[bc_playlist_id:234438:]Belmont Park: Track fast, 64 degrees

ELMONT, N.Y. – Friday provided Belmont Stakes starters one final opportunity to really stretch their legs prior to the main event, with all 11 3-year-olds set to contest the final leg of this year’s Triple Crown finally on the grounds following the belated arrival of General a Rod and Medal Count the previous afternoon.

Tom’s Tribute equaled Wise Dan’s 2012 Santa Anita course record for a mile on grass when he zoomed from the back of the field to win the Thunder Road Stakes in 1:31.78 on April 6. The win gave trainer Jim Cassidy a clear idea of how he wanted to campaign Tom’s Tribute through the summer.

“Rather than jar him up with a race every three or four weeks, I’d like to save him for the end of the year,” Cassidy said.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Heart of Paradise, the winner of Thursday’s third race for 2-year-old maiden fillies, will be considered for the $100,000 Cinderella Stakes over six furlongs at Los Alamitos on July 13, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.

Heart of Paradise, by More than Ready, won her debut Thursday, leading throughout five furlongs and finishing in 57.76 seconds. She was challenged in the opening quarter-mile by C’Mon Sister and pulled away to finish 2 1/2 lengths in front of runner-up Bennett Jean, who closed from fourth in the field of seven.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Secret Circle, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last November, is in light training at Los Alamitos in preparation for a late-summer and fall campaign.

Trainer Bob Baffert said Secret Circle could start at the Del Mar summer meeting, which runs from July 17 to Sept. 3, but that the main goal is the BC Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

ARCADIA, Calif. – On a day when winning favorites were scarce, the pick six paid $60,347 to eight ticketholders at Santa Anita on Thursday.

The day began with a carryover of $129,366 from Sunday’s program. Bettors added $661,563 to the pool Thursday.

The winners of the pick six races were Heart of Paradise ($7.20), Kathleen Rose ($9.80), Lust for Life ($11.40), Toppers Sunshine ($28.20), When We Met ($8.20), and Hobbits Hero ($4.20).

ELMONT, N.Y. - Kentucky-based trainer Billy Gowan, who will saddle Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin in the Belmont Stakes, is still getting re-acclimated to New York after a long absence.

“I kind of miss my home food down there in the South a little bit,” said the trainer, who earlier had joked that he couldn’t find a good order of grits near the Belmont backstretch.

ELMONT, N.Y. - If Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey were riding California Chrome, he knows the tactics he would use with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner from post No. 2.

“If it were me, it would just strengthen my resolve that I need to just go ahead and do what he does best – use his speed,” said Bailey, a two-time Belmont-winning jockey.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Six years ago, the last time a Triple Crown was on the line in the Belmont Stakes, the “fan experience,” as it is fashionably termed, could have been a whole lot better – and that had little to do with Big Brown failing to finish the Belmont as a huge favorite.

The day not only was hot and muggy, but the plumbing malfunctioned, and water pressure was virtually nonexistent, with the problem ultimately blamed on a sewage system improperly maintained. For many fans, those memories of 2008 remain not so pleasant.

ELMONT, N.Y. - In what he believes is a first for him, trainer Todd Pletcher will have runners in all 13 races carded Saturday, having entered 18 in total. Eastwood, entered in a second-level allowance race, was expected to run in Friday’s Grade 2 True North instead, but Pletcher would still have a runner in that race with Celebrator.

“I don’t think we’ve ever done that,” Pletcher said of having a starter in every race. “There’s been a time or two at Gulfstream where we were close. I figured it could happen when the condition book came out.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Owner Jessie Ladouceur said Woodbine Oaks favorite Paladin Bay came out of her quick 59.80-second, five-furlong breeze Monday in fine fettle and is scheduled to have her final drill before the June 15 Oaks on Sunday. Paladin Bay upset the heavily favored My Conquestadory here May 18 in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes after a hard-fought stretch battle with that imposing Grade 1 winner.