ELMONT, N.Y. - It took a Classic winner to win a classic renewal of the Metropolitan Handicap.
Shackleford, the 2011 Preakness winner, used his speed to secure a clear early advantage and then withstood the furious rally of Caleb's Posse to win Monday's Grade 1, $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap by a nose at steamy Belmont Park. It was three lengths back to 6-5 favorite To Honor and Serve in third.
Caixa Eletronica, Jackson Bend, and Saginaw completed the order of finish.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Ruthenia stormed home to pull a 10-1 upset in the Grade 3, $103,000 Violet Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park. The Violet, a longtime fixture at the Meadowlands Racetrack, capped a big weekend for trainer Christophe Clement on the Jersey Shore. He also won the Lamplighter Stakes on Saturday with Malibu Way and is 4 for 6 at the meet.
ELMONT, N.Y. - She may play games in the morning, but in the afternoon It's Tricky is all business.
After chasing the front-running Cash for Clunkers for more than a mile of the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Handicap, It's Tricky, under Eddie Castro, caught that rival with 20 yards to go and won the $400,000 Phipps by three-quarters of a length at Belmont Park.
Given that Al’s Deputy hadn’t finished better than fourth in his last five starts dating back to October, it was no surprise that he was a 20-1 outsider in Monday’s first stakes of the season at Finger Lakes. Considering how trainer Charlton Baker has dominated the George W. Barker Stakes, however, 20-1 was a huge price on Al’s Deputy.
A 6-year-old gelding beaten more than 27 combined lengths in his three most recent starts and idle since March, Al’s Deputy closed strongly in the stretch to upset the $50,000 Barker, a six-furlong sprint for New York-breds.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Better Lucky was really good - and a little bit lucky - to win Monday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point Stakes at Belmont Park by a nose over the tough-luck Regalo Mia.
Making her first start on turf, Better Lucky got a ground-saving trip from Eddie Castro, before being tipped three wide for the stretch. She had to work hard to wrest the lead from 23-1 shot Zultanite in deep stretch while holding off the late-running Regalo Mia on the line.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Silver Max stumbled at the start, set a hot pace, finished with great energy, and ran a fast race on a hot day winning the $125,000 Arlington Classic on Saturday, but trainer Dale Romans said Silver Max was showing no sign of fatigue upon his return to Romans’s Churchill Downs base.
“He came out of that race in really good shape,” Romans said Monday.
Dullahan, the third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, arrived at Belmont at 6:30 a.m. following a lengthy van ride from Churchill Downs.
Trainer Dale Romans said that Dullahan would gallop the rest of the week and probably breeze over the main track on Saturday.
[BELMONT STAKES: Video updates, expected field, early odds]
Romans said that it is important for I’ll Have Another to have legitimate competition in his quest for the Triple Crown.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Steve Cauthen has never met Mario Gutierrez. Nor does he want to – at least not for the next two weeks.
But Cauthen can empathize with Gutierrez. It was 34 years ago that the then-18-year-old Cauthen was counting down the days to the Belmont Stakes, where he would make history by guiding Affirmed to a head victory over Alydar to complete horse racing’s Triple Crown.
[BELMONT STAKES: Video updates, expected field, early odds]
Strait of Dover, Classic Bryce, Beeker Street, and Perfect Tay all breezed at Woodbine Monday morning in preparation for possible appearances in Sunday’s Plate Trial.
The prospective field for the $150,000 Plate Trial, a 1 1/8 mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, is hard to nail down because several nominees have options in upcoming allowance races.
Strait of Dover, trained by Danny Vella, breezed five furlongs in 1:02 with regular rider Justin Stein aboard and without the blinkers which he wears on race days.
Hunters Bay was making his stakes debut against some salty opposition here in last Saturday’s Grade 2, $156,300 Eclipse Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
But the lightly raced 5-year-old Hunters Bay made short work of his 10 rivals and didn’t fool the playing customers as he was sent off as the 7-5 choice under Emma-Jayne Wilson.
“He’s a wonderful horse to be around,” said Reade Baker, who conditions the homebred Hunters Bay for Stronach Stable. “You can do anything you want with him. She just had to step on the gas, and away he went.”
