First, Rock Your World tore up the turf. Then, he tore up the dirt – for one race. Now, the 3-year-old returns to the turf in Sunday’s Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita Park. The 1 1/8-mile Twilight and its deep, 11-horses field is the featured event on Santa […]
Known Agenda, the talented, but temperamental colt, was retired from racing Wednesday. He’ll begin stud duty at Spendthrift Farm in 2022. The farm announced this year’s Florida Derby winner will stand for an initial fee of $10,000. No reason was given for his sudden retirement, but Known Agenda hasn’t run […]
The last two times we saw Rock Your World, he rocked no one’s world. Which is why it rocked Del Mar’s world when the Santa Anita Derby winner was one of 15 horses nominated for the Aug. 21 Grade 1 Pacific Classic. Those nominations closed for Del Mar’s flagship race […]
Even after Hot Rod Charlie reeled off record early fractions, and even after Essential Quality caught and passed him in the stretch, both leading protagonists from Saturday’s Belmont Stakes came out of their 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion†in fine form. “He looks amazing. It doesn’t look like he […]
As the 153rd Belmont Stakes hit its stretch crescendo, Essential Quality would not be denied. At the end of this Triple Crown season, Essential Quality would not be denied his Triple Crown race victory. He would not be denied his place in history and trainer Brad Cox would not be […]
The 153rd Belmont Stakes wraps up an unpredictable 2021 Triple Crown season with what should be the best race of the three for horseplayers. If 12/1 Medina Spirit winning the Kentucky Derby was a shock to the handicapper’s system, what was 11/1 Rombauer winning the Preakness Stakes? Two horses considered […]
One example of how deep Saturday’s Belmont Stakes card is comes to you via the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, best known as the Met Mile. This is a race that should be on its own, which it was as a Memorial Day staple until 2014 when the New York Racing […]
Essential Quality duplicated the favorite status he enjoyed for the Kentucky Derby five weeks ago, taking 2/1 morning-line favorite odds into Saturday’s 153rd Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. Tuesday morning’s Belmont Stakes draw put the Brad Cox-trained, Tapit progeny in post 2. He’s one of four Grade 1 winners and […]
For Brad Cox, is Essential Quality the final piece of the Triple Crown race puzzle? First, there was Owendale’s third in the 2019 Preakness Stakes. Then, there was Mandaloun finishing second in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Can Essential Quality give Cox his first American Classic victory in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes? […]
The Belmont Stakes looks like it will be a tight-knit affair with just eight horses entering the starting gate after connections for Rebel’s Romance announced on Tuesday that the gelding will miss Saturday’s race due to a hind-leg infection. Rebel’s Romance’s owner, Godolphin, posted the news about the UAE Derby […]
Even Brad Cox understands how the avoid Bob Baffert game is played, which explains why he moved his star older horse, Knicks Go, to the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. That June 5 race is the first-among-equals Grade 1 on the Belmont Stakes undercard. Cox originally targeted Knicks Go for the […]
The New York Racing Association unveiled its wagering menu for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, headlined by a two-day Pick 6 that begins Friday, June 4, and ends with the 153rd Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5. The NYRA’s wagering menu includes six, two-day wagers incorporating many of the Belmont […]
With no Medina Spirit, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will take Rombauer’s reins for the June 5 Belmont Stakes. The Daily Racing Form reported that trainer Mike McCarthy grabbed Velazquez’s services for the Belmont. He’ll take the reins from Flavien Prat, who returned to the horse he rode in […]
Trainer Doug O’Neill, who proved his nimbleness by quickly securing Flavien Prat’s jockey services for the Kentucky Derby, proved them once again for the Belmont Stakes. He said Prat will ride the Derby’s third-place runner in the June 5 Belmont Stakes. That, of course, means Michael McCarthy needs to find […]
Without a Triple Crown storyline, race fans were salivating at the prospect of filly Malathaat jumping into the Belmont Stakes pool and tangling with the boys in the final jewel of the Triple Crown. But connections for the undefeated filly said Tuesday she will pass up the Belmont. Instead, the […]
Adding to the fallout from Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit’s post-Derby positive medication test, the New York Racing Association temporarily suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert from entering horses for any of the association’s races. The ban extends to Baffert horses occupying stall space at Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, […]
While the Belmont Stakes field remains an early work in progress, several trainers with possible sights on the final jewel of the Triple Crown have either indicated interest or put their horses through workouts with that June 5 race in mind. The Belmont Stakes field of possibles starts with Kentucky […]
While Rombauer’s trainer, Mike McCarthy, headed west back to his California base, his newly minted Preakness Stakes champion left Pimlico Race Course early Monday morning for a northerly destination. That destination? New York’s Belmont Park. “We will go ahead and go to Belmont. We will get there and see how […]
Connections for Kentucky Derby favorite Essential Quality said Tuesday that they intend on skipping the Preakness Stakes and sending the Godolphin colt to the June 5 Belmont Stakes instead. The announcement first came on Steve Byk’s At The Races With Steve Byk radio show on Sirius/XM. Trainer Brad Cox told […]
Getting your horse a Triple Crown nomination used to be so simple that connections to this year’s 3-year-old hopefuls nominated 326 horses to compete in the three American Classic races this spring. Those 326 nominations represent a slight, 6.1% dip from last year’s 347 early nominees. Those connections paid $600 […]
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