Bio for Luv Gov
Profile by Kenny Peck
Earnings: $62,896
Strengths: His trainer has sent out 19 Belmont starters, and he's won this race four times, most recently with Commendable in 2000, and that includes three straight wins from 1994-96. Owner Marylou Whitney also has had success in the Belmont, winning the race with Birdstone in 2004. This colt's best Beyer Speed Figures have come in his last two starts, and he may still be on the improve. Also, his running style suggests more ground will suit.
Weaknesses: He was up the track in the Preakness, his first start against winners and his only try against stakes company, and he'll need to find a way to make up eight lengths on Mine That Bird. He also was nearly five lengths behind stablemate Flying Private in that race and he doesn't figure to get a pace setup any better than that one today. He was an easy winner against maidens on the Derby undercard, but that was on a sloppy track and he enjoyed a largely inside trip when the rail was probably the best place to be.
Strategy: Given his lack of early foot, he'll come from off the pace. The question is how far back will he be? He closed like a steamroller in his maiden score when allowed to sit well off the pace, so it may be best to let him settle toward the back half of the field and then make a run.
Value: He doesn't seem fast enough to win this but he does have strong connections, he has a decent late kick, and he'll be a big price; can't fault those who use him in the hopes he fills out the exotics.
MARYLOU WHITNEY STABLES
Marylou Whitney won the 2004 Belmont Stakes with Birdstone. Married to John Hendrickson, she was awarded the Ogden Phipps Award as Top Breeder by the New York Turf Writers Association for her success with Birdstone and Bird Town, winner of the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes, in 2003. Her late husband, C.V. Whitney, owned Belmont Stakes winners Phalanx (1947) and Counterpoint (1951).
D. WAYNE LUKAS
A member of racing’s Hall of Fame since 1999, Lukas won the Eclipse Award as Top Trainer four times - 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1994. He has won 13 Triple Crown races, taking the Kentucky Derby four times (filly Winning Colors in 1988, Thunder Gulch in 1995, Grindstone in 1996 and Charismatic in 1999); the Preakness five times (Codex in 1980, Tank’s Prospect in 1985, Tabasco Cat in 1994, Timber Country in 1995 and Charismatic in 1999) and the Belmont Stakes four times (Tabasco Cat in 1994, Thunder Gulch in 1995, Editor’s Note in 1996 and Commendable in 2000). He has not had a Belmont starter since 2005 (A.P. Arrow, 5th). Lukas, a native of Wisconsin, worked as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin for two years and coached high school for nine years while training quarter-horses. He turned to training Thoroughbreds on a full-time basis in 1978.
MIGUEL MENA
Born November 6, 1986 in Lima, Peru, he is the son of jockey Jose Mena, and was in the same graduating class from the Jorge Bernardini Yori Jockey School as Alan Garcia. He rode in Peru and Puerto Rico before moving to the United States in 2004. After stints in Florida and Chicago, he moved to Kentucky, where he was leading rider at Ellis Park in 2006. He also was leading rider at the Presque Isle Meet in 2007. This will be his first Belmont Stakes start.