ELMONT, N.Y. – There was so much excitement over War of Will getting on the track Tuesday morning at Belmont Park that sirens went off.
The sirens, actually, were to warn riders that there were two loose horses, both of whom dislodged their riders not long after War of Will stepped on the track for his morning training. One was caught by an outrider, the other left the gap by the 1 1/4-mile pole, with War of Will biding his time near the outside fence until it was safe to proceed.
Even from a great distance, it was impossible not to get a thrill at the running of the Epsom Derby last weekend from Merry Olde England. After 2 1/2 minutes of suspense, there were five colts on the line, the winning rider was a 46-year-old plugger who finally got his fair chance, and The Queen was in happy attendance, along with more than 100,000 of her subjects.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Everfast won the first race of his career and has lost 10 straight since, but his runner-up finish in the Preakness behind War of Will and the way he has trained since has given trainer Dale Romans the confidence that Everfast is headed the right direction heading into the 151st Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
Everfast – a grandson of Belmont winner A.P. Indy – completed his training for the Belmont on Monday at Churchill Downs, where head clocker John Nichols had him going five furlongs in 1:01 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.60 and seven furlongs in 1:28.
The bloodstock industry has seen change, but as the ground has shifted under his feet, Tapit has remained strong and steady. The perennial leading sire seeks to lift the bar even higher for himself in Saturday’s renewal of the Belmont Stakes.
ELMONT, N.Y. – On the morning of Tuesday, May 28, at Keeneland, the Preakness Stakes winner War of Will went out for a gallop ridden by Declan. On Wednesday, it was David who took his turn exercising the colt. And this week in New York, where War of Will has shipped to try and win a second Triple Crown race, the Belmont Stakes, it will be Kim in the saddle for daily training.
ELMONT, N.Y. – There were 19 horses who raced in the Kentucky Derby, only four of whom came back in the Preakness, only one of whom will run in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday here at Belmont Park. War of Will is the outlier among this crop of 3-year-olds, a horse who will run in all three legs of the Triple Crown.
In March of 1989, the colt who would be known as A.P. Indy was born. The son of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew lived up to his regal breeding and $2.9 million yearling price tag by winning four Grade 1 events, including the 1992 Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic to earn Horse of the Year honors. He then retired to Lane’s End Farm to begin the real work on his legacy.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott was watching a handful of horses complete workouts on the Belmont Park training track Sunday morning when jockey Jose Ortiz walked up to stand alongside him. Mott and Ortiz exchanged their thoughts on what had happened about an hour earlier on the main track when Ortiz guided the Mott-trained Tacitus through his final workout in preparation for Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont Stakes.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Danny Gargan was hoping to see a little more from Tax than he did in a Saturday morning workout at Belmont Park and now the Withers winner’s status for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes is in limbo.
