If the trainer Todd Pletcher is to deny American Pharoah the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, he hopes his willingness to skip the Preakness Stakes three weeks earlier will provide the edge he needs.
Pletcher will be aiming for his third Belmont victory to go with recent strong finishes that fit his pattern of passing over the Preakness and returning to his home base, Belmont Park, almost immediately after the Kentucky Derby. He has not saddled a horse in the Preakness, the middle leg of the Triple Crown, for the last four years.