| The Friday before the Belmont Stakes was a race day for some of Todd Pletcher's New York-based trainees, but for those who weren't competing it was afternoon recess as usual, beginning around 3 p.m. In small groups, about thirty horses, each accompanied by a groom, got a chance to graze, nibble tree leaves, and take in the sights. For some, the most interesting sight seemed to be a photographer's camera: both Life At Ten and a very cautious Travelin Man reached over the fence to thoroughly examine it, running their muzzles up and down the lens. |
| Isabel Escobar leads Awesome Maria from the barn to the adjacent paddock so the four-year-old stakes-winning daughter of Maria's Mon can stretch her legs. |
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Awesome Maria is joined by three-year-old filly Shared Heart . . . |
| . . . who spooks at a sound from a nearby barn. |
| Aikenite, a Florida-bred four-year-old colt, stands quietly among his stablemates. |
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Her Smile, scheduled to run the next day in the Acorn Stakes for three-year-old fillies, seems to know the camera is there just for her. |
| Savvy Supreme, also entered in the Acorn, looks toward the fence at some visitors who've come to see her. |
| Three-year-old Gambling Geraldine (left) and six-year-old Caixa Eletronica (below) both belong to Repole Stable, best known for owning Uncle Mo. |
| Rule, a 2007 colt by Roman Ruler, makes a Zenyatta-style entrance into the paddock. |
| Dark Thunder is a 2007 Florida-bred gelding . . . |
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. . . and Ibboyee is a 2007 New York-bred colt. |
| Calibrachoa, a 2007 Kentucky-bred colt, is another Repole Stable horse. |
| Life At Ten spies some low-hanging leaves she can't resist. |
| Rose Catherine (left and below) grazes. |
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Cal Nation searches for the perfect patch of grass. The three-year-old son of Distorted Humor won the first time he ran, in February at Gulfstream. |
| Four-year-old filly Hilda's Passion joins her stablemates in the paddock. |
| Loup Breton is a seven-year-old Irish-bred grandson of Danzig who began his racing career in Europe. |
| R Holiday Mood, winner of the Miss Preakness Stakes three weeks earlier at Pimlico, quietly grazes. |
| Sweet Cat is only two and, on this June day, still unraced. |
| Travelin Man, entered in the next day's Woody Stephens Stakes for three-year-olds, keeps a wary eye on his surroundings. |
| Stay Thirsty, Repole Stable's "other horse," relaxes the day before his next big race, the Belmont Stakes. |
| Sidney's Candy returns to the barn after his session in the sun. |
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