Just look what Digger started.

At the end of last week, the prospective Belmont Stakes field stood at five after it was announced that Street Sense would not start.

But then Digger, a seemingly hopeless longshot was entered. Time Squared followed suit. And then on Tuesday morning, Todd Pletcher changed the entire complexion of this race when he added his sensational filly Rags to Riches to the mix.

Shortly thereafter, Nick Zito also threw C P West into the fray — and suddenly a once-depleted Belmont Stakes stood with a potential field of nine.

Time Squared has now been backed out by Biancone, and Digger may do the same when entries are taken on Wednesday morning, but the final jewel of racing’s Triple Crown will nonetheless possess a substantial amount of intrigue — even without the Derby winner.

The focus of this race — once squarely on the shoulders of Curlin — is now shared with Rags to Riches, whom Pletcher has long regarded as “possible” for this race, although she was not going to run if the “Big 3″ entered. So the door remainded slightly cracked once Street Sense opted against running, although the fact both Velazquez and Gomez had already accepted mounts elsewhere seemed to hint that Rags to Riches wasn’t running.

In the end, Velazquez was let out of his committment to Slew’s Tizzy (who will now be ridden by Rafael Bejarano) while Gomez must stick with Hard Spun.