ELMONT, N.Y. – Epicharis, who is being treated for an issue with his right front hoof that required him being outfitted in a glue-on shoe, on Friday remained a candidate for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, even though he did not go to the track at Belmont Park for the second straight morning.
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Eighteen months ago, officials at the New York Racing Association, the operator of Belmont Park and two other state racetracks, put in motion a plan to lure more horses from Japan to New York.
On Saturday, that relatively ambitious and somewhat costly plan, aided by some fortunate timing, may pay off if the Japanese horse Epicharis – who was treated for a mild case of lameness on Wednesday night – runs in the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown won the first two legs of the Triple Crown with horses who won’t be in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park, but owing to the size and depth of their stables, both trainers have a chance to pull off the rare feat of winning two Triple Crown races in the same year with different horses.
It is probably of very little consolation to Mark Casse that he is not the first trainer to have the rug pulled out from under a Belmont Stakes favorite at the 11th hour.
It happened to Hirsch Jacobs in 1970, when Personality, the winner of the Preakness and the Jersey Derby, developed a head cold after Belmont entries were taken and was sent to the bench.
It happened to D. Wayne Lukas in 1995, when Timber Country, the champion 2-year-old of his generation and the winner of the Preakness, spiked a 104-degree fever on the eve of the Belmont and had to be medicated.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Around and around the small woodchip walking oval outside Barn 5 on the Belmont Park backstretch, the dark bay, white-blazed horse strode Monday morning. He already had trained, but Epicharis still bristled with energy that occasionally bubbled to the surface. But after a bounce or a shimmy that his rider scarcely heeded, the colt went straight back to his purposeful walk.
BELMONT PARK
Weather: Sunny
Track: Fast
Temp.: 61
By Mike Welsch
ELMONT, N.Y. – Irish War Cry and Gormley finally joined the party here Thursday morning, with the entire field now on the grounds and making final preparations for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith has had a year to remember, and it’s only June.
He has won the world’s two richest races with Arrogate. He won the Kentucky Oaks with Abel Tasman. And his mounts in North America have already won more than $11 million in 2017.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Japanese invader Epicharis was treated on Wednesday night at Belmont Park for lameness in his right front leg, according to veterinary records released late Wednesday by the New York State Gaming Commission, but his trainer on Thursday morning said he was hopeful Epicharis could make the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
Kiyoshi Hagiwara, the trainer of Epicharis, said the colt walked at the barn on Thursday, but would not go to the track to train. Hagiwara said he was hopeful Epicharis could go to the track for a regular training session on Friday.