Reigning champion Gio Ponti closed into a slow pace but was still able to get up by a measured neck to score his first win of the season and defend his title in the $600,000 Man o' War Stakes (gr. IT) July 10 at Belmont.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Champion Gio Ponti will attempt to break a five-race losing streak and defend his title in the $600,000 Man o' War Stakes (gr. IT) July 10 at Belmont.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
New York-bred Haynesfield won his fourth consecutive race and notched the biggest victory of his career when he took over turning for home en route to a convincing 2 3/4-length score in the $300,000 Suburban Handicap (gr. II)
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Rightly So will try to carry her speed seven furlongs when she faces seven other fillies and mares in the $150,000 Bed o' Roses Handicap (gr. III) July 5 at Belmont Park.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Dual Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti is expected to defend his title in the $600,000 Man o' War Stakes (gr. IT) July 10 at Belmont. The 5-year-old horse worked five furlongs in 1:02 July 1.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Dominating New York-bred Franny Freud looks to become a grade I winner July 4 at Belmont Park when she heads a field of five 3-year-old fillies in the $250,000 Prioress Stakes.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
I Want Revenge, scratched on the morning on the 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), makes his long awaited return to racing in the $300,000 Suburban Handicap (gr. II) July 3 at Belmont Park.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Devil May Care took over from stablemate Katy Now at the top of the lane and bounded home for an impressive victory in the $250,000 Mother Goose (gr. I) June 26 at Belmont Park in her first start since the Kentucky Derby.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A pair of colts with proven stakes credentials headline the $100,000 Mike Lee Stakes, the featured race at Belmont Park June 20. The Mike Lee is the first leg of the OTB Big Apple Triple.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Last year's Met Mile winner rallies to win the six-furlong grade II race on the Belmont Stakes undercard in 1:09.63.
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Soaking in the atmosphere at the track before the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), Ernie Moody and Bernie Schiappia were on the apron the morning of June 4, hanging out with Bob Baffert, who trains their colt Game On Dude.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Soaking in the atmosphere at the track before the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), Ernie Moody and Bernie Schiappia were on the apron the morning of June 4, hanging out with Bob Baffert, who trains their colt Game On Dude.
Friday, June 04, 2010
There are easier spots than the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), but trainer Steve Margolis feels his 3-year-old colt Stay Put is in the right one for the 1 1/2-mile classic June 5.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
A grade I winner on Polytrack as a juvenile, Negligee tries to proves her talent on turf against seven 3-year-old fillies, including a pair of recent grade III winners in the Sands Point Stakes on Memorial Day at Belmont.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Awesome Again gelding scored in the May 8 Lone Star Derby (gr. III).
Sunday, May 09, 2010The New York Racing Association could run out of cash before July 1 under a doomsday scenario provided to its board of directors.
Friday, April 30, 2010
The New York Racing Association, which announced it would cut $4.3 million in stakes purses from last year, has slashed around $1.4 million from its stakes program for the upcoming Belmont and Saratoga meets.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
The New York Racing Association, which has long resisted revealing salaries of its top executives, has furnished the information to a top state regulator at a time it is warning of running out of cash later this summer.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
There must be steel coursing through the veins of the Campbell family. Three generations of these steel-driving men have been blacksmiths, shoeing some of the finest Thoroughbreds on the East Coast.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Ramon Dominguez rode four stakes winners Oct. 24 at rainy Belmont Park, including a three-quarters of a length victory by Haynesfield in the $250,000 Empire Classic.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Godolphin Racing's highly-touted 3-year-old Girolamo overwhelmed Kensei after a brief stretch duel and scored the $150,000 Jerome Handicap (gr. II) by 1 1/4 lengths Oct. 11 at Belmont Park in his first stakes appearance of the season.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Kensei, who won the Dwyer Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park earlier this season, returns to the New York oval Oct. 11 to lead a field of five in the $150,000 Jerome Handicap (gr. II) for 3-year-olds going one mile on the main track.
