Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg says he can’t remember the last time he was at Belmont Park. Since it was Oct. 6, 1991 – when Fit to Scout finished fifth in the Grade 1 Beldame – and since Van Berg turned 78 years old Thursday, he can be forgiven if the memory of that day has faded.
Van Berg was set to make a rare appearance here this weekend when I’ll Have Another attempts to do what Van Berg’s Alysheba in 1987 could not – win the Triple Crown.
[bc_video_id:254063:]ELMONT, N.Y. – Bisnath Parboo, the trainer of Trinniberg, said he has no regrets trying to stretch out Trinniberg to 1 1/4 miles in the Kentucky Derby. He also has no reason to ever try it again.
Sprints are where Trinniberg has shined, and sprints will be the focus for the rest of the year, beginning Saturday at Belmont Park in the Grade 2, $400,000 Woody Stephens Stakes, a seven-furlong dash for 3-year-olds that goes as the ninth of 13 races on the Belmont Stakes card.
Bettors will have ample opportunity to cash a ticket on Saturday’s 13-race card.
There will be exactas and trifectas offered in each race. Superfactas, with a 10-cent minimum, will be offered in all races except the second.
There will be rolling pick threes and daily doubles offered beginning with the first race.
There will a trio of pick fours starting on races 2, 8, and 10. The pick four beginning with race 8 – the Just a Game Stakes – and concluding with the Belmont will have a guaranteed pool of $1 million.
Four 3-year-old fillies who faltered when thrust into graded stakes competition earlier this season will attempt to prove they deserve another shot when they square off in Saturday’s $75,000 Go for Wand Stakes at Delaware Park.
The Go for Wand, run at a mile and 70 yards, is the local prep for the Grade 2, $400,000 Delaware Oaks on July 14.
Mario Gutierrez, a stranger in a strange land, took one look at the unfamiliar racecourse laid out before him and shook his head.
“I can’t do this,” he said.
At five furlongs in circumference, Hastings Park was a shock to Gutierrez, who was just 19 at the time and freshly arrived in Western Canada from his native Mexico.
Ready Racer should have a quick pace to work with when he runs in a $40,000 optional claiming race that will serve as the Saturday feature at Northlands Park. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up drew eight horses and with four wins in his last five starts Ready Racer looks like the one to beat.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The May 20 Lady Angela was the first stakes win for Blues Dancing and her up-and-coming trainer, Katerina Vassilieva, who will run back against males on the grass Saturday at Woodbine in the $125,000 Bold Ruckus Stakes.
Blues Dancing has come a long way since she crushed $20,000 maidens in November. After starting twice at Gulfstream, she was victorious in a five-furlong allowance here April 8. In the seven-furlong Lady Angela, an Ontario-sired event, she went right to the front and never looked back to score comfortably.
Krash Cartel was more than just an impressive debut winner last month at Ruidoso Downs. He also set the fastest qualifying time for the Grade 1, $600,000 Ruidoso Futurity for Quarter Horses when he won the second of 25 trials for Saturday’s finale.
King Coral, who spent his spring lining up against such 3-year-olds as Secret Circle and Drill, will try turf Saturday in the featured seventh race at Louisiana Downs. He is one of 10 horses in a competitive second-level optional $17,500 claimer.
The race will be run at about 1 1/16 miles and the probable favorite is Blackntansatlarrys, based on his three-length win at this level May 10.
In all, a field of 10 will go, including stakes winners Man of Strife and Dreamsrunwild.
