ELMONT, N.Y. - Sporting a 4-inch gash on his left temple, but in good humor over what was a scary situation, trainer D. Wayne Lukas was back at work Wednesday morning at Belmont Park, a little more than 12 hours after his stakes-winning sprinter Hamazing Destiny reared up and struck the trainer in the head.
“The good news is I got a date with the head nurse and sold both doctors a horse,” Lukas said.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Manny Azpurua will be the first to admit his Ravelo’s Boy is a decided outsider in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. But then again, Azpurua has always relished the idea of being the underdog and flying well below the radar whether at home or when venturing out of south Florida.
“I know I’m the black sheep in here,” said Azpurua. “But I’m always the black sheep when I leave Calder, and my horses have always been right there in graded races up north.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Owners George and Lori Hall and trainer Kelly Breen pulled off a Belmont Stakes shocker last year with 24-1 shot Ruler On Ice.
This year, those same connections are back to take another swing with My Adonis, who was a last-minute addition to the Belmont Stakes field. My Adonis, who finished second to defending juvenile champion Hansen in the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct in March, is listed at 30-1 on the morning line of Daily Racing Form’s Mike Watchmaker, 20-1 on the morning line of NYRA’s Eric Donovan.
ELMONT, N.Y. – On June 9, 2011, Dullahan made his first career start at Churchill Downs. He was sent off at odds of 4-1 in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race. Expectations among his connections were modest, so there was little disappointment when he finished third.
“I thought we had a talented horse that wanted to stretch out,” trainer Dale Romans said. “I just wanted to get a good race into him that day.”
If you thought tickets were sold out for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, as has been reported, you’d be right. You’d also be so far behind the times you’re planning on taking a carriage to the race.
Though 21,500 reserved-seat tickets for the Belmont officially sold out weeks ago, plenty of tickets are available for purchase on internet sites, though the vast majority of those tickets are being offered for premiums that run from the merely ridiculous to the ridiculously unconscionable.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It took Victor Davila about a half-hour and $11,000 to earn his place in history as the man who broke Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have Another. Davila, a 34-year-old exercise rider for Barry and Shari Eisaman’s Florida yearling-to-juvenile resale operation, first saw I’ll Have Another in the back walking ring at Keeneland’s 2010 September yearling sale. Davila doesn’t pretend he caught a glimpse of greatness when the colt born on April Fool’s Day stepped into his view. But Davila did see something that few others saw that day, and that was a horse who could turn a profit.
ELMONT, N.Y. – When War Admiral won the Triple Crown in 1937, there were a total of 32 horses who ran against him in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. That remains a record, one I’ll Have Another will have to better if he is to become the 12th Triple Crown winner when he competes in the 144th Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park.
There is really no way to practice training a horse to run in the Belmont Stakes other than actually running a horse in the Belmont Stakes, which is why Chad Brown, at the ripe old age of 33, will be glad to at least get the ball rolling on Saturday in the 144th running of America’s oldest classic.
After Lemon Drop Kid, Commendable, Sarava, Birdstone, Da’ Tara, and Ruler On Ice, we are all justifiably spooked by the Belmont Stakes, as if it this is a horror movie instead of a horse race.
Don’t move too soon. Don’t open a big lead. Don’t do this. Don’t do that.
I am going to make a novel suggestion. Find what you think is the best horse and bet on him.
Did Point Given move too soon when he blew the race open around the turn and won by a dozen? Apparently not.
ELMONT, N.Y. – I’ll Have Another drew post 11 from which he’ll begin his quest to win the Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. A field of a dozen 3-year-olds was entered for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, with the late addition of My Adonis.
