ELMONT, United States — American Pharoah's bid to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to land the Triple Crown received a boost Monday as two opponents withdrew from the final leg Saturday's $1.5 million Belmont Stakes. Carpe Diem and The Truth Or Else both pulled out with fitness problems from the 147th edition of the “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds, leaving just eight still standing. Carpe Diem, who is owned by WinStar Farm, finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby and won the Blue Grass Stakes. “We have decided not to run Carpe Diem in the Belmont. Too good a horse to run at 90 percent,” WinStar's spokesman Elliott Walden said. The Truth Or Else is trained and co-owned by Ken McPeek. The colt was to have been ridden by jockey Edgar Prado. “The Truth Or Else is not being entered into Belmont. Filling in ankle. Minor but everything happens for a reason,” McPeek tweeted. The Bob Baffert-trained American Pharoah ridden by Victor Espinoza won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in impressive style to leave him on the brink of an achievement that has proved elusive since Affirmed's glory days. Pharoah is the 14th horse since Affirmed to win the first two legs of the coveted treble. Baffert has saddled four of those horses — including Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998 and War Emblem in 2002. American Pharoah's owner Ahmed Zayat welcomes a field of fresh horses for the Belmont Stakes, saying that his battled-tested colt will “have to earn it” to end a nearly four-decade Triple Crown drought. “In order to define greatness, you have to do things that have not been done,” Zayat told Reuters in a telephone call. “He needs to prove that he's a cut above.” Zayat, 52, said he would like to see Kentucky-bred American Pharoah, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, complete the Triple Crown for the health of the industry. “I want it for the fans,” he said. “They've been waiting for 37 years. The sport needs it. A sport without a star is not a sport. Imagine having basketball without Michael Jordan or LeBron (James). I'm excited. I'm pumped.” The Belmont Stakes is known as the “Test of Champions” and its agonizingly long homestretch is often referred to as the “The Graveyard of Triple Crown Dreams.” — Agencies
