Edgar Prado, who won the Kentucky Derby aboard Barbaro, has picked up the mount on Deputy Glitters for the $1 million on June 10.
Prado, who was aboard Barbaro when that horse suffered three fractures in his right hind ankle in the Preakness, has won the Belmont twice. In 2002, he ended the Triple Crown hopes of War Emblem aboard Sarava. In 2004, he denied the Triple Crown bid of Smarty Jones aboard Birdstone.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Jose Santos does not yet have a mount in the Belmont Stakes. He knows whom he'd like to ride if he could.
After guiding Steppenwolfer through a solid six-furlong workout in 1:13.02 Saturday morning at Belmont Park, Santos said "that's my pick" to win the Belmont, to be run on June 10.
Two weeks out from the 138th - the third leg of Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown - and the field is swelling. Ten horses are considered definite, and at least one more is under consideration.
Bernardini, the powerful winner of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, will bypass the June 10 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, meaning the final leg of the Triple Crown will not have the winner of either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness.
Bernardini, the powerful winner of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, will bypass the June 10 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, meaning the final leg of the Triple Crown will not have the winner of either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness.
A Triple Crown series that has provided stark contrasts of racing's extremes at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes now marches on to New York for the June 10 Belmont Stakes, which will be anti-climactic, no matter who runs.
In the space of 48 hours, the Belmont has gone from being a race that could have had a Triple Crown bid by Barbaro, to one that might not have the winners of either of the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Afleet Alex, who left no doubt as to his superiority amongst this year's crop of 3-year-olds with his overpowering victory on Saturday in the , came out of the race well and will be pointed to the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on Aug. 7 for his next start, his trainer, Tim Ritchey said Sunday morning at Belmont Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. - This time, Afleet Alex was able to showcase his dazzling turn of foot, and no one could trip him up.
Unlike in the Preakness Stakes, when Afleet Alex and jockey Jeremy Rose narrowly avoided a catastrophe, his journey in the 137th on Saturday at Belmont Park was smooth, trouble-free, emphatically overpowering, and sublimely satisfying.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Afleet Alex and Giacomo have split the first two legs of the Triple Crown, but they come into the 137th Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park being viewed through two different prisms.
Afleet Alex scored a remarkable victory in the Preakness Stakes when he overcame a mugging at the quarter pole. That, plus his consistency - seven victories in 11 outings - will make him a strong favorite in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Pick your adjective. Afleet Alex's flirtation with disaster in the Preakness was dramatic, athletic, even acrobatic. If Mike Tyson was that tough to knock down, he would still be wearing a championship belt.
But unless you have reason to believe the horse will be similarly accosted in the Belmont Stakes, his sense of balance doesn't matter that much from a handicapping point of view.
