Belmont Park
Weather: Clear
Main track: Sloppy
Training track: Good
Temp.: 72
ELMONT, N.Y. – You know it’s another slow day on the Belmont Stakes watch when the most excitement here Monday morning was trying to figure out what track Creator would be going to and then getting there in time to see his final blowout prior to Saturday’s race.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown will bring both quantity and quality to this year’s New York Stakes.
Brown entered the powerful trio of Dacita, Guapaza, and Sea Calisi in the Grade 2, $500,000 New York scheduled for 1 1/4 miles over Belmont Park’s inner turf course. The New York is one of six stakes on Friday’s 11-race program that begins at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
Brown will try duplicate a feat he accomplished earlier this year when he ran one-two-three in the Grade 3 The Very One at Gulfstream Park with Olorda, Dacita, and Guapaza.
The Golden Pick 6 at Golden Gate Fields will have a $1,201,866.77 starting point on Sunday after the 20-cent wager was hit by multiple tickets, returning $1,172.12 to those who picked all six winners.
The jackpot is paid when there is only a single ticket with all six winners.
If there is not a single winning ticket between now and closing day on June 12, there will be a mandatory payout that day.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Kent Desormeaux, who is scheduled to ride Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator in the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 11, is currently undergoing an alcohol rehabilitation program in Utah, according to a statement released by Santa Anita publicity.
Desormeaux, 46, made the announcement Saturday through his agent, J.R. Pegram.
“It was time to take a sober look at my life and take this step,” Desormeaux said in the statement.
American Cleopatra, a 2-year-old full sister to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, arrived Saturday morning at trainer Bob Baffert's barn at Santa Anita. Like American Pharoah, American Cleopatra was bred and is owned by Zayat Stables. She is by Pioneerof the Nile and out of the Yankee Gentleman mare Littleprincessemma.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Otabek Umarov, the trainer who was suspended for 10 years by Kentucky stewards last week for refusing to allow one of his horses to be sampled for drug testing, has filed an appeal of the penalty, according to state officials.
Thirteen bettors selected all six winners on their Golden Pick 6 tickets at Golden Gate Fields on Friday and were rewarded with $5,387.16 consolation payoffs.
The jackpot wager pays off when only one ticket selects all six winners, and it continues to grow, standing at $1,167,843.12 entering Saturday’s races.
If there is not a single winning ticket between now and closing day on June 12, there will be a mandatory payout that day.
Belmont Park
Weather: Cloudy
Track: Fast
Temp.: 67
ELMONT, N.Y. – Finally, some serious action to report on the Belmont Stakes watch, with nine of the potential 12 starters on the grounds. Three worked Friday and five others visited the racetrack for varying degrees of exercise.
Skies were overcast, and some light rain fell briefly after the renovation break, with both the main and training tracks remaining fast throughout the morning.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Stradivari was the wild card entering the Preakness Stakes. Brilliant in his first two starts this year, Stradivari was sent off as a solid third choice in the wagering for the middle jewel of the Triple Crown behind Kentucky Derby one-two finishers Nyquist and Exaggerator.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Champion turf mare Tepin was sent through her final breeze on Friday before her overseas journey to England, going a half-mile in 48.40 seconds at Churchill Downs.
With regular rider Julien Leparoux aboard, as usual, Tepin breezed over a fast track, going out five furlongs in 1:01.20, according to Churchill personnel.
