BELMONT PARK
Thursday, June 6
Weather: Clear
Temp.: 71
Track: Fast

ELMONT, N.Y. – Before he stepped into the national spotlight with Maximum Security, trainer Jason Servis developed two other horses with humble beginnings into Grade 1 winners. While Maximum Security, disqualified from first in the May 4 Kentucky Derby, will be in his Monmouth Park barn Saturday afternoon, Servis will be at Belmont Park to saddle Firenze Fire and World of Trouble in a pair of Grade 1 stakes on the undercard of the Belmont Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Bill Mott never had won the Kentucky Derby until this year, so it’s not like the Hall of Fame trainer has a point of reference as to what it feels like to cross the wire first instead of getting put up via disqualification. But he instinctively knows it’s different, and he has sensed it in the way people congratulate him for Country House’s success five weeks ago.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Kevin Attard hasn’t had a Queen’s Plate starter in 10 years, but is back on the trail this year with the promising 3-year-old Jammin Still.

Attard’s last Queen’s Plate starter was Bucephalus, who finished 10th in 2009, but Attard almost won with his first Queen’s Plate starter two years earlier. Alezzandro, who was making just his third start in the Queen’s Plate after debuting just six weeks before, finished second to Mike Fox in 2007. He won the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie in his next start.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Robert Lee Alexander, best known as Spec, died Monday following an illness at age 80. Alexander served a lengthy tenure as the starter at Keeneland.

Tributes have been pouring forth for Alexander, who began his career in racing in the 1950s as an exercise rider before becoming an assistant starter in 1967 on the East Coast. Sometime in the 1980s, he became the head starter at Keeneland, charged with dispatching fields on their way with the press of a button.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hopes were sky-high for My Boy Jack leading into the 2018 Kentucky Derby. After all, the late-running colt was coming off a victory in the Lexington Stakes, and was sent away the 6-1 second choice in the Derby behind the eventual winner and Triple Crown champion, Justify. He was never a serious factor but did close well to finish fifth.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – She only got a 74 Beyer Speed Figure, but the victory last Sunday by With Dignity at Churchill Downs was visually impressive nonetheless.

“We’ve had high hopes for her all along,” said Ian Wilkes, who trains homebred With Dignity for the Whitham Thoroughbreds of Janis Whitham and family. “It’s just taken patience to get her to this point.”

BELMONT PARK
Weather: Cloudy
Temp.: 67
Track: Fast

ELMONT, N.Y. – After an eventful and somewhat dismaying seven-furlong work here last week, MASTER FENCER was given a second opportunity to breeze over the Belmont Park main track shortly after the renovation break Wednesday. Unfortunately for his connections, the end result was not really any more encouraging.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Jockey Luis Saez ranks second in North America in wins (140) through the first five months of this year, but it’s the one win that was taken away by the Churchill Downs stewards that still resonates throughout the sport.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Jockey Julien Leparoux worked Master Fencer prior to the Kentucky Derby, in which they crossed the wire seventh, and after Master Fencer’s final drill on Wednesday here at Belmont Park in preparation for the 151st Belmont Stakes, Leparoux said he noticed a change in attitude he hopes translates into an even better performance on Saturday.