McPeek not afraid to take a swing with Senior Investment
Ken McPeek, who won the 2002 Belmont Stakes with 70-1 shot Sarava, saddles Senior Investment on Saturday in an attempt to win his second American classic.
Marcus HershJun 05, 2017
Ken McPeek, who won the 2002 Belmont Stakes with 70-1 shot Sarava, saddles Senior Investment on Saturday in an attempt to win his second American classic.
The slyly named Rags to Riches was born to privilege, raised in luxury, and sold at a $1.9 million premium to the House of Coolmore, as represented by Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. Rooting for such a filly to succeed seemed on a par with hoping the next line of Ferraris would be fast, or that Bank of America might have a good year. If ever a model was built not to fail.
The Belmont Stakes won’t have the Kentucky Derby winner, nor the Preakness winner, but it won’t have a shortage of entries, with a bulky field 13 set to contest the last and longest leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday here at Belmont Park.
After he finished 10th as the second choice in the Kentucky Derby, some are curious if the real Irish War Cry will show up Saturday in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes. There are reasons to believe he will run to his ability.
This spring has been a major one in making the careers of young stallions whose first foals are the 3-year-olds of 2017. First, Always Dreaming, from the first crop of classic-placed Grade 1 winner Bodemeister, captured the Kentucky Derby. Two weeks later, Cloud Computing struck in the Preakness Stakes for Maclean's Music, brilliant winner of his only start.
Five horses in the Belmont Stakes ran in the Kentucky Derby but skipped the Preakness – a schedule that is becoming more and more common.
Robby Albarado is named to ride two races Thursday at Churchill Downs – Dear Elaine in the fourth and Curlins Vow in the seventh – marking his return from yet another layoff.
If his workout Sunday at Belmont Park was any indication, Lookin At Lee remains strong following a pretty demanding 3-year-old campaign. Under pristine conditions Sunday, Lookin At Lee worked four furlongs in 48.42 seconds over the Belmont Park main track, with a final quarter of 23.90 in preparation for Saturday’s 149th Belmont Stakes.
Saturday’s Belmont Stakes field will not have the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness winner. In the old days, that would have made Belmont Day a dud. But with eight other stakes races, five of them Grade 1s, two with seven-figure purses, and with a total stakes disbursement on the day of $7.2 million, Belmont Day is now the strongest day in North American racing next to the Breeders’ Cup.
Neither Take These Chains nor Conquest Babayaga has ever lost while in the care of trainer Chad Brown. That is likely to change Thursday as Take These Chains and Conquest Babayaga were two of 11 horses entered Saturday for Thursday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Intercontinental Stakes.