Baeza, who drew into the Kentucky Derby from the also-eligible list last week, returned to trainer John Shirreffs’s stable at Santa Anita on Tuesday evening. 

Baeza, who races for Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable, will be based in California in the buildup to his next scheduled start, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 7. The Belmont is also expected to be the next start for Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty.

In the Derby, Baeza was beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Sovereignty and was a neck behind second-place finisher Journalism.

The New York Racing Association announced Friday that it will offer financial incentives to horsemen who participate in the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which will be held at Saratoga from June 4-8. 

Owners whose horses finish fourth through last in races run during those days will be eligible to receive $1,500 in stakes races and $1,000 in overnight races. Trainers are eligible to receive a bonus of $750 for a stakes starter and $500 for starters in overnight races for horses who finish fourth through last. 

Hill Road, the third-place finisher behind Citizen Bull and Gaming in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is now with trainer Chad Brown and had his first workout Sunday at Payson Park, going three furlongs in 37 seconds. 

While Hill Road is a longshot to make the Kentucky Derby, Brown said it’s not impossible for him to enter a different Triple Crown race – perhaps the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga.  

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Rain impacted Sunday’s card, but it hardly put a damper on the first Belmont Stakes Racing Festival held at Saratoga Race Course.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y - While heavy rain fell outside his barn Sunday morning, Dornoch was inside his stall attacking his hay net early with an energy belying the fact he just ran a hard race to win Saturday’s $2 million Belmont Stakes.

“He’s all pumped this morning,” trainer Danny Gargan said. “That’s just the way he is. He was pissed after the Derby.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After watching Mindframe stick his head in front of Dornoch in early stretch, one couldn’t blame trainer Todd Pletcher, owner Mike Repole, and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. for thinking they were on their way to winning  Saturday’s historic, first-ever Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Unfortunately, the two intangibles they feared the most coming into the race – his inexperience and the added distance – likely wound up proving the difference between what would have been a memorable victory and a most frustrating defeat.

Presented by DK Horse, Steven Crist, Andrew Beyer, and David Aragona discuss the 2024 Belmont Stakes Festival at Saratoga.