ELMONT, N.Y. – The Kentucky Derby winner won’t be running in the Belmont Stakes. The horse everyone was talking about going into the Kentucky Derby just might. Forte, the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby who was scratched the morning of the race due to a bruised foot, is being pointed to the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles here on June 10. On Sunday at Belmont Park, Forte worked a half-mile in 50.31 seconds over a Belmont training track listed as muddy. It was Forte’s first breeze since April 29, a week before the Kentucky Derby. Irad Ortiz Jr., who was in Baltimore on Saturday to ride Blazing Sevens to a runner-up finish in the Preakness, was back to work Forte. He went in company with the New York-bred stakes-winning filly Let Her Inspire U. Forte, who won the Grade 1 Florida Derby over Mage on April 1, would be attempting to win the Belmont off a 10-week layoff. “He was a very fit horse going into the Derby,” Pletcher said Monday. “We really didn’t miss much training, we just missed a breeze and obviously the race. His breeze yesterday, he wasn’t blowing when he came back. Irad kind of had to reach up and pull him up at the end of the gallop-out. His level of fitness is very good.” Of the foot, Pletcher said, “Knock on wood the horse is awesome. He was great yesterday and really good this morning, full of himself.” :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Join DRF Bets and get a $250 deposit match bonus, $10 free bet, and FREE DRF Formulator! Pletcher is a four-time Belmont Stakes winner, including a one-two finish last year with Mo Donegal and the filly Nest. His other Belmont Stakes winners – the filly Rags to Riches, Palace Malice, and Tapwrit – along with Mo Donegal were all coming back in five weeks. The Belmont will be 10 weeks between starts for Forte. In 2020, Tiz the Law won the Belmont off an 84-day layoff, but the Belmont was shortened from its usual 1 1/2 miles to 1 1/8 miles that year due to the delays in racing schedules created by the COVID pandemic “A mile and a half is a challenge and it’s going to be 10 weeks between races,” Pletcher said. “Sometimes the pace of the Belmont is going to be less taxing than certainly the pace was in the Derby. If they set fractions like they did in the Preakness, I think that makes it a lot easier.” Due to the bruised foot at the Derby, Forte was placed on a 14-day veterinarian’s list by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Forte needs to work satisfactorily before a regulatory vet in order to be removed from the list and to be permitted to race. Pletcher said that work to come off the vet’s list will be on Friday. A further condition of coming off the vet’s list is to pass a blood test. The results of that test should be back in five days under the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit, which on Monday took over the drug testing of horses for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. It was recently revealed that Forte tested positive for the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory meloxicam and has been disqualified from winning last September’s Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga. His connections, including owners Mike Repole and Vinnie and Teresa Viola, are appealing that disqualification. Forte could be one of three horses Pletcher runs in the Belmont Stakes. Tapit Trice, seventh in the Kentucky Derby after winning the Grade 1 Blue Grass, and Kingsbarns, 14th in the Kentucky Derby after winning the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, are his other potential starters. Tapit Trice returned to the work tab last Friday and will work again this Friday, as will Forte and Kingsbarns. While Tapit Trice is a definite to run in the Belmont, Pletcher said he is taking a “wait-and-see” approach with Kingsbarns, who was part of that wicked-fast early Derby pace. Mage, the Kentucky Derby winner trained by Gustavo Delgado who finished third in the Preakness, is skipping the Belmont to point to a summer campaign that could start with or at least include the Travers on Aug. 26. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  Thus, for the third straight year there will not be a horse who competed in all three legs of the Triple Crown. National Treasure, the Preakness winner trained by Bob Baffert, is expected to ship to New York in a few days and train toward the Belmont Stakes, Baffert indicated Sunday. Arcangelo, the Peter Pan Stakes winner, is expected to breeze on May 31 with a definitive decision on the Belmont expected shortly thereafter, per trainer Jena Antonucci. Brad Cox is pointing Angel of Empire, third as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, and Hit Show, fifth in the Derby, to the Belmont. Red Route One, fourth in the Preakness, and Raise Cain, eighth in the Derby, are also being pointed to the Belmont. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.