There may not be a Triple Crown on the line June 11 at Belmont Park, but a budding rivalry between the top two 3-year-old colts in the country is probably the next-best option.

The day after Exaggerator's win in the sloppy Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, that's the plan for both the Curlin colt and Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands winner Nyquist, who came in third at Pimlico Race Course May 21.

"Absolutely," Exaggerator's trainer, Keith Desormeaux, said May 22 when asked if he was looking forward to meeting up with Nyquist again in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. "This is fun, isn't it? There was no pressure on me yesterday. All the pressure was on Nyquist to keep the record perfect, so I totally enjoyed the day. Now that we've accomplished this, the pressure is even less."

For Nyquist's trainer, Doug O'Neill, he saw nothing Sunday morning out of the Uncle Mo colt that discouraged him from trying the Belmont. Nyquist walked the shedrow at the Pimlico stakes barn at about 6:40 a.m. ET and O'Neill had a quick look at him before catching a flight back to his Southern California base.

"We're heading to Belmont," O'Neill said, adding that Nyquist will take a van ride to New York May 23. "As long as he continues to show good energy and does well, we'll try this again in three weeks. ... The plan was to point to the Triple Crown races - all three - and ideally win all three, but I thought he ran a really gutsy race and I just wanted to make sure he looked good this morning before committing to go to the Belmont."

Even in defeat, O'Neill was his usual upbeat self a day after, and took ownership of Nyquist's dueling trip with Uncle Lino on the front end with fast fractions during the Preakness.

"Even the great Secretariat got beat three times," O'Neill said. "They're not machines, as much as he seemed like a machine, being undefeated and doing everything like a super horse—and he is a super horse. He ran his race. Exaggerator just ran an unbelievable race. ... I did (want him to be close to the lead). I wanted a good, clean trip—free running.

"The fast pace (can) be blamed on me. I just didn't want traffic trouble going into the first turn."

As for Exaggerator's morning-after activities, he got a walk with Desormeaux leading the way and made sure to try to get in some playful bites as he circled the barn.

"He doesn't look too tired, does he?" Desormeaux said during the walk.

That aspect—Exaggerator's ability to recover quickly from big efforts—has been a point of emphasis from the Desormeaux camp for a while. After the Derby, it was the main reason why his connections felt so good about taking another crack at Nyquist two weeks later.

"He's excellent," Desormeaux said after putting Exaggerator back in his stall. "I've preached all week that he's such a quick recoverer. He ate up his feed last night—you've heard it a thousand times. He ate up last night, his big meal last night and this morning, and he's full of energy.

Unlike his rival, Exaggerator will stay at Pimlico for a while longer. Desormeaux said the colt will likely remain at the Baltimore track for another week and ship to New York May 29.

"We're thinking (about shipping) Sunday," the trainer said. "I'm going to be here a while. That was one of the decisions I made after the Derby. Horses are affected by change in environment. When they get comfortable—this is their house, that 12-by-13 stall. They're there a day or so and they get comfortable.

"If I'm preaching about recovery, then why would I take him out of his comfort, out of his house, and move him somewhere else immediately after a tiring, tough race?"

As for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont in three weeks, Desormeaux is confident his horse will be ready.

"People think it's about fitness, but at this point, it can't be. It's about pedigree," Desormeaux said. "I can't do much more in deepening his fitness. It's there. My job in the next three weeks, again, is freshening him, and getting him strong and happy. That mile and a half deal, that's more about pedigree than what I do in the morning."

And the pedigree, in Desormeaux's opinion, gives Exaggerator an edge, at least against Nyquist.

"I think my horse is more skewed toward distance, as far as pedigree is concerned," Desormeaux said. "Curlin could run all day and got beat a nose in the Belmont. Curlin is known in the industry as a classic-producing horse and (Exaggerator) is out of a Vindication mare. Vindication is by Seattle Slew, so it's distance on top of distance ... whereas Nyquist is out of a Forestry mare, with Forestry more skewed to a sprint, maxing out at a mile in most cases."

Beyond the Belmont, Desormeaux also indicated plans to run Exaggerator in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course in August, and then the Breeders' Cup back at his Santa Anita Park base.

For other Preakness runners, Laoban (sixth), Uncle Lino (seventh), and Collected (10th) all departed Pimlico around 3 a.m. Sunday to catch a plane out of Maryland. Second-place Preakness finisher Cherry Wine was in good order the day after his closing run, according to trainer Dale Romans, and will also head to the Belmont, along with stablemate and seventh-place Derby finisher Brody's Cause.

"He looks good," Romans said of Cherry Wine. "No worse for wear. Nothing that can't be ready for three weeks from now. We'll point both of them there. We'll take a week to evaluate Cherry Wine to make sure he's ready to go, but all things equal, he'll be there."