Belmont Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Coming into this year's GI Belmont S., Dornoch (Good Magic) had the credentials to be a good one. As a full-brother to last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage, the pedigree was certainly there. His rider, Luis Saez, is one of the leading jocks in the country, having registered his first victory in a Classic with Essential Quality in the 2021 GI Belmont S. Not to mention that the colt had already won a pair of graded stakes--last season's GII Remsen S. in addition to the GII Fountain...
With entrants ranging from a $2.3-million sales-topping yearling to a homebred, the $2-million GI Belmont S. turns a new page in 2024 with its first running at Saratoga Race Course. Here we take a look at the origins of all 10 entrants in the Classic, including the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. winners. 1). Seize the Grey (Arrogate--Smart Shopping, by Smart Strike) Mill Ridge's Headley Bell purchased Shop Again, second dam of Seize the Grey, for $450,000 at the 2007 Keeneland November sale on behalf of Tolie Otto,...
Consignor Tom McCrocklin had already sold the sale-topping daughter of Tiz the Law at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring sale when he decided to purchase another daughter of the GI Belmont S. winner after watching her fail to meet her reserve at that same auction two months ago. The filly (hip 187) went a ways in proving it was a wise decision when she worked a quarter-mile in a bullet :20 2/5 during Wednesday's second session of the under-tack show for next week's OBS June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in...
One thing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was not going to do was fret over the post position assigned to Seize the Grey (Arrogate) for Saturday's GI Belmont S. at Saratoga Race Course. Seize the Grey got the rail for the 1 1/4-mile Belmont. It's a post most dread, but Lukas, who has won 15 Triple Crown races--including four Belmonts--isn't going to lose any sleep over it. "You have no control over it," Lukas said, sitting a few feet away from Seize the Grey's stall at his barn...
The New York Racing Association will be hosting a Belmont Stakes Watch Party just steps from the race's traditional home track on Long Island. The event will be held at Northwell Presents The Park at UBS Arena, a community space unveiled in December featuring two outdoor hockey rinks and a variety of amenities. Northwell Presents The Park at UBS Arena is located in the Belmont Park backyard adjacent to UBS Arena. The Belmont Stakes Watch Party will open at 1 p.m. and is free of charge, with complimentary parking available...
At 6:30 Sunday morning, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was spotted along the horse trail outside of the Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga Springs. He was aboard his pony, Bucky and his prized 3-year-old Seize the Grey (Arrogate) was right next to him. The GI Preakness S. winner is in town and getting ready for the GI Belmont S. Seize the Grey arrived in the Spa City early Saturday evening around 7 p.m. after a 15-hour van ride from Louisville. The trip didn't bother Seize the Grey one...
The span between Memorial Day and the third leg of the Triple Crown is often a quiet one in the racing world. Not this year, though. Here's a shaking-out of a reporter's notebook from a week that generated some unexpected headlines. Louisiana's move to more lenient medication rules: TDN's survey of seven trainers--Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox, Michael Stidham, Tom Amoss, Al Stall, Dallas Stewart, Cherie DeVaux--spoke volumes about the announcement by the Louisiana Racing Commission that it would be implementing "emergency" standards that softened a number of drug-regulating standards as...
by Tim Wilkin and Editorial Staff For the first time since before the GI Kentucky Derby, Mystik Dan (Goldencents), had a workout. And trainer Kenny McPeek is getting more and more confident that his colt, winner of the Derby and second in the GI Preakness, will be in the starting gate at Saratoga Race Course for the GI Belmont S. on June 8. Mystik Dan, with exercise rider Danny Ramsey aboard, went five furlongs in 1:01.59 (2/5) on the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday morning. He worked in company with Gould's...
Juddmonte homebred Batten Down (Tapit), a full-brother to multiple graded winner Tacitus, worked five furlongs in company in 1:01.09 (1/4) over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Monday, but trainer Bill Mott is still considering whether the sophomore will line up for the June 8 GI Belmont S. Batten Down, with jockey Junior Alvarado up, went on the outside of stablemate Arthur's Ride (Tapit) as NYRA clockers caught them through splits of :12.54, :24.80, :36.99 and through five-eighths in 1:01.99 before galloping out in 1:14.19 and 1:28.94. The pair stayed...
The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso), most recently seen finishing second in the May 11 GIII Peter Pan S., is being considered for either the 10-furlong GI Belmont S. or the seven-furlong GI Woody Stephens S., both at Saratoga June 8. "It depends on the trip, but I think he can get it [the distance]-- he's bred to get it and should be able to," David Staudacher, who co-owns the colt with Paradise Farms Corp., said regarding the 10-furlong Belmont distance. "I think he likes the track up there, so we'll...
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said GI Preakness S. winner Seize the Grey (Arrogate) will ship to Saratoga on Saturday, June 1 to prepare for the GI Belmont S. on June 8. "He came out of the Preakness remarkably well," Lukas said by phone from his base in Louisville, Ky. "Of all my [15 Triple Crown race winners], he might have come out of his race the best of any of them. He is doing damn good." Lukas said Seize the Grey will be the only horse from...
Last year's champion 3-year-old colt Arcangelo (Arrogate) captured the GIII Peter Pan S. before adding top-level victories in the GI Belmont S. and the GI Travers S. A scratched-down field of six is expected to line up for Saturday's renewal of the Peter Pan at Aqueduct, which serves as the local prep for the final leg of the Triple Crown, which will be held at Saratoga and run at 1 1/4 miles June 8. 'TDN Rising Star' Deterministic (Liam's Map), a fantastic winner of the one-turn mile GIII Gotham S....