NEW YORK — Overlook Nick Zito in the Belmont Stakes at your own risk.

The Hall of Fame trainer is sending out a couple of long shots in Saturday’s Belmont, and as he frequently says: “You can’t even lose if you don’t run.”
With that approach, Zito seems to have mastered the art of the 1›-mile Belmont: Find a fresh, fit and not-yet-famous 3-year-old who is training well, put him in against a bunch of rivals likely to be weary from a grueling Triple Crown season, and pull off a huge upset.
Last year, Da’ Tara was a shocker at odds of 38-1, spoiling Big Brown’s Triple try and giving Zito his second Belmont win.
In 2004, Zito apologized in the winner’s circle at his home track after 36-1 shot Birdstone derailed Smarty Jones’ Triple attempt before a record crowd of 120,139.
“We’ve been lucky in this race, and hopefully everything will work out OK this time,” Zito said.
This time, Zito will saddle 15-1 shots Brave Victory and Miner’s Escape, a pair of colts he trains for longtime client Robert LaPenta. The target: Derby winner and 2-1 favorite Mine That Bird.
Brave Victory has a third-place finish in the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on May 9 in his only race in the last seven weeks. Miner’s Escape won the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico on May 2, his only race since breaking his maiden nearly three months ago.
“I think I’ve got live long shots here,” Zito said. “When your horses are running well, you have to take a chance, especially in a race with this kind of history and this kind of importance. If we’re good enough, we’ll make it. If not, we won’t. We just gotta play the game and see.”
Da’ Tara finished second in the Barbaro Stakes before going wire-to-wire in the Belmont; Birdstone ran eighth in the Derby before skipping the Preakness and running down Smarty Jones in the final 70 yards for a one-length win.
Zito has played the Triple Crown game well through the years with two Derby wins and a Preakness to go with his Belmont scores. Mine That Bird co-owner Mark Allen is a big fan.
“He’s the king of the Belmont,” Allen said. “I think Mr. Zito will have something to say about what happens.”
Zito’s Belmont record speaks for itself: two wins, six seconds and three thirds from 20 starters.
Zito understands Mine That Bird and 3-1 second choice Charitable Man will be tough to beat, but he’s got Miner’s Escape to match the speedy Charitable Man at the start while Brave Victory will try to finish strong, along with Mine That Bird.
“Mine That Bird is a tough horse, don’t get me wrong,” Zito said. “But so were Smarty Jones and Big Brown. This is a mile and a half race, and with fresh horses who have been doing well, you always have a chance. That’s why I love this race.”
And if Zito can’t win, he’ll be cheering on two sons of Birdstone, Mine That Bird and 12-1 shot Summer Bird.
“If it’s not us, we certainly are rooting for them,” he said.
It was an eventful Thursday for the connections of Mine That Bird. Trainer Chip Woolley watched Mine That Bird gallop around the sloppy Belmont oval for the first time, then joined Calvin Borel on Wall Street as the jockey sounded the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
“It was a neat feeling to be part of something like that,” Woolley said, “but I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the horse.”
As for his first glimpse at Belmont, the trainer from New Mexico said: “It’s a very large place. When you walk up there and look at the oval, you can’t see the whole thing. And when he’d been loping around there for about 15 minutes, I said, `My God, he ain’t going to make it all the way around there.”’