Sat, 06/08/2019 - 20:52

Belmont Stakes 2019 handle sets record for non-Triple Crown year

Debra A. Roma
Belmont Stakes Day attendance was announced at 56,217 as Sir Winston posted a 10-1 upset in the featured event.

Total handle on the Belmont Stakes on Saturday was far short of the wagering totals for the race last year, when a Triple Crown was on the line, but the figure compared more than favorably to the last time the race was run without the additional attention from a Triple Crown try in 2017, according to charts of the races.

Sat, 06/08/2019 - 20:13

Belmont Stakes: Wide trip costly for favored Tacitus

Barbara D. Livingston
Tacitus (left) finishes second to Sir Winston in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott thought drawing the outside post with Tacitus for Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont Stakes was going to work to his advantage. Just five weeks earlier, Mott had won the Kentucky Derby with Country House, who had the outside post in a 19-horse field.

In the end, the outside post – and the subsequent wide trip under Jose Ortiz – may have been Tacitus’s undoing.

Fri, 06/07/2019 - 15:16

Turf stakes highlight Retama meet

The El Joven and La Senorita, a pair of turf stakes for 2-year-olds, will be the richest Thoroughbred offerings during the upcoming meet at Retama Park. The races will each be worth $75,000 when they are run on a Wednesday card, Aug. 14.

Retama opens a mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses on July 4. The season will run through Sept. 11.

Fri, 06/07/2019 - 15:06

Brown eyeing new strategy for Newspaperofrecord

Barbara D. Livingston
Cambier Parc and jockey Jose Ortiz win the Wonder Again Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Newspaperofrecord.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown said he will try to change tactics with Newspaperofrecord in hopes of getting her to the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Oaks on July 6.

Fri, 06/07/2019 - 15:00

Maryanorginger may await Adirondack

Barbara D. Livingston
Astoria winner Maryanorginger (inside) is likely to race next on Aug. 4 in the Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Maryanorginger, who overcame a stumbling start and early trouble to win Thursday’s $150,000 Astoria Stakes for 2-year-old fillies in her career debut, likely won’t make her next start until the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack on Aug. 4 at Saratoga, trainer Jeremiah Englehart said Friday.

Englehart said he thought the filly looked a little light to him in the paddock and he wants to give her plenty of time to get over the race.

“I’ll probably want to wait a little bit longer than [July 11] to run her,” said Englehart, referring to the Schuylerville at Saratoga.

Fri, 06/07/2019 - 14:26

Shotgun Kowboy getting ready for Remington

Emily Shields
Shotgun Kowboy, who captured the 2018 Lone Star Handicap, is back in Texas for Saturday's Steve Sexton Mile.

Shotgun Kowboy is gearing up for the Remington Park meet, which opens Aug. 23 in Oklahoma City. Shotgun Kowboy is back at Lone Star Park near Dallas after a brief freshening following his fifth-place finish in the Grade 3, $300,000 Steve Sexton Mile on April 28 at Lone Star.

Shotgun Kowboy spent some time off at the Oklahoma farm of his breeder, owner, and trainer, C.R. Trout.

“He’s back galloping right now,” Trout said. “He’ll be ready to go for Remington.”

Fri, 06/07/2019 - 14:26

Pendleton turning into the real deal

Coady Photography
Pendleton romped by 14 1/2 lengths in Sunday's San Juan County Commissioners Stakes.

Pendleton won his fourth straight race – all in New Mexico – last Sunday, when he rolled home by 14 1/2 lengths in the $75,000 San Juan County Commissioners at SunRay Park.

“He exceeded my expectations that day, that’s for sure,” said trainer Justin Evans.

Fri, 06/07/2019 - 12:56

Fields taking shape for Stephen Foster card

Barbara D. Livingston
Yoshida is among the major contenders for the upcoming Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With another Triple Crown in the books, the unofficial second half of the racing season will get under way next Saturday night when a pair of Win and You’re In races toward the 2019 Breeders’ Cup are run under the lights at Churchill Downs.

The Stephen Foster and Fleur de Lis – both former handicap races now being run under allowance conditions – are among five graded stakes that will shift attention toward the Nov. 1-2 Breeders’ Cup.

Fri, 06/07/2019 - 12:46

Game Winner shines in blinkers-on work

Emily Shields
Game Winner's summer goal is the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24.

ARCADIA, Calif. – It was only a half-mile workout, but for Game Winner it was significant – he wore blinkers for the first time since last year, and he looked terrific working in company according to trainer Bob Baffert.

Game Winner’s half-mile workout Friday at Santa Anita in 48.40 seconds – he galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 and change – was his first work since he finished sixth across the wire in the Kentucky Derby.

“He looked really good today,” Baffert said. “He was moving really well, like it was nothing for him.”

Thu, 06/06/2019 - 16:46

Juvenile colt euthanized after injury in morning gallop

ARCADIA, Calif. – An unraced 2-year-old that sustained a shoulder injury during a routine gallop Wednesday morning at Santa Anita was later euthanized at Chino Valley Equine Hospital.

Derby River, a colt sired by Violence and trained by Ruben Gomez, was vanned off the Santa Anita main track about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. The colt was transferred later to Chino Valley. Gomez said the colt was euthanized early Thursday.