ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher had five horses in the Kentucky Derby and was shut out, and he bypassed the Preakness Stakes altogether, but he is mounting another assault on the final leg of the Triple Crown, the 145th Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. Pletcher has five runners in what, as of Monday, was shaping up as a 15-horse field.
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DRF Past Performances
ELMONT PARK, N.Y. – Rain, at times extremely heavy, turned what was already expected to be a quiet morning into an even quieter one at Belmont Park for the 11 prospective Belmont Stakes starters on the grounds here Monday.
Monday at Belmont Park
67 degrees, raining, sloppy
[bc_video_id:294117:]ELMONT, N.Y. – As expected, Sunday morning proved to be a long and busy one on the Belmont Stakes watch. The action started with Vyjack the moment the main track opened at 5:30 and didn’t end until Incognito completed his work over at the training track almost 4 1/2 hours later.
All told, seven of the 10 potential Belmont Stakes horses stabled on the grounds turned in timed workouts Sunday, with an eighth, Freedom Child, stretching his legs with a very strong six-furlong open gallop shortly after 7 a.m.
[bc_video_id:294100:]ELMONT, N.Y. – If there was any doubt about Orb’s starting status for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes – and there really wasn’t – it was removed early Sunday morning when the Kentucky Derby winner worked a solid half-mile in 48.30 seconds over a lightning-quick main track at Belmont Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Saturday proved to be another warm and relatively uneventful morning at Belmont Park so far as the 10 prospective Belmont Stakes starters stabled on the grounds were concerned. Only one member of that group, Always in a Tiz, turned in a recorded workout, with the majority of the others gearing up for their scheduled workouts here Sunday.
ELMONT, N.Y. – The road to the Kentucky Derby for Always in a Tiz was full of potholes. A troubled trip in one prep, a disdain for a sloppy track in another, and an absolute debacle in a third kept the horse from making it to the Run for the Roses.
The connections of Always in a Tiz are hopeful their winter – and early spring – of discontent are behind their 3-year-old and are hoping for a dramatic change of fortune in the 145th Belmont Stakes to be run next Saturday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Ken McPeek revealed Saturday that he is seriously considering entering Frac Daddy in the Belmont Stakes.
Frac Daddy, 16th in the May 4 Kentucky Derby as a 25-1 shot, has had three swift workouts at Churchill Downs within a two-week span, ending with a bullet half-mile drill Friday in 47.80 seconds.
“He’s training as well as I’ve ever seen,” McPeek said. “It’s like [D. Wayne] Lukas says, you can’t win it unless you’re in it.”
McPeek engineered the biggest upset in Belmont history when sending out Sarava to a 70-1 victory in the 2002 running.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Though his three Belmont Stakes victories tie him for third most of any jockey, Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens isn’t taking anything for granted when it comes to the third leg of the Triple Crown.
Having not ridden at Belmont Park since 2005, Stevens – who rides Preakness winner Oxbow in Saturday’s 145th Belmont Stakes – said he is coming to New York early to reacquaint himself with the 1 1/2-mile oval, the largest racetrack in North America.
A pivotal morning looms at Belmont Park on Sunday, as several leading contenders for the 145th Belmont Stakes next Saturday, including Kentucky Derby winner Orb and all of trainer Todd Pletcher’s prospective runners, are scheduled for their final workouts.
Belmont Park
75 degrees, Sunny, fast
ELMONT, N.Y. – As was the case the previous morning at Churchill Downs, the weather was unseasonably warm and humid in New York and, not surprisingly, the majority of this year’s Belmont Stakes prospects were out early and back in their stalls prior to the renovation break Friday at Belmont Park. That group included Kentucky Derby winner Orb, as well as all five of trainer Todd Pletcher’s Belmont prospects.