Go CP West!!!!! (Belmont Stakes)

Also moving into a hot pace at Pimlico was Robert LaPenta’s C P West, a horse officially thrown into the Belmont mix in the final 24 hours before the Belmont Stakes field was set, although Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said he had been contemplating a Belmont run for a couple weeks now.

C P West ended up a good fourth in the Preakness and is eligible to improve in his fourth start of the season. The Came Home colt was second in last year’s Futurity and second in this year’s Withers.

“He was fourth in the Preakness, not fourteenth,” said trainer Nick Zito. “He was only beaten a total of five lengths and with his light schedule so far this year, the Belmont shouldn’t take too much out of him. Everyone else has to go a mile and a half for the first time, not just him.”

Edgar Prado will be looking for his third Belmont winner aboard C P West. Prado won the Belmont for Zito aboard Birdstone in 2004, and also lit up the tote board with Sarava in 2002, both times spoiling Triple Crown bids.