Casino Drive came out of his victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Peter Pan as effortlessly and professionally as raced in his United States debut.

“He is happy; he loves it here and he is doing very well,” said Nobutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management Ltd., on Wednesday morning. “He could run in the Preakness.”

Of course, Casino Drive will not be running in Saturday’s 133rd running of the Preakness, the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds (NBC, 6:15 p.m.). The spotlight at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. is on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, and if he wins the mile and three-sixteenths race, he will look to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner when he comes to Belmont Park on June 7 for the 140th running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion.

And Casino Drive will be waiting.

Bred for the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes, the oldest and longest leg of the Triple Crown, Casino Drive is a half-brother to 2006 Belmont Stakes winner Jazil and a three-quarter brother to 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, all three sharing the same dam, Better Than Honour. A son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Casino Drive dazzled everyone on Saturday with his 5 ¾-length victory in the nine-furlong Peter Pan, which he completed in 1:47.87, handily.

“We always felt he was a good horse, and he showed his ability the other day,” Tada said. “We are hoping Big Brown wins on Saturday. We think the Belmont Stakes will be a very exciting race for everyone.”

Tada said that Casino Drive will head back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes and then prepare for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held October 24-25 at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet in California.

“If we stay beyond 60 days here, then we face three months of quarantine in Japan,” Tada said. “So, he is going back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes.”

Stablemate Spark Candle, who was sixth in the Peter Pan, will not run in the Belmont Stakes.

“He came out of the race well, and we have some options with him,” Tada said. “We might go on the turf in the Hill Prince (Grade 3, $100,000-added, three-year-olds, one mile, turf, Friday, June 6) or we might keep him on the dirt.”

Another horse, Champagne Squall, who is also owned by Hidetoshi Yamamato, will likely run Saturday on the turf.

New York Racing Association Stakes Coordinator Andrew Byrnes is also excited about the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown, depending on what happens in the Preakness, and Casino Drive will be facing the likes of Denis of Cork, who was third in the Kentucky Derby, Tale of Ekati, who was third in the Derby, Anak Nakal, who was seventh in the Kentucky Derby and Tomcito, seventh in the Peter Pan.

On Friday, May 16 ,Belmont Park will take wagers on the Pimlico Special/Preakness double until post time for the Pimlico Special, at approximately 4:40 p.m. Eastern.

Belmont Park will show the entire Preakness Day card from Pimlico on Saturday, May 17. First race post at Pimlico is 10:30 a.m. Parking lots will open at 9:45 a.m., and admission gates will open at 10 a.m. There will be self-service machine wagering only – voucher sales start at 10:15 p.m. -- until 12:15 p.m.

Saturday will also present be an interesting live card to Belmont Park fans, where first race post is 1 p.m.

Along with Champagne Squall’s American debut, fans will also welcome Find A Cure Stable’s Call Me Larry back to the races after a year’s absence.

Formerly with trainer Leah Gyarmati and now with Mike Hushion, Call Me Larry’s owner, Suzie O’Cain, donates 10 percent of his earnings to breast cancer research.

The gelding is named for Dr. Larry Norton, a renowned research physician at the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center and the Iris Cantor Diagnostic Center as part of Manhattan’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital.

The live card feature on Saturday will be the 34th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Shuvee Handicap for fillies and mares at a mile.

Carriage Trail, Cowgirls Don’t Cry, Linda May (ARG), Rite Moment, Striking Tomisue and either Fancy Diamond or Officer in Pursuit are likely.

Long Island Railroad passengers please note: The LIRR has confirmed that the second train on Preakness Day will depart Belmont Park at approximately 6:45 p.m.

Sunday’s feature race will be the $100,000-added Mount Vernon Handicaps for New York-bred, 3 and up, at a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf course.

Duchess of Rokeby, Factual Contender, Higher Incentive, Jesse’s Justice, Latitude Forty, Nedjma, Rewrite, Tamberino and Them There Eyes are expected.

Zayat Stable’s Premium Wine and Michael Dubb’s Lord Snowdon, two of 16 horses nominated to the 114th running of the Grade 1, $600,000 Metropolitan Handicap at a mile here on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, put in works today at Aqueduct for trainer Anthony Dutrow. Working in company for the “Met Mile,” they went five furlongs in 1:01.06 on the fast main track.

Premium Wine was third in the Grade 1 Carter handicap to Bustin Stones. Lord Snowdon, fourth in the Carter, was beaten a head by Bustin Stones in the General George at Laurel back in February.

Fans in attendance at Belmont Park on Met Mile Day will receive a free Belmont Park baseball cap.