ELMONT, N.Y. - Naturally, Rodrigo Ubillo wasn’t thrilled when it was announced the two-time champion Songbird was going to kick off her 4-year-old campaign in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Epicharis and Senior Investment both turned in workouts on Tuesday morning at Belmont Park in preparation for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

Epicharis, the Japanese invader, was timed by Daily Racing Form going five furlongs on the training track in 1:06.03, but he went off very slowly for the opening quarter-mile and then finished quickly through the lane, with his final three furlongs in 37.07 seconds while working by himself.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ken McPeek flew into New York on Sunday night from England, back in the States after sending Daddys Lil Darling overseas to race June 2 in the Epsom Oaks. If a flash of inspiration motivated that trip, a bolt of lightning ruined it.

Spooked by a storm while warming up for the race, Daddys Lil Darling lost her wits and ran off. Her jockey, the starting gate looming before his runaway mount, dismounted, and Daddys Lil Darling, though uninjured, was scratched after getting loose.

For those who prefer their Thoroughbred racing spiced with gender-bending fillies and mares, the first dozen years of the 21st century were a giddy time to be alive.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The Belmont Stakes won’t have the Kentucky Derby winner, nor the Preakness winner, but it won’t have a shortage of entries, with a bulky field 13 set to contest the last and longest leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday here at Belmont Park.

Gormley, the Santa Anita Derby winner who was ninth in the Kentucky Derby, was officially put in the race Monday, according to Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, the wife of trainer John Shirreffs and the racing manager for owners Jerry and Ann Moss.

“He deserves the opportunity,” she said early Monday evening.

ELKTON, Md. – Irish War Cry established himself as an elite member of the 3-year-old crop this winter with wins in the Grade 2 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park and the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. But after he finished 10th as the second choice in the Kentucky Derby, some are curious if the real Irish War Cry will show up Saturday in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.

There are reasons to believe he will run to his ability.

Irish War Cry worked six furlongs at his Fair Hill Training Center base Saturday, and trainer Graham Motion said he was “quite excited about” the work.

This spring has been a major one in making the careers of young stallions whose first foals are the 3-year-olds of 2017.

First, Always Dreaming, from the first crop of classic-placed Grade 1 winner Bodemeister, captured the Kentucky Derby. Two weeks later, Cloud Computing struck in the Preakness Stakes for Maclean’s Music, the brilliant winner of his only start.

ELMONT, N.Y. – In 2000, in a Belmont Stakes that, like this year, did not include the winner of the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, Commendable scored an 18-1 upset that seemed utterly forgettable on the day. But he in fact ushered in a trend that has only gotten more pronounced in the years since.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Robby Albarado wonders what all the fuss is about. The 43-year-old jockey has returned from serious injury more than a few times in a riding career dating to his teenage years. To Albarado, climbing back aboard a Thoroughbred is like a normal person getting back on the bicycle.

“After 30,000 mounts, it doesn’t take me long to get back in the swing,” he said.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Steve Asmussen wouldn’t label Lookin At Lee as brilliant. He does think he’s strong.

If his workout Sunday at Belmont Park was any indication, Lookin At Lee remains strong following a pretty demanding 3-year-old campaign. Under pristine conditions Sunday, Lookin At Lee worked four furlongs in 48.42 seconds over the Belmont Park main track, with a final quarter of 23.90 in preparation for Saturday’s 149th Belmont Stakes.