Belmont Park

Weather: Overcast

Track: Fast

Temp.: 55

ELMONT, N.Y. – The weather here has felt more like April than June over the past few mornings, cold and dreary as trainers put the finishing touches on their contenders for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.

The final two works for this year’s Belmont were turned in here Tuesday, maintenance-type breezes by Senior Investment and Epicharis.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Fresh horses can be dangerous horses.

Epicharis, Hollywood Handsome, Meantime, and Twisted Tom are the new shooters Saturday in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes. Each is making his first start in a Triple Crown race, against horses who have been battling it out in either the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, or both, as is the case with Lookin At Lee.

“Sometimes a fresh horse is good this time of year going into these sort of races,” said Brian Lynch, who trains Meantime.

ELMONT, N.Y. – When his cellphone rang at 8:15 in the morning May 27 and Chad Brown’s name was displayed on the caller ID, Paul Pompa Jr. didn’t have a good feeling.

“When you get a call from a trainer at a weird time, you just wonder what name they’re going to mention,” Pompa said.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Classic Empire, who would have been the favorite in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, is out of the race owing to an abscess in his right front hoof, trainer Mark Casse said Wednesday at Belmont Park.

Classic Empire flew to New York on Tuesday from Kentucky. On Wednesday morning, "he wouldn't put the foot down," Casse said.

"He'll be better as soon as it busts open,” Casse said. “He'll have instant relief, but he can't run. He's been too good to us."

Grade 1 winner Twilight Eclipse has been retired from racing, and will be trained for a second career in eventing.

The 8-year-old Purim gelding finished his ontrack career with 8 wins in 40 starts over six seasons of racing for earnings of $2,103,953. He raced all but his first two starts for West Point Thoroughbreds, and was trained by Tom Albertrani for the bulk of his career. His final two starts were with trainer Graham Motion.

John Ferguson, a longtime figure in Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum’s Godolphin operation, has stepped down as CEO and racing manager.

In a release, the international organization named Joe Osborne, managing director of Godolphin in Ireland, as the company’s interim chief executive.

“We are committed to our objective of achieving success for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and his family,” Osborne said. “Our thanks go to John Ferguson for his longstanding contribution to Godolphin and Darley.”

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.

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.

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.