Two years after rocking Belmont Park by completing his Triple Crown sweep, American Pharoah was far from New York’s racing action last Saturday. The 5-year-old stallion has completed his second season at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky and now has some downtime before heading to Australia this summer for his first Southern Hemisphere shuttle season.
Kentucky Derby winner Orb got off the mark with his first winner on Sunday, as Earth won his debut on the Gulfstream Park turf.
Unbeaten Mastery has arrived at Claiborne Farm, looking to a future as a stallion after his promising racing career was curtailed by injury.
Hall of Famer and Horse of the Year Holy Bull died last week at age 26 at Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum's Darley America base at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. The son of Great Above won 13 of his 16 career starts, including, in his 1994 championship season, Grade 1 scores in the Florida Derby, Metropolitan, Haskell Invitational, Travers, and Woodward Stakes.
Last Saturday, Tapit joined the honor roll of sires of American stayers with the victory of his son Tapwrit in the 149th Belmont. The Belmont win was the third for a son of Tapit.
Aldrin, a half-brother to perennial leading sire Tapit, has been retired from racing and will debut at stud in 2018 at O’Sullivan Farm in Charles Town, W.V.
Queen's Plate pedigree analysis: King and His Court
Holy Bull, a Hall of Famer, 1994 Horse of the Year, and prominent sire, was euthanized Wednesday at Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum's Darley America base at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., due to the infirmities of old age. He was 26.
The Grade 1, $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap has a history of being a stallion-making race, because it showcases the brilliance so desired in the American market.The latest case in point came last year, when Frosted romped by 14 1/4 lengths in the sparkling time of 1:32.73.
The 1 1/2-mile distance of the Belmont Stakes will be uncharted territory for all 12 horses entered in Saturday's race, and most of them will never stare down a race of that length again. The Kentucky Derby poses a similar test at 1 1/4 miles five weeks earlier, but history has shown that the winners of the Derby and Belmont can be very different types of horses.
