Dr Greenfield to be taken seriously Irish-bred Dr Greenfield is listed as a 30-1 longshot for Saturday`s $1 million Belmont Stakes, but history says he has got a great chance to light up the board. With its generous one-and-a-half mile circumference and its wide, sweeping turns, Belmont Park is a favoured destination for European horses looking to land some Yankee dollars. As beautiful as Belmont is, it is a long trip to take just for the view, and the fact is European-based horses have enjoyed a large measure of success shipping to New York for the Belmont Stakes. The earliest runnings of the Belmont are short on statistical data, but the winner of the 1917 Belmont, Hourless, was bred in England, as was the 1918 winner, Johren. Back-to-back European victories came again in 1957-58 when Gallant Man, bred in England by the Aga Khan, preceded Irish-bred Cavan to the winner`s circle. In recent years a number of three-year-olds have shipped in for the Belmont Stakes after campaigning in Europe. In 1989 the French-based Le Voyageur finished third behind arch rivals Easy Goer and Sunday Silence at odds of 29-1. In 1990 Go and Go came over from Ireland to win the Belmont by more than eight lengths at 7-1 odds. In 1992 My Memoirs, owned by the same organisation that races Dr Greenfield, finished second in the Belmont, less than a length behind eventual Horse of the Year A. P. Indy, at 18-1 odds. European shippers have compiled a record of 1-1-1 in six starts in recent years, always at generous odds. Dr Greenfield, bred in Ireland by Mount Coote Stud, lost his debut in the Chesterton Maiden Stakes at Newmarket last October, but has won all three of his starts since then, capped off by a game victory in the one-and-a-quarter mile Dee Stakes at Chester on May 10. Though that race was on the grass, Dr Greenfield has also won over the all-weather dirt track at Lingfield Park. 'He is on the same schedule as My Memoirs, said owner Barry Irwin. 'Both won the Dee Stakes as their Belmont prep, and Dr Greenfield`s time in the Dee Stakes was one hundredth of a second faster than My Memoirs.' Trainer Gerard Butler, who came up through the D. Wayne Lukas system, will be saddling his first Belmont Stakes starter in Dr Greenfield. Butler watched Dr Greenfield gallop eagerly around the Belmont oval Friday morning. 'This is a big, strong horse and a-mile-and-a-half will not be a problem for him,' said the 35-year-old Butler. 'And he has the speed to get where he has to be. I couldn`t be happier with where he is right now.' Born to a racing family in County Tipperary in Ireland, Butler spent his early years at the Curragh learning the tricks of the trade. He moved to the United States to work as an assistant to Lukas for three-and-a-half years, then spent another six months in California with Rodney Rash before returning to England to finish up his preparations with trainer John Dunlop and eventually go out on his own. 'It was quite an eye opener for me,' said Butler of his time spent as a foreman for Lukas. 'I thought if I could last a week, then I`d last a month and if I could last a month, I`d last a year. So that`s how I took it. 'Three-and-a-half years later, I moved away from Wayne. You don`t move on from Wayne, you move away. He left quite an impression on me.' Butler is now a public trainer based at Churn Farm, in Oxfordshire, about an hour from London. In the four years since he started, Butler`s operation has grown from 18 to about 90 horses. A strong showing in the Belmont will enhance his reputation even more. 'It`s nice to come over here for the Belmont,' said Butler. 'It`s very educational for us. We`re a very young yard - only the fourth season for me to have a license. 'Running in these races is what it`s all about. Winning smaller races is very important, but you learn more by coming over here and having a tilt at these things.'
