Afleet Alex’s heroic recovery from clipping heels with Scrappy T coming into the stretch to win the Preakness last Saturday certainly seems to have earned him the mantle of legitimacy. The only horse to run anywhere near what was expected of him (good or bad) in Kentucky, Alex pushed his stock up to new heights at Pimlico, demonstrating that he is all heart and can close like a cannonball. He’s now secured the respect of handicappers, horsemen, and the betting public.

The rest of the horses we’ve been watching, though, have cemented their reputations as platers. These nags are hardly worthy of Grade I company, let alone Triple Crown races. In other words, the field won’t keep anyone away from the June 11 Belmont Stakes.

If you’re a horseman with a good stakes winner, you might think it’s pretty likely that Afleet Alex will take the third leg of the Triple Crown, but second place in a million dollar race pays for a lot of oats. And what if Alex is tired after these last two efforts? You’re sending your horse to the Belmont gate.

Down in Arlington, Mike Puhich is training his Lone Star Derby winner, Southern Africa, with Long Island in his sights. Nick Zito, who came up short with five horses in the Derby and three in the Preakness, will probably bring a new horse to the Belmont; the most likely candidate is Pinpoint, the gate-to-wire victor of the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard.

The only thing keeping horses out of the Triple Crown races this year is injury. The big horses began dropping early on the Derby trail, and the trend has continued into May. Bellamy Road’s popped splint and Bandini’s chipped ankle are just the latest additions to a steady parade of attrition that included Declan’s Moon knee injury, Roman Ruler’s quarter crack, and Blues and Royals’s lung infection.

Now Wilko, the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, has been added to the list. He came back from the Preakness with filling in his right front ankle. X-rays found a small bone chip. It should keep him out for at least 90 days. Greeley’s Galaxy, too, is headed home, but his exit owes purely to poor performances.

The latest defections just leave more room in the gate for new faces. Newcomers have won the Belmont Stakes before, in dramatic fashion, and one of the places to look for them coming is the $200,000 Grade II Peter Pan stakes, which is run over 1 1/8 miles on Saturday at Belmont.

It was after a good win in the Peter Pan that Coastal denied Spectacular Bid the Triple Crown in 1979. The “best horse to look through a bridle,” the Bid was unbeatable, or so it seemed. They say there was a safety pin lodged in his hoof at the Belmont Stakes, but whatever the reason, Coastal got under the wire in front of him.

In 1968, the Peter Pan wasn’t a graded stakes race yet, but Stage Door Johnny used it as a prep for the Belmont Stakes. That spring, Forward Pass earned the Derby victory when Dancer’s Image, who had won the race, was disqualified for having phenylbutazone in his blood (the drug is legal for horses now). Forward Pass went on to win the Preakness by six lengths, but Stage Door Johnny denied him this odd Triple Crown by slipping under the wire 1 1/4 lengths ahead in the Belmont Stakes.

The horses slipping through the stage door in the Belmont this year will likely include a few going to the gate in the Peter Pan. Chekhov, Golden Man, Mr. Sword, Oratory, Reverberate, Robador, Saint Anddan, and Survivalist – and possibly Better Than Bonds and Confederation – are expected to run Saturday.

Golden Man was supplemented to run in the Preakness, but couldn’t pass the requirements of an overbooked gate. He’s starting here off a big win in his first outing after a layoff and his first start in trainer Richard Dutrow’s barn. Obviously, his connections are looking for a ticket to the big time.

Jennifer Pedersen-trained Mr. Sword has also been knocking on the Graded stakes door – he faltered but held on to show in the Lane’s End stakes March 26 at Turfway, then got it handed to him in Keeneland’s Blue Grass stakes on April 16. The top three there (Bandini, High Limit, Closing Argument) no longer look threatening, so why not? It’ll be Sir Greeley and Reverberate out front early. Sir Greeley got headed to place over the Belmont turf running in a May 11 Allowance. Reverberate managed to keep the lead through most of the calls over a 1 1/16 allowance at Belmont on May 8. Lots of folks seem to think that his connections want to send him to Belmont as well, but trainer Sal Russo is hedging.

All of these horses are solid, and any of them, after a good run on Saturday, might find themselves standing in the gate on Belmont Stakes day.

***

While the 3-year-olds battle it out in the Peter Pan, an exceptionally deep field of older horses will be prepping for Monday’s Met Mile. Reigning Horse of the Year Ghostzapper, undefeated last season, will return to the track for his 2005 debut. In the gate with him will be the stunningly fast Forest Danger, who came within two-fifths of a second of Artax’s stakes and course record for the distance last out in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 11.

Ghostzapper has been assigned the high weight of 123 pounds. Also going to the gate, with their weight assignments, are: Forest Danger (118), Medallist (116), Sir Shackleton (116), Pomeroy (115), and Silver Wagon (114). Possibles for the race are Saint Liam (122) and Swingforthefences (114).