ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Michael de Kock has competed in and won major races all over the world, but not until last month had he ever run a horse in the Kentucky Derby, where Mubtaahij finished eighth in the field of 18. His participation in American classics will double on Saturday, when Mubtaahij competes in the Belmont Stakes.

With less than a full day remaining for the public to comment on proposed rules on tax reporting for parimutuel wagers, more than 11,000 have already sent in comments to the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department supporting the proposals, according to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

The latest results were tallied last Friday, according to NTRA spokesman Jim Mulvihill, so it’s possible that the number is much higher.

An attorney representing a plaintiff in a suit alleging that American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat reneged on a gambling debt has sued Zayat for libel.

J. Joseph Bainton alleges that Zayat defamed him when he made comments to a reporter for The Daily News in New York that the gambling-debt lawsuit was “a fictitious story from people who are trying to extort me.” Zayat made similar comments to a number of publications that also wrote about the gambling-debt lawsuit, and the suit references several of the articles, specifically noting Zayat’s use of the word “fraud.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rosie Napravnik, who retired as a jockey after last fall’s Breeders Cup to raise a family with her husband, trainer Joe Sharp, gave birth to a healthy baby boy early Monday morning.

Carson Wayne Sharp was born at 4:09 a.m., weighting 6 pounds and 15 ounces, and both he and Napravnik are doing well, Sharp said. It was the first child for the couple, and the second for Sharp, who has a daughter, Aiyana, from a prior relationship.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner American Pharoah turned a dreary morning into a pretty special one Monday at Churchill Downs with an eye-catching final work for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The combination of an apparently thriving American Pharoah and few challengers willing to take him on has resulted in an expected field of eight for the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday, when American Pharoah will be heavily favored to become the 12th Triple Crown winner and the first in 37 years.

American Pharoah turned in a brilliant work Monday at Churchill Downs in advance of his scheduled flight Tuesday to New York. Within a few hours of that work, two of his potential challengers – Carpe Diem and The Truth Or Else – were pulled out of the race.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The prospective field for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday is now down to eight after Todd Pletcher said Monday that Carpe Diem would not run. The Truth or Else was withdrawn earlier Monday morning by his trainer, Ken McPeek.

Pletcher said Carpe Diem would point to the Haskell or the Jim Dandy later this summer.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The Truth Or Else is out of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park with filling in an ankle, his trainer, Ken McPeek, said Monday morning on his Twitter account.

That brings the prospective Belmont field to nine: American Pharoah, Carpe Diem, Frammento, Frosted, Keen Ice, Madefromlucky, Materiality, Mubtaahij, and Tale of Verve.

Entries are taken, and posts drawn, on Wednesday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -  Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner American Pharoah completed his outstanding preparation for the Belmont with a final five-furlong breeze under Martin Garcia that was timed in 1:00.08 by DRF clocker Mike Welsch.

American Pharoah was to leave Churchill at 10 a.m. Tuesday for the short ride to Louisville International Airport, with departure on an equine air charter to New York scheduled for 11:30.

Jockey Pedro Terrero sustained what was termed a minor concussion as well as bruising to his neck and right shoulder at Golden Gate Fields when he was unseated by his mount, Omdurman, after crossing the finish line following Sunday’s ninth and final race.

Terrero was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland for precautionary X-rays.

Jockey Frank Alvarado, who sustained similar injuries Saturday when his mount tried to hurdle the inside rail in a turf race, was back in action Sunday.