Belmont Park

As live racing cancellations continued to mount Wednesday in light of unhealthy air quality due to residual smoke from Canadian wildfires, training will be prohibited Thursday morning at both Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Wednesday evening. This is particularly impactful as Belmont's three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is scheduled to kick off Thursday afternoon. A decision regarding Thursday's live racing program at Belmont, which has a first post of 3:05 p.m. and will feature the GII Wonder Again S. for 3-year-old fillies...

ELMONT, NY - A pair of stakes races, led by the featured GII Wonder Again S. for 3-year-old fillies on grass, will raise the curtain on the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Thursday afternoon. Repole Stable's Spansive (Karakontie {Jpn}) will put her perfect two-for-two record on the line for Todd Pletcher while making her stakes debut in the eight-deep Wonder Again. Trainer Chad Brown will have three chances for his fifth Wonder Again win. He will saddle 5-2 morning-line favorite Revalita (Fr) (Recoletos {Fr}), a rallying second in the GII...

ELMONT, NY -- Last year's champion 2-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), scratched on the morning of the GI Kentucky Derby with an untimely foot bruise, was tabbed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the 155th running of the GI Belmont Stakes at Tuesday's post-position draw held in the Triple Crown Lounge at Belmont Park. The Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable colorbearer, last seen defeating subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in dramatic fashion in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 1, will exit from post...

On Thursday, Jun. 8, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) CEO Lisa Lazarus and Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) Executive Director Ben Mosier will host a media roundtable at Belmont Park to discuss the ongoing implementation of HISA's Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Programs. The G1 Belmont Stakes will be the first Triple Crown race run under HISA's ADMC Program, which took effect on May 22. The round table discussion will take place in the Belmont Room located on the second floor of the clubhouse...

Robert LaPenta, e Five Thoroughbred Racing and Madaket Stables' Kalik (Collected) took control of Saturday's GII Pennine Ridge S. in the first sixteenth of a mile, was beautifully rated from the front by Irad Ortiz, Jr. and had enough in the tank to hold off 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) and Godolphin's Silver Knott (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the stepping-stone to the GI Belmont Derby in five weeks' time. In so doing, he was becoming the second graded stakes winner in the space of 15 days...

Dr. Schivel (Violence) breezed three-quarters of a mile in 1:13 flat at Santa Anita Saturday morning after which connections confirmed that the 5-year-old will make his next start in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park next Saturday. The multiple Grade I winner, third in the 2022 G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, returned from a near 14-month absence with a sharp allowance victory in Arcadia May 13. He was also under consideration for next Saturday's GII True North S. in New York. "We think both races are very...

Lucky Seven Stable's Rattle N Roll (Connect), winner of this term's GIII Ben Ali S. Apr. 22 and GIII Pimlico Special S. May 19, is the horse to beat returning on short notice in Saturday's GIII Blame S., the featured race on "Stephen Foster Preview Day" at Churchill Downs. The $1-million GI Stephen Foster will now be held four weeks later at Ellis Park. The Ken McPeek-trained 2021 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner will face seven rivals from his rail draw, including the re-opposing Ben Ali second and third-place finishers...

1st-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 6-2, 2yo, f, 5f, :59.73, ft, 1/2 length. STATUS SEEKER (f, 2, Upstart--Casual Cocktail, by Magna Graduate) breezed a furlong in :10.1/5 ahead of this year's OBS March sale and was put into training with Rudy Rodriguez, who also retains an ownership interest. Off as the 4-1 third choice here, Status Seeker lost a couple of spots from second up the backstretch, began to rally around the far turn and with good energy down the lane, ran down Permed (Street Boss) to break her maiden at first-asking...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, 2022, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Santa Anita Date: 05/26/2023 Licensee: Armando Aguilar, apprentice...

The catalogue for the second annual New York-Bred Horses of Racing Age Sale hosted by the digital auction company Wanamakers, in conjunction with New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc., is now available online at wanamakers.com. Bidding will open June 8 at 8 a.m. ET, with the first listing set to close at 5 p.m. Subsequent listings will close in three-minute increments. Highlights of the catalog include: Cinderella's Cause (Congrats), a 5-year-old racing/broodmare prospect who most recently won a first-level, state-bred allowance at Belmont Park and is entered to run June 1;...

Richard E. Dutrow, Jr., was approved for a training license by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC)'s license review committee Tuesday. The voice vote was unanimous and without drama, and Dutrow's license goes into effect immediately. Dutrow in February had regained his license to train horses in New York after sitting out a 10-year revocation imposed by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC). The 63-year-old GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer with the long and controversial history of racing infractions has a 1-1-1 record from six starts at Belmont Park since...

In the wake of the tragic deaths of 12 horses at Churchill Downs, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has called for an emergency summit. This presents both a moment of leadership for HISA and an important test for the independent directors of the Churchill Downs Corporation to protect shareholder interests and ensure the survival of the entire horse racing industry. They must step up and meet the moment or step down. This can be achieved by ending dirt racing in America and transitioning to synthetic surfaces. These heartbreaking...