New owner Pell has big Belmont with Fly Down thanks to trainer Nick Zito

Fly Down gives new owner big chance in Belmont

NEW YORK — A horseplayer since his teens while growing up in London, Richard C. Pell could be on the verge of the greatest score of his life — winning the Belmont Stakes.

Just two years after buying his first thoroughbreds, Pell is the proud owner of Fly Down, the Dwyer Stakes winner who is the 9-2 third betting choice for Saturday’s $1 million Belmont.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” said the 55-year-old Pell, chief investment officer for a New York-based asset management company. “You hope you get to the races and win some nice ones, but with my first crops of horses to have one in the Belmont?

That’s where Nick Zito entered the picture. The first time Pell saw Zito, it was two years ago outside the racing office at Belmont . He asked the Hall of Famer if he would train his horses one day. Of course, Pell didn’t own any at the time.

“He looked at me very quizzically, gave me his number and said, ‘Call my barn.’” Zito didn’t return numerous calls until Pell finally got word to him that he was ready to spend $1 million.

That worked. Quickly. Zito went to the 2008 Keeneland sales, and one of the eight horses he picked out for Pell was Fly Down, a son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft who sold for $80,000.

“It’s working out pretty well,” said Pell, a New Yorker who eventually returned to the United States, graduated from Cal-Berkeley, got his MBA at NYU and has been a money manager for more than 20 years.

“I figured the money I put into racing was flushing it right down the toilet,” Pell said. “But Nick says to me, “All we need is one good horse, Rich.’ And if Fly Down turns out to be as good as he might be, I actually will be making money — and having fun.”

Before enrolling at NYU, Pell also was a private investigator and a poker player.

“The whole exercise worked out well,” he said. “It gave me a background to be a money manager, and now I have a great adventure outside work.”

Zito also has the Belmont favorite in 3-1 choice Ice Box, giving the trainer two of the three top picks in a race he has won twice with long shots — Birdstone in 2004 at odds of 36-1 and Da’ Tara in 2008 at odds of 38-1.

“Obviously, there’s more pressure, anxiety,” he said of his favorite’s role. “On the other hand, if they run well, you have to be content.”

A field of 12 was entered Wednesday for a Belmont that will be run without Derby winner Super Saver or Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky.

“Nick’s going to be tough to beat,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who will try with 10-1 choice Uptowncharlybrown. “But we feel good about our horse. He’s ready.”

McLaughlin took advantage the last time the Derby and Preakness winners didn’t run in the Belmont, winning in 2006 with Jazil.

Florida Derby winner Ice Box overcame a troubled trip with a sensational rally to finish second in the Kentucky Derby, while Fly Down was a six-length winner in the Dwyer last month at Belmont.

Preakness runner-up First Dude is the 7-2 second choice, and trainer Dale Romans believes his colt is ready for a breakthrough race.

“Ice Box is going to be tough, especially in this race, but maybe we can turn the tables,” said Romans. “You’re not going to skip a classic with a horse like this. We were waiting to go a mile and a half. He’s a throwback kind of horse, a big rugged kind of horse, nothing bothers him, and I don’t think three weeks (between races) is going to bother him.”

Ice Box will leave from the No. 6 post and be ridden by Jose Lezcano, with Fly Down and John Velazquez aboard just inside at No. 5. First Dude, with Ramon Dominguez, drew the No. 11 post.

The field from the rail out is Dave in Dixie (20-1), Spangled Star (30-1), Uptowncharlybrown (10-1), Make Music for Me (10-1), Fly Down (9-2), Ice Box (3-1), Drosselmeyer (12-1), Game On Dude (10-1), Stately Victor (15-1), Stay Put (20-1), First Dude (7-2), and Interactif (12-1).

Among the long shots to consider are Blue Grass winner Stately Victor and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s Game On Dude, winner of the Lone Star Derby on May 8.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what this horse will do going a distance of ground,” Baffert said. “We bought him for the classics, and he’s making one of them.”

Stately Victor joins Ice Box as the only Grade 1 winners in the field. The bay colt had a tough trip in the Derby in finishing eighth, but trainer Mike Maker is hoping for a smoother trip.

With just a maiden win from eight career starts, Spangled Star is the longest shot in the field. Owner Larry Roman, though, figures it’s worth a try.

“He’s distance-bred, we have a great trainer in Rick Dutrow and a great jockey in Garrett Gomez,” Roman said. “He’s a long shot but there have been a lot of long shots win the Belmont Stakes. I don’t expect him to win, but I’m taking my chance.”