Red Bullet might not run in Belmont Stakes Associated Press Results BALTIMORE -- Joe Orseno, trainer of Preakness winner Red Bullet, knows his colt will have a rubber match against Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus. It just might not be in the Belmont Stakes. Joe Orseno, left, celebrates with Jerry Bailey in the winner's circle. "There will be a good showdown somewhere along the line," Orseno said Sunday. "We'll sit down in next few days and decide (about the June 10 Belmont)." "It's 50-50," Orseno said when asked about the chance that Frank Stronach's colt would start in the 1½-mile final race of the Triple Crown. Red Bullet, who finished second to Fusaichi Pegasus in the Wood Memorial April 15 at Aqueduct, then skipped the Derby, was vanned to Belmont Park in New York on Sunday. Fusaichi Pegasus was scheduled to go to Aqueduct on Monday, where he will remain until trainer Neil Drysdale and owner Faso Sekiguchi of Japan decide whether he will start in the Belmont. Drysdale flew on Saturday night to California, where he is based. "He couldn't handle the track," Drysdale said Saturday after watching his 1-5 favorite finish second, 3¾ lengths behind 6-1 Red Bullet. "That's the way I saw it, that's the way Kent (jockey Kent Desormeaux) saw it. It was a greasy kind of track, and he just couldn't go with it." The track, which earlier on a rainy day had been listed as sloppy, was rated good for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. "He's a good horse, and maybe he didn't handle the track," Orseno said of Fusaichi Pegasus, who had a five-race winning streak snapped. "But the track was more or as greasy on the day of the Wood Memorial, and we didn't make excuses." The Wood Memorial was contested on a rainy day, and the track was called wet-fast. Red Bullet was beaten by 4¼ lengths by Fusaichi Pegasus that day, and Orseno was asked whether, if the margin had been smaller, he and Stronach would have decided to go to the Kentucky Derby. Orseno said it wasn't the margin, but the way the colt finished that led to the decision to skip the Derby. "He was staggering the last eighth of a mile because of the kind of trip he had," the trainer said. Red Bullet was never worse than a close second in the Wood before fading in the final eighth-mile of his first start around two turns. In the Preakness, Red Bullet was rated off the pace by Jerry Bailey. He was seventh, 6 lengths back, after a half mile, and he was sixth, just 2 lengths back after three-quarters. Red Bullet and Fusaichi Pegasus both made moves on the final turn. Red Bullet got to the lead with a quarter-mile remaining and put away his rival in the stretch. Orseno said that after the Wood Memorial, "My people were asking can I get this horse to settle, will he rate? I had to tell them he'll do anything you want. He's a push-button horse. It was just that Alex Solis was pushing the wrong button to be on the lead." Bailey replaced Solis on Red Bullet because Solis had committed to ride Derby runnerup Aptitude in the Belmont, according to Orseno. He also noted that Bailey is based in New York, while Solis is based in California. He recalled that once he brought a California-based rider east and got a $3,100 round-trip plane bill "These jockeys have little short legs, but for some reason they have to fly first class," Orseno said. If Red Bullet does not start in the Belmont, his next race could be the Haskell Handicap in early August at Monmouth Park, followed by the Travers Aug. 26 at Saratoga. None of the other six Preakness starters are being considered for the Belmont. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who finished seventh with High Yield after running 15th in Derby, said he might start Commendable, 17th in the Derby, in the Belmont. Others being considered for the race besides Aptitude are Wheelaway, fifth in the Derby; Curule, seventh in the Derby; Tahksodha Hills, third in the Florida Derby and winner of the Lone Star Derby; Unshaded, winner of his last three starts; Globalize, winner of the Turfway Park Spiral; and Chief Seattle, runnerup in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, who has yet to start this year. This will be the first Belmont since 1996 in which no horse has a shot at becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998) finished second in the Belmont. Charismatic finished third last year. The last horse to win the Preakness and Belmont after not starting in the Derby was Pillory in 1922. The last to win the Derby, lose in the Preakness and win the Belmont was Thunder Gulch in 1995. The last time there were different winners in the three races was in 1996, when Grindstone won the Derby, Louis Quatorze won the Preakness and Editor's Note won the Belmont.

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