[bc_playlist_id:234438:]Belmont Park: Track fast, 64 degrees
ELMONT, N.Y. – Friday provided Belmont Stakes starters one final opportunity to really stretch their legs prior to the main event, with all 11 3-year-olds set to contest the final leg of this year’s Triple Crown finally on the grounds following the belated arrival of General a Rod and Medal Count the previous afternoon.
The word awesome gets used too much, or maybe that is just in my house, as the father of an 11-year-old and a 10-year-old. But overused or not, there is no better word to describe Saturday’s racing at Belmont Park.
Highlighted, of course, by California’s Chrome’s bid for Triple Crown glory in the Belmont Stakes, it is a spectacular day of racing. But long before the Belmont at 6:52 p.m. Eastern, there will be 10 other races run before it, with more than half of those races filled with many of the leaders of their respective divisions.
ELMONT, N.Y. – California Chrome had a final schooling session in the Belmont Park paddock on Friday before going out for his daily gallop as he prepared for the 146th Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park, in which the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner will try to become the 12th horse to sweep the Triple Crown.
The pick six sequence at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day is entirely comprised of Grade 1 races, culminating with the Belmont Stakes. There is a possibility this pick six could break logically, as there are three strong morning line favorites in the sequence and another race in which the first two morning line favorites are less than 2-1. But if you can beat a couple of those favorites with a couple of backup horses, the pick six could be worthwhile hitting, even if it chalks out in the other legs.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Kentucky-based trainer Billy Gowan, who will saddle Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin in the Belmont Stakes, is still getting re-acclimated to New York after a long absence.
“I kind of miss my home food down there in the South a little bit,” said the trainer, who earlier had joked that he couldn’t find a good order of grits near the Belmont backstretch.
Race 10: One of many races on this card that features a very deep field, the Manhattan may be the race in this sequence that warrants an “All.” Eight of the 10 entered have posted a Beyer Speed Figure of at least 96 in one of their last two starts, and the other two, Boisterous (No. 5) (six wins over this course) and Seek Again (No. 6) (first or second in seven of nine starts) also fit. (10)
ELMONT, N.Y. - If Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey were riding California Chrome, he knows the tactics he would use with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner from post No. 2.
“If it were me, it would just strengthen my resolve that I need to just go ahead and do what he does best – use his speed,” said Bailey, a two-time Belmont-winning jockey.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Six years ago, the last time a Triple Crown was on the line in the Belmont Stakes, the “fan experience,” as it is fashionably termed, could have been a whole lot better – and that had little to do with Big Brown failing to finish the Belmont as a huge favorite.
The day not only was hot and muggy, but the plumbing malfunctioned, and water pressure was virtually nonexistent, with the problem ultimately blamed on a sewage system improperly maintained. For many fans, those memories of 2008 remain not so pleasant.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Perry Martin studied pedigrees for months, finally deciding that the sire Lucky Pulpit would be the best match for the mare Love the Chase.
Days before Love the Chase gave birth, Steve Coburn dreamed that she’d produce a chestnut colt, with a blaze and four white socks.
Before that colt ever ran, Martin sent an email to trainer Art Sherman outlining the road to the Kentucky Derby.
