ELMONT, N.Y. – Thirteen proved to be a lucky number for the New York Racing Association when it came to this year’s Belmont Stakes card.

Not only did 13 enter the Belmont Stakes, but there were 13 entrants each in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, Grade 1 Just a Game, and Grade 2 Woody Stephens, three of the nine supporting stakes on Saturday’s 13-race program at Belmont Park. The Grade 3 Jaipur Invitational drew 14.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Since the start of the millennium, eight of the 16 runnings of the Belmont Stakes have been won by horses who ran on Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs, then had five weeks off prior to the Belmont.

That angle could prove pivotal again this year, as five of the contenders in the 148th Belmont Stakes on Saturday have been similarly managed in the hopes of pulling off an upset over the favored Exaggerator, who will be just one of two horses – along with Lani – to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year.

BELMONT PARK

Weather: Cloudy

Track: Fast

Temp.: 62

Tyler Gaffalione, the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice rider of 2015, will not ride again at Gulfstream Park until next Thursday because of a lung infection, according to his agent, Walter Blum Jr.

Gaffalione, fourth in the jockey standings with 34 victories during the spring-summer meet, took off all his mounts over the weekend after originally thought to be suffering from asthma and an irregular heartbeat.

John Servis, the Philadelphia-based trainer who saddled this year’s winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, has been told that three of his horses who ran at Parx Racing near Philadelphia have tested positive for the regulated medication clenbuterol, the trainer confirmed Wednesday.

KINGSVILLE, Texas – Welcome to the land of Assault.

The story of the horse who 70 years ago this month became racing’s seventh Triple Crown winner can be relived vibrantly at King Ranch headquarters in the south Texas town of Kingsville.

BELMONT PARK

Weather: Clear

Track: Fast

Temp.: 73

ELMONT, N.Y. - All eyes were on EXAGGERATOR Tuesday morning at Belmont Park, with the Preakness winner turning in his final major prep for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. He worked five furlongs in 1:00.92 over a very fast main track after the renovation break.

Here's a collection of some of the biggest stories in horse racing, all in one place. Unless noted, all of the links here are to free stories on DRF.com.

Beholder keeps rolling in Vanity

ELMONT, N.Y. – After a Triple Crown bid by California Chrome in 2014 and then a Triple Crown sweep by American Pharoah last year, there will not be a horse going for the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes when it is run for the 148th time on Saturday here at Belmont Park. But what is lost in drama will certainly be made up for in numbers, as it appears that 12 horses are set to take on the expected favorite, Exaggerator, who will try to add the Belmont to a résumé that includes a Preakness victory and a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Keith Desormeaux, the trainer of Preakness winner Exaggerator, said he is proud that his brother Kent, the Hall of Fame jockey, has sought help for an alcohol problem and is hopeful that he will be ready to perform at his best when he rides Exaggerator in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.

“His focus should be better,” Keith Desormeaux said Monday at Belmont Park. “I don’t quite know what to expect. I imagine it’s a change for the better. How can it not?”