Sun, 06/01/2025 - 12:35

Journalism will run in Belmont, McCarthy confirms

Barbara D. Livingston
Journalism won the Preakness two weeks after finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Journalism had always struck his trainer Michael McCarthy as a horse that could handle the three-races-in-five-weeks rigors of the Triple Crown. On Sunday, after watching him put in a terrific workout over Saratoga’s main track, McCarthy will give Journalism the chance to prove him right.

Sat, 05/31/2025 - 19:45

Acorn tops six graded stakes on Saratoga's Friday program

Barbara D. Livingston
Good Cheer, the Kentucky Oaks winner, will race in the Acorn at Saratoga on Friday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The five-day Belmont Stakes Festival really kicks into high gear on Friday with the first of two consecutive 14-race programs at Saratoga. The card includes six graded stakes topped by the Grade 1 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies that features the local debut of the undefeated Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer. 

First post on Friday is 11:40 a.m.

Fri, 05/30/2025 - 13:54

Repole sending Uncaged to run in Belmont Stakes

Susie Raisher
Uncaged, a son of 2007 Belmont runner-up Curlin, is 2 for 4 in his career.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When it comes to the Triple Crown, owner Mike Repole appears to have a case of FOMO.

Fear not, Repole does not plan on missing out on this year’s Belmont Stakes. He has looked deep down trainer Todd Pletcher’s bench of 3-year-olds and has plucked Uncaged from it to run in the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 7.

Thu, 05/29/2025 - 13:49

No added pressure for Mott, Sovereignty after skipping Preakness

Barbara D. Livingston
Bill Mott said he never seriously considered entering Sovereignty in the Preakness.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott said the decision to skip the Preakness with Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty doesn’t put any more pressure on him to win the Belmont Stakes than otherwise already exists.

“It would be the same,” Mott said Thursday morning outside his Saratoga barn. “I feel the normal pressure of wanting to win and just the pressure of keeping him out of trouble and keep him sound and hope he stays sound.”

Mon, 05/26/2025 - 11:19

A century after his Belmont win, American Flag's influence persists

Barbara D. Livingston
Leading Belmont contender Sovereignty has a familial connection to the race's 1925 winner.

American Flag, who won the 1925 Belmont Stakes, is from one of the most successful sirelines in that classic’s history. But it was through his daughters, not his sons, that American Flag left his legacy to the breed.

A century after his Belmont victory, he is linked to this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty, as well as a number of other prospects for the 2025 Belmont Stakes.

Sat, 05/24/2025 - 13:39

Sovereignty rewards onlookers' patience with wicked work

Barbara D. Livingston
Sovereignty worked alongside the ultra-classy Arthur's Ride on Saturday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Those who waited around in the cold and rain from the time the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga opened at 5:15 a.m. until Sovereignty finally made his appearance nearly 4 1/2 hours later were rewarded for their patience. The Kentucky Derby winner got the better of no less a workmate than Arthur’s Ride after breezing a very impressive-looking five furlongs in 1:02.45 over a surface officially labeled “good” throughout the course of the morning.

Fri, 05/23/2025 - 14:10

Belmont Stakes 2025: Rodriguez, Baeza have important works at Santa Anita

Sovereignty trains at SAR May 23 2025
Barbara D. Livingston
Sovereignty gallops over the Saratoga main track on Friday. Trainer Bill Mott is scheduled to work him over the weekend.

Rodriguez and Baeza both turned in serious workouts Friday morning at Santa Anita in preparation for scheduled starts in the $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 7.

Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial winner who scratched from the Kentucky Derby due to a foot issue, went seven furlongs in 1:24.80. Santa Anita clocker Dane Nelson caught Rodriguez’s first five furlongs in 59.60 seconds.

Wed, 05/21/2025 - 13:33

Gosger held out of Belmont to go in either Haskell or Jim Dandy

Debra A. Roma
Gosger (right) had a five-length lead in the stretch of the Preakness, only to be run down late by Journalism.

Gosger, a game second to Journalism in Saturday’s Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, will skip the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 7 in favor of a major stakes for 3-year-olds in July.

Trainer Brendan Walsh said on Wednesday that Gosger has emerged from the Preakness in good condition, and will benefit from a longer period between starts.

“I don’t think we’re going to go” to the Belmont, Walsh said. “I think we’ll give him a little more time.

Mon, 05/12/2025 - 10:13

Hill Road gets his wings for Belmont in Peter Pan victory

Chelsea Durand
Hill Road scored a three-quarter-length victory in the Peter Pan, earning a 94 Beyer Figure.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In Hill Road, winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct, trainer Chad Brown will be bringing a relatively fresh horse to the June 7 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. But Brown doesn’t think that gives him any sort of advantage over horses like Kentucky Derby first- and third-place finishers Sovereignty and Baeza, who are skipping Saturday’s Preakness to point to the Belmont.

Sat, 05/10/2025 - 20:08

Brown eyes Belmont after Hill Road takes Peter Pan Stakes

Chelsea Durand
HIll Road returned $6.10 in winning the Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Chad Brown may not be out of this year’s Triple Crown series after all.

Though he didn’t have a starter in the Kentucky Derby and won’t have one in next Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, Brown may have found his Belmont Stakes horse in Hill Road, who came with a strong rally in the stretch under Flavien Prat to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct by three-quarters of a length over McAfee.