Belmont S.

At 46, Luca Panici is far too deep into his career for anyone to talk sensibly of breakthroughs. But if it is unusual to find the second favorite for a Classic ridden by a jockey who has otherwise partnered a single graded stakes winner, then let nobody be deceived. Luca Panici was born and raised for days like Saturday, and his horsemanship and character are absolutely commensurate with the opportunity awaiting him on Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the GI Belmont S. The one pity, of course, is that this...

A Pick 5 wager spanning Friday and Saturday and culminating with the running of the GI Belmont S., will be offered by the New York Racing Association. The sequence will be a $1 base minimum and will feature a low takeout of 15% and a mandatory payout. The Pick 5 will kick off with Friday's seventh race at Belmont, a seven-furlong optional-claiming event on the turf for older fillies and mares, with post time at 4:32 p.m. ET. The race has drawn a field of 11, with one main-track-only entrant....

Commissioner (A.P. Indy--Flaming Heart, by Touch Gold), the sire of 22 winners from his first crop including the Grade III-winning Island Commish, has been acquired by HRH Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud for his new farm in Saudi Arabia. The deal was brokered by Andrew Cary of Cary Bloodstock in Lexington. Bred and raced by WinStar Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher, Commissioner-a member of the final crop for his legendary sire-was beaten four lengths into second by Tonalist (Tapit) in the 2014 GII Peter Pan S....

Sent off as the 12-5 second choice to his slightly more accomplished stable companion Ete Indien (Summer Front), Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) was dropped out the back early by Luca Panici, but came with a flying finish in the final furlong to defeat longshot Jesus' Team (Tapiture) by 3/4 of a length in what could be a prep for the GI Belmont S. in New York in 10 days' time. Drawn widest in a field scratched down to six, Sole Volante flopped out of the gates and was content to...

So that's why they had to split the GI Arkansas Derby. One division apiece for Kipling's "twin imposters,"--Triumph and Disaster. Though we've all felt otherwise, from time to time, Lady Luck is as proportionate as she is indiscriminate in her dealings with Thoroughbreds. If Bob Baffert is better placed to absorb the loss of a servant as talented as Nadal (Blame), only a barn of such depth could have achieved the level of Triumph, in the first place, to have meanwhile registered a commensurate sequel of Disaster. It's not the...