Friday, October 09, 2009
When Awesome Maria won impressively in last month's Matron (gr. II), Stanley Hough said the juvenile filly should be even better going longer. The daughter of Maria's Mon will get a chance to prove her trainer right Oct. 10 when she headlines a field of seven in the $400,000 Frizette (gr. I) at Belmont Park.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Elliot Mavorah's Interpatation pulled a shocker in the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (gr. IT) and did it in sensational fashion. The 7-year-old gelding was passed by Gio Ponti with a furlong remaining, then re-rallied on the heavy favorite to score a 43-1 upset Oct. 3 at Belmont Park.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
The decision as to whether or not Fabulous Strike will be sent to California for the Breeders' Cup has not yet been made. For now, the focus is squarely on the $400,000 Vosburgh, where the 6-year-old son of Smart Strike will have to face a short but stellar field of sprinters Oct. 3 at Belmont Park.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Mark Allen, the co-owner of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird, said the gelding will appear in New Mexico in September.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Castleton Lyons' Gio Ponti notched his third consecutive grade I win when he came from off the pace to take the $500,000 Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park July 11. The 4-year-old son of Tale of the Cat won for the fourth time in five starts on Belmont's turf course.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Rachel Alexandra will make her first start since her historic Preakness (gr. I) victory June 27 at Belmont Park, but her presence in the $300,000 Mother Goose (gr. I) isn't scaring everyone away.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Mr. Fantasy and Haynesfield have garnered most of the attention for New York-bred 3-year-olds this season, but with both of them now on the sidelines it might be Legal Consent's time to shine. Trainer Carlos Martin is hoping it will start in the $100,000-added Mike Lee Stakes on June 21 at Belmont Park.
Friday, June 19, 2009Jockey Maylan Studart underwent surgery June 18 at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. to help mend a broken left leg that was the result of an accident earlier in the day at Belmont Park at approximately 9:45.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Commentator rolled to an easy win June 12 at Belmont Park, beating Stud Muffin by seven lengths in the $64,950 Kashatreya Stakes.
Friday, June 12, 2009
A crowd of 52,861 wagered $9,021,196 on Belmont Stakes Day races June 6, compared with $13,233,071 on-track handle a year ago when Big Brown's Triple Crown attempt was witnessed by 94,476. The 2008 handle figure was second-highest in Belmont Stakes Day wagering history.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
It was a bird that won the June 6 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, but it was not Mine That Bird but rather Summer Bird that won the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Belmont track announcer Tom Durkin made note of Gio Ponti being at the back of the pack as the field turned down the backside in the $400,000 Woodford Reserve Manhattan (gr. IT), but the colt came from last to first to win the race in dramatic fashion.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
The way Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks -- by a whopping 20 1/4 lengths -- anything that ran behind her had to be given another chance in her next start. Gabby's Golden Gal proved that theory true when she won the Acorn Stakes (gr. I) June 6 at Belmont Park.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Munnings ran the race his connections always thought he was capable of, impressively winning the Woody Stephens (gr. II) June 6 at Belmont Park.
Saturday, June 06, 2009Join Blood-Horse Editor-in-Chief Dan Liebman for a live blog from Belmont Park Saturday, June 6th, from Noon EDT to 1:00 pm.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
We tend to always knock weathermen, but they have been spot on with their predictions for Belmont week. The day before the final leg of the Triple Crown, as predicted, was as miserable as it gets, but race day itself, again as prognosticators said it would, dawned bright and beautiful.
Saturday, June 06, 2009The history of the track at Belmont Park is that is dries out quickly. According to the latest forecast, it will have about 17 hours to do so prior to the June 6 Belmont Stakes (gr. I).
Friday, June 05, 2009
Nothing seems to faze Mine That Bird, and lately, nothing seems to faze his trainer, Chip Woolley, either. There is a reason.
Friday, June 05, 2009
A reoccurring theme in this year's Triple Crown has been the game of musical chairs among jockeys. It couldn't have worked out more beautifully for Calvin Borel.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Jerry Hollendorfer has 135 horses in training at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California, but he has been making regular trips east the past month to keep tabs on the "big" horse in the stable, Chocolate Candy.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
If you happen to be walking the sidewalks of New York in the days leading up to the June 6 Belmont Stakes (gr. I), you just might run into diet guru Jenny Craig, who will be in town for the race.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Trainer Chip Woolley Jr., who trains Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird, woke up the morning of June 2 to find out his truck had been burglarized and Mine That Bird's registration papers missing.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and his staff are not strangers to having good horses in the barn. Three years ago, Jazil won the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Chocolate Candy put the finishing touches on his preparations for the June 6 running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I), with a final breeze at Belmont Park June 1.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Jockey Calvin Borel, who is in the enviable position of being considered to ride the country's two best 3-year-olds in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), was aboard Monday, May 25 as Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird worked four furlongs in :51.
Monday, May 25, 2009
West Point Thoroughbreds and partners' Mr. Fantasy and Sequoia Racing's Imperial Council will each try to become the first 3-year-old to win the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) since Honour and Glory did it back in 1996, but will have to conquer a full field of older horses on May 25 at Belmont Park to make it happen.
Friday, May 22, 2009A racehorse was euthanized May 20 after crashing into a bronze statue of Secretariat in the Belmont Park paddock.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
After two days off and a 9 1/2-hour van ride from Baltimore, Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird returned to the track at Churchill Downs for a light jog Tuesday, May 19. Meanwhile, Rachel Alexandra walked under Asmussen's shedrow on her second day back at Churchill.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009