Belmont Derby

A pair of Grade I events for 3-year-olds on grass will co-anchor a loaded 12-race program at Belmont Park Saturday. European invader The Foxes (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), a narrow winner of the G2 Dante S. May 18 and fifth-place finisher after stumbling at the start in the G1 English Derby June 3, will make the trip across the pond for trainer Andrew Balding for the GI Belmont Derby Invitational. The 7-2 morning-line favorite, drawn widest of all in post 11, will square off against 10 rivals, including GII Pennine Ridge...

Fozzy Stack says that Aspen Grove (Ire) is something of a forgotten horse heading into the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. and revealed that there were genuine excuses for her below-par effort in the Irish 1,000 Guineas when the Justify filly was found to be in season.  Aspen Grove carried Craig Bernick's distinctive silks to victory in a Group 3 contest at the Curragh last term and, with that valuable black-type success already secured, Stack felt connections could afford to be brave in travelling her over for Saturday's Grade I...

Trudy Veinot's Dreamcatcher consignment makes its second auction appearance in the Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings and, while a son of Gift Box (hip 107) is the veteran horsewoman's sole entry in the sale, she is excited about the colt's prospects in the ring Tuesday. Veinot, a transplanted Canadian now living in Lexington, purchased the colt for $30,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. "I liked his frame," Veinot said of the weanling's appeal. "There wasn't a lot of meat on those bones, but there was a beautiful frame....

Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), the beaten favorite with a wide trip four weeks ago in the GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational S., worked out a much cozier voyage Saturday under William Buick to annex the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational S. Graduating by 4 3/4 lengths at second asking over the Lingfield all-weather last October, the Godolphin homebred reeled off three more open-lengths tallies culminating with a seven-length rout in the Newmarket S. Apr. 29. Disappointing some when finishing a distant eighth in the G1 Cazoo Derby June 4 at...

The book on training the modern racehorse goes something this: Give them at least six weeks off between races, start them no more than five times a year and never take a chance. It's a book that, apparently, Ken McPeek has never read. Among top-tier trainers, there is no one like him. He'll run fillies against the boys, run back in a week and he's not afraid to throw a 50-1 bomb into a race or, in the case of 2022 GI Belmont S. winner Sarava (Wild Again), a 70-1...

Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will sidestep Saturday's G1 Coral-Eclipse S. at Sandown in favour of a trip to America the following weekend. The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt is now being aimed at the GI Belmont Derby, where he is likely to clash with Charlie Appleby's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and GI French 2000 Guineas winner Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is set to be ridden by Frankie Dettori. O'Brien won last year's Belmont race with Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) confirmed that plans were in place for a...

'TDN Rising Star' Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the beaten G1 Cazoo Epsom Derby favorite, paid fitting tribute to his late superstar sire with a 1 1/4-length success over Tokyo Gold (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) in Saturday's GI Belmont Derby Invitational. The Coolmore connections and trainer Aidan O'Brien also delivered with Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational on the undercard. The even-money favorite, drawn on the inside in post two, raced in seventh around the clubhouse turn and began to creep closer while racing in between...

I don't know which is the greater compliment, the one extended across the continent or the one across the ocean. Putting them together, however, the hosts of the GI Belmont Derby Invitational can feel confident they must be doing something right. This race has now obtained such stature that the most exciting turf sophomore in the land has had to join the recent defections from the Bob Baffert barn in order to take part--even though Du Jour (Temple City) represents a partnership comprising Debbie Lanni and Baffert's own wife, Jill....

Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith, and Spendthrift Farm's Keepmeinmind (Laoban), who worked a half-mile in :46.92 (1/6) over a sloppy Belmont dirt training track Monday, will skip Saturday's GI Belmont S. and could make his next start over the turf in the July 10 GI Belmont Derby. "He worked great this morning, but thinking about it some more, I think he needs a little more time," trainer Robertino Diodoro said. "We were always 50-50 for the race, but I think as soon as we arrived at Belmont people got the...

Gufo (Declaration of War), favored at 7-5 in Saturday's GI Belmont Derby Invitational, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland, came storming down the stretch to deliver a smart, one-length victory over No Word (Silent Name {Jpn)). Mo Ready (Uncle Mo) was third. Gufo capped a four-race winning streak with come-from-behind scores in Gulfstream's English Channel S. May 2 and Delaware's GIII Kent S. July 4. He established a new course record in the latter. He rallied from seventh to finish a very close...

The first three across the wire in a blanket finish in the Saratoga Derby Invitational S. last month will reconvene along with some interesting new shooters in Saturday's GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. at Big Sandy, a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Turf. Narrowly victorious at the Spa was Klaravich Stables' Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), given slight morning-line favoritism here at 5-2. Bought for 300,000 guineas at Tattersalls October in 2018, the gelding graduated on debut at even-money Feb. 12 at Tampa and repeated with...

After a devastating 2019 fire at Louis and Grace Merryman's Anchor and Hope Farm in Port Deposit, Maryland, the rebuilding process has come full circle with the arrival of Force the Pass, a Grade I-winning son of Speightstown, who will begin his first season at stud at the farm this year. Force the Pass also marks a new beginning for T. K. Kuegler's Wasabi Ventures Stallions as the first stallion to stand for the growing syndicate. Kuegler grew up listening to racing stories from his great grandfather, trainer P. J....