Going back to last summer, John Velazquez has long admired Union Rags from afar. On Sunday morning, he got up close and personal with the Grade 1-winning colt for the first time, and it served only to confirm his admiration.
The union representing approximately 130 to 150 maintenance crew workers for the New York Racing Association – including the starting gate crew – has authorized a strike that could impact Saturday’s Belmont Stakes in which I’ll Have Another will attempt to win the Triple Crown.
For a guy whose colt will try to end a 34-year drought in the Triple Crown on Saturday and whose professional life has been repeatedly picked over in the past month, trainer Doug O’Neill looked awfully calm Monday morning at Belmont Park, just days before I’ll Have Another tries to become the 12th Triple Crown winner in the 144th Belmont Stakes.
Guyana Star Dweej became the final prospective Belmont Stakes starter to work prior to the race when breezing an uninspiring half-mile in 49.30 seconds with new rider Kent Desormeaux aboard immediately after the renovation break Monday at Belmont Park.
Just how difficult is the horse racing Triple Crown compared to other similar feats in sports?
As I’ll Have Another tries to become racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 34 years, plenty of casual fans will be asking: Why is this feat so difficult? Why is it more difficult than it was in the 1970s, when three different horses in a span of six years swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes?
Dullahan worked a half-mile in an eye-catching 45.82 seconds on Sunday, according to Daily Racing Form, easily the most impressive work by the five prospective Belmont starters to work over a fast track at Belmont Park.
Sitting on Union Rags for the first time, John Velazquez guided the powerhouse 3-year-old through a five-furlong workout that Daily Racing Form timed in 58.50 seconds on Sunday at the Fair Hill training center.
Trainer Ken McPeek will try to duplicate his upset in the Belmont Stakes by 70-1 Sarava 10 years ago by taking on the heavily favored I’ll Have Another with his two outsiders, Atigun and Unstoppable U. McPeek believes Atigun and Unstoppable U are both better horses than Sarava.
Five of the 11 likely starters in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, including Dullahan and Union Rags, had their scheduled workouts postponed on Saturday due to heavy rains that moved up the East Coast and pelted Belmont Park Friday evening and into Saturday morning.
