Drosselmeyer entered in Challenger

Drosselmeyer, winner of the 2010 Belmont Stakes, will make his long awaited 4-year-old debut here at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday as the overwhelming favorite of a field of 11 older handicap runners in the $60,000 Challenger Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.

Luis Garcia will handle Drosselmeyer at 122 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Challenger.

Drosselmeyer, who originally had been targeted to race in the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 26, came down with a fever last month which caused him to miss six days of training. That setback prompted him to miss a scheduled start in New Orleans in the MIneshaft, which was intended to serve as a prep for the Dubai race.

With the World Cup out of the picture, trainer Bill Mott said he turned to the Challenger as the first step back for Drosselmeyer.