ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer John Ortiz as a child attended Gotham Avenue School, about a half-mile south of Belmont Park and years later graduated from Elmont High School. His father, Carlos, a Colombian immigrant, galloped horses for some 15 years for New York legend Bill Mott after his jockey career came to an end. It was going to work for Mott at Belmont that steered a 16-year-old John Ortiz toward a life of his own in racing.

Tapit doesn’t have a chance to extend his modern-day record in the Belmont Stakes this year. But what he does have is a chance to extend his legacy.

Gainesway Farm kingpin Tapit, sire of four Belmont Stakes winners, is represented by two sons with likely starters in Saturday’s edition of the oldest and longest American classic. WinStar Farm’s Constitution, already a young classic sire, has Peter Pan Stakes winner We the People.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Eric Reed walked through the Belmont Park paddock on Monday, shortly after his Kentucky Derby-winning colt, Rich Strike, had a routine gallop of one lap around the track, at the same 1 1/2-mile distance he’ll run in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. He looked at the surroundings in awe.

“It’s like heaven,” he said.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Bobby Flay is going back for seconds.

Five days before the 2016 Belmont Stakes, the celebrity chef purchased a minority interest in the 3-year-old Creator, who rewarded that investment with a nose victory in the Belmont.

Monday, Flay bought a minority interest in the colt We the People, who will make his next start – potentially as the favorite – in Saturday’s 154th Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ethereal Road, winner of the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico on the Preakness undercard May 21, will not compete in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday after developing a quarter crack in his right front hoof, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Monday.

Ethereal Road has been training at Churchill Downs since traveling to Pimlico.

At Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., Howling Time was withdrawn from Belmont consideration by trainer Dale Romans early Monday, two days after the Not This Time colt breezed a half-mile in 48.80 seconds.

Romans said he “talked over our options” with Jason Loutsch, racing manager for the Albaugh Family Stables, before settling on the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill the day after the Belmont.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Golden Glider, the Peter Pan Stakes runner-up, completed his preparations for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes by working an easy half-mile in 49.94 seconds Sunday morning over Belmont Park’s main track.

A day after six prospective Belmont contenders put in workouts, Golden Glider was the only Belmont Stakes runner to breeze on Sunday.

Belmont Park
Weather: Sunny
Track: Fast
Temperature: 64 degrees

ELMONT, N.Y. – There are seven likely Belmont Stakes starters currently stabled on the grounds at Belmont Park. Four of them turned in their final works for the final leg of the 2022 Triple Crown on Saturday morning, including WE THE PEOPLE, whose “buzz horse” status likely gained additional supporters after a sharp half-mile drill with his trainer, Rodolphe Brisset, aboard.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Fifteen years after he won the Belmont Stakes with a filly, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will try to do it again in the 154th running of the Belmont next Saturday.

Pletcher, who won the 2007 Belmont with Rags to Riches, all but confirmed Nest, the Kentucky Oaks runner-up, as a starter for this year’s Belmont following a Saturday workout over the Belmont training track. Nest went a half-mile in 49.89 seconds, per Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch, in company with Mo Donegal, the Kentucky Derby fifth-place finisher who also is running in the Belmont.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It was the calm after the storm Friday morning at Belmont Park.

With the two dirt tracks at Belmont still pretty wet Friday morning following Thursday’s heavy afternoon rains, there was not much serious training going on in preparation for the Belmont Stakes on June 11. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. postponed a scheduled Friday morning breeze for Preakness fifth-place finisher Skippylongstocking until Saturday.