third time in 40 years, the Belmont will not have a Derby or a Preakness winner in the field. Their absence could produce another long-shot winner.

Neither Barbaro (Derby) nor Bernardini (Preakness) were in the starting gate for the 2006 Belmont won by Jazil at 6-1

In 2000, Fusaichi Pegasus (Derby) and Red Bullet (Preakness) sat out the Belmont taken by Commendable, 18-1.

You then have to go back to 1970 when High Echelon won at 9-2 with Dust Commander (Derby) and Personality (Preakness) on the sidelines.

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PAYING A VISIT: Several jockeys riding in the Belmont will visit Ronald McDonald House of Long Island on Thursday morning, an annual trip that has become a tradition leading up to the final jewel of the Triple Crown.

Alan Garcia (Stately Victor), Javier Castellano (Interactif) and John Velazquez (Fly Down) will join other riders in donning silks to pose with the children for photographs and to distribute autographed goggles and hats.

The Ronald McDonald House of Long Island in New Hyde Park, N.Y., is a 'home-away-from home' for families who are caring for seriously ill children undergoing medical treatment in area hospitals. Located on the campus of Schneider Children's Hospital, the House accommodates families in a supportive environment.