The Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet will be a show performed in four acts. Act I: Beginning Thursday and running through May 26, there will be 16 cards of racing (Thursdays through Sundays) at Aqueduct. There will be 13 stakes, nine of which are graded. The May 10 card is topped by the Grade 2, $400,000 Man o’ War and Grade 3 Peter Pan, the latter a potential stepping-stone to the Belmont Stakes. Act II: Following an eight-day intermission, the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, for the second straight year, will be held at Saratoga and run from June 4 to 8. The $2 million Belmont Stakes, the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown, is the centerpiece of the week and is part of a June 7 program that consists of eight stakes, five of which are Grade 1s. Act III: A reprise of Act 1 as racing returns to Aqueduct June 12 to 28 with 12 cards of racing that offer five restricted stakes. Act IV: Racing moves back to Saratoga for what is labeled the four-day July Fourth Racing Festival. It won’t be considered part of the Saratoga meet (July 10 to Sept. 1) but should serve as quite the appetizer. The Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby tops a July 4 card that features five stakes, including the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban for older horses. The Grade 1, $500,000 Belmont Oaks for 3-year-old fillies highlights the July 5 card. Got all that? :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports The back and forth is all a byproduct of the ongoing renovation of Belmont Park, which appears to be on schedule for a fall 2026 opening. It is anticipated that following the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, many top riders will be returning to New York on a regular basis, including Flavien Prat, Irad Ortiz Jr., Joel Rosario, and John Velazquez, some of whom made cameo appearances over the weekend at Aqueduct. Ricardo Santana Jr., who recently reached the 2,000-win plateau, will join the colony beginning with Saturday’s card. Kendrick Carmouche, leading rider at Aqueduct’s spring meet, Dylan Davis, and Manny Franco headline the local list of riders. Thursday’s eight-race card features the return to the races of Scottish Lassie in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-old fillies scheduled for one mile. As a maiden, making her second start last Oct. 5, Scottish Lassie won the Grade 1 Frizette by nine lengths over fellow maiden Snowyte. Sent off the 7-2 second choice in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar, Scottish Lassie moved into the teeth of the fastest half-mile in the history of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, tired in the stretch, and finished fourth. Scottish Lassie, trained by Jorge Abreu, wintered in South Florida where she worked three times from Jan. 17 to Feb. 2 but was off the work tab for eight weeks. According to co-owner Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds, Scottish Lassie developed an infection that took her out of training for a month. She has three works since March 29. “She had a minor infection, nothing serious, the vet said to give her a month off,” Weston said. “Right now, the filly is doing really well.” Weston said he would have liked Scottish Lassie to have tried to get on the Kentucky Oaks trail, but will now look for other two-turn races this summer. Weston said depending how Scottish Lassie runs Thursday, a race like the Grade 1 Acorn at Saratoga on June 6 could be in play. “As a 3-year-old there are so many great races for them,” Weston said. “It’s the year to really prove who you are as racehorse.” The seven-horse field includes Cassiar, a daughter of City of Light who won her debut going 6 1/2 furlongs at Tampa by a head. Cassiar then jumped into the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, a two-turn race at 1 1/16 miles, where she finished a well beaten third, 12 lengths behind Five G, who is running in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. The New York-bred Lottie Margaret recorded a pair of monster wins in New York-bred company during the winter, both at this one-mile distance. Sent off the even-money favorite in the Maddie May Stakes on March 8, she was defeated 3 1/4 lengths by Bernieandtherose and just held on for second. Trainer Todd Pletcher sends out the uncoupled entry of Vanilla Sundae and Ruth. Vanilla Sundae was a well-beaten fourth in the Grade 3 Gazelle. In her start before then, she won a one-mile maiden race by 15 3/4 lengths, albeit against a suspect field. Ruth has been well-traveled in four starts. She won her maiden at Gulfstream before suffering defeats at Aqueduct, Gulfstream, and, most recently, Keeneland. Dry Powder, a debut winner sprinting at Gulfstream on March 16 for trainer Chad Summers, and Broadway Lights complete the field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.