
The Haiku Handicapper: 2014 Belmont Stakes
DRF Breeding staff writer Joe Nevills analyzes the Belmont Stakes field, in post position order, in the form of Haiku; a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.

DRF Breeding staff writer Joe Nevills analyzes the Belmont Stakes field, in post position order, in the form of Haiku; a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.

Multiple Grade/Group 1 winner Treasure Beach will shuttle to Haras Abolengo in Argentina for the 2014 Southern Hemisphere breeding season once his first Northern Hemisphere season at stud is completed. The news was originally reported on Racing Post.
Multiple Grade 1 winner and pensioned Florida sire Wekiva Springs was euthanized at Double Diamond Farm in Ocala, Fla., on June 2 due to the presence of cancerous melanoma tumors. The son of Runaway Groom was 23.
Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Ky., has launched an online store offering apparel and accessories, as well as limited edition art and collectables of the notable horses in the farm’s history.

The brilliant Holy Bull was sent off as the favorite in all but two of his starts – and, almost two decades after last setting foot on a racetrack, that adoring public hasn’t forgotten him.
Freshman sire Majesticperfection was represented by his first winner on Sunday, when It’s Free prevailed by a neck in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park.
Big Swag, a 2-year-old first-time starter, gave the California stallion The Pamplemousse his first winner with his first runner in Friday’s second race at Santa Anita.

The short answer to that headlined question is no. The longer – much longer – answer is: Well, maybe, depending on how you look at it.
Noble Causeway, a Grade 1-placed runner and sire of Belmont Stakes hopeful Samraat, was euthanized the evening of May 27 after his condition deteriorated due to laminitis.

Grade 2 winner Vision in Gold died May 25 from complications due to colic.