ELMONT, N.Y. - As if there wasn't enough intrigue on Saturday at Belmont Park, there will be a pick-6 carryover of $126,811 entering the card, which includes five Grade 1 stakes highlighted by the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup.
All five stakes will be part of the pick 6, which kicks off with race 6, the $500,000 Vosburgh for sprinters. The Vosburgh drew a field of 10, but there are only eight betting interests, led by the entry of Pomeroy and Lion Tamer.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Considering what remains standing in the handicap and 3-year-old divisions, Saturday's $1 million at Belmont Park should be a terrific barometer for the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic.
With the exception of Saint Liam, Rock Hard Ten, and Afleet Alex, the Grade 1 Gold Cup has drawn virtually every important older male and 3-year-old still healthy enough to run. The eight Jockey Gold Cup entrants have combined to win 12 graded stakes this year, including the Hollywood Gold Cup, Pacific Classic, and Travers.
ELMONT, N.Y. - A champion filly who has won 11 of 19 starts and banked more than $3.2 million should have nothing left to prove. But as Ashado attempts to become a repeat winner in the Breeders' Cup Distaff later this month, she has to prove that her last race, a fourth-place finish in the Personal Ensign Handicap, was an aberration.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - In Hawaiian, No Ka Oi means "is the best." Trainer Rob Gilker hopes that it will be a literal translation when he saddles No Ka Oi in the $100,000 Sadie Diamond Futurity at Hastings on Saturday. On paper, No Ka Oi does look the best, and she figures to be a solid favorite in the 6 1/2-furlong fixture, which drew 11 horses. The race is restricted to 2-year-old fillies foaled in Canada.
AUBURN, Wash. - Random Memo appears to have found a likely spot for his first score of the season in Saturday's Emerald Downs feature, a $32,000 optional claiming affair at a mile that has drawn five older runners.
Random Memo, a son of Memo from the barn of trainer Aubrey Villyard, was near the top of his class here last season as a 3-year-old. From only four starts, he netted a win in the one-mile Tacoma Handicap and a highly creditable third in the nine-furlong Emerald Breeders' Cup Derby.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Lost in the Fog is in northern California on Saturday, but virtually every other top sprinter in North America is at Belmont Park on Saturday for the Grade 1, $500,000 Vosburgh.
A field of 10 was entered for the Vosburgh, which should help determine who will be second choice behind Lost in the Fog in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint to be run here Oct. 29.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The eyes of northern California will be on undefeated Lost in the Fog in Saturday's $100,000 Bay Meadows Speed Handicap.
But for Lost in the Fog's connections - trainer Greg Gilchrist, owner Harry Aleo, and jockey Russell Baze - the real focus is New York and the Oct. 29 Breeders' Cup Sprint and how this race will prepare the sensational 3-year-old for that test.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Shakespeare has come a long way, recovering from a serious knee injury last year that threatened to end his career after only two races.
Saturday, he will try to run a long way in the 1 1/2-mile Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park.
The Grade 1, $750,000 Hirsch is the latest challenge for the unbeaten 4-year-old Shakespeare, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Handicappers will need sharp pencils to sort through the contenders in the Grade 1, $750,000 Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont Park.
"It's a very evenly matched field of horses," said trainer Jimmy Toner, who sends out Wonder Again. "They are all so competitive. It's going to be a tough race. It's a well-balanced bunch of fillies. There are no throwouts in the race."
The 1 1/4-mile turf race for fillies and mares attracted a strong field of fillies and mares prepping for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Belmont on Oct. 29.
