ELMONT, N.Y. - Big Brown put his best foot forward on Tuesday morning at Belmont Park, turning in his final workout for the 140th Belmont Stakes in workmanlike fashion that had his connections breathing easier.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Big Brown, who has the most examined foot since Carrie Bradshaw first put on a pair of Manolo Blahniks, will not have an acrylic patch put on his injured quarter crack until Friday, the day before he is to go for the Triple Crown in the 140th Belmont Stakes, both trainer Rick Dutrow and Ian McKinlay, the foot specialist who has been treating Big Brown, said Monday at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Nick Zito and Kassem Masri, the owner of Anak Nakal, on Monday released jockey John Velazquez from his commitment to ride Anak Nakal in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday so Velazquez could ride Ready’s Echo.

Velazquez had committed to Anak Nakal before knowing definitively that Ready’s Echo would run. Ready’s Echo is trained by Velazquez’s main client, Todd Pletcher.

“We had a call and we released him,” Zito said. “Mr. Masri and I believe in good karma.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Denis of Cork, the likely third choice for the 140th Belmont Stakes, had his final prerace breeze when going a half-mile in 48.60 seconds over a fast track Monday morning at Churchill Downs.

With his Belmont jockey, Robby Albarado, in the saddle, Denis of Cork galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.60 in what trainer David Carroll had planned as a maintenance work. Denis of Cork had breezed five furlongs on the two previous Mondays at Churchill.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Longshots Tomcito and Spark Candle were both removed from consideration for next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes by their connections on Sunday, leaving a likely group of eight opponents for Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown.

Tomcito, third to Big Brown in the Florida Derby, had some congestion on Sunday morning and was declared from the race, trainer Dante Zanelli Jr. said. Zanelli said that the owner, Jet Set Racing Stable, was likely to move the horse to another New York-based trainer and Zanelli would return to his Lexington, Ky., base.

As the only jockey to have ridden Big Brown, attempted to beat him, and won the Belmont Stakes, Jeremy Rose is in a unique position heading into the 140th Belmont Stakes next Saturday at Belmont Park. Big Brown is going for the Triple Crown, but Rose will be a triple threat.

Rose picked up the mount on Big Brown when he made his debut Sept. 3 at Saratoga after Edgar Prado, who was scheduled to ride Big Brown, was injured two days earlier. Big Brown won by 11 1/4 lengths, though Rose knew he was just pinch-hitting that day.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - David Carroll and Robby Albarado both know what it's like to play a part in major Belmont Stakes drama. Carroll was the everyday exercise rider for the 1989 Belmont winner, Easy Goer, and Albarado was narrowly beaten last year aboard Curlin when Rags to Riches became the first filly to win the race in more than a century.

This year, Carroll and Albarado are teaming together in the Belmont with Denis of Cork, one of the top threats to Big Brown in his quest for the Triple Crown.

Although all reports from the Big Brown camp on Friday were encouraging regarding his progress from a quarter crack in his left front foot, the list of horses that will challenge the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner in the 140th Belmont Stakes next Saturday continued to grow.

Trainer Nick Zito, who spoiled the last Triple Crown bid in 2004 when his Birdstone upset Smarty Jones, already had Anak Nakal pointed for the $1 million Belmont, and on Friday said he was giving serious consideration to running Da' Tara as well.

After two consecutive Triple Crown races that presented major hurdles to many horse racing fans seeking to watch and wager on the races and their undercards, the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in New York will offer wide-open viewing and betting opportunities.

Elliott Walden knows what Richard Dutrow Jr. is going through right now. Ten years ago, Walden held his breath following the Preakness Stakes, hoping a nasty skin rash would not prevent Victory Gallop, a colt Walden trained, from participating in the Belmont Stakes. Victory Gallop had finished second to Real Quiet in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but then missed training time with an ill-timed malady that left unsightly bumps on his left side. It wasn't a quarter crack, the injury that recently has befallen the Dutrow-trained Big Brown.