Belmont

GI Preakness Stakes winner War of Will (War Front) will relocate from Claiborne Farm to New York's Rockridge Stud for 2026, the farm announced Sunday. "We are honored to have this opportunity with Gary [Barber] on another stallion and thrilled to have Claiborne dipping a toe into the NY market," said President of Rockridge Lere Visagie. Barber added, "I am very much looking forward to supporting War of Will in the lucrative New York breeding program. With the new Belmont facility coming online with three surfaces, I know War of...

Sunday's live racing at Aqueduct has been called off ahead of a coastal storm due to impact the area, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) said Saturday. The day's featured race, the Carle Place Stakes, will be brought back one week later, Oct. 19 with entries to be taken Wednesday, Oct. 15. The National Weather Service has placed New York City and surrounding areas under a wind advisory beginning Sunday at noon, with current NWS forecasts calling for sustained winds of 25-35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph....

'TDN Rising Star' Gulfport (Uncle Mo--Fame and Fortune, by Unbridled's Song) will join the Pleasant Acres Stallions roster ahead of the 2026 breeding season, the farm announced. The 5-year-old earned his 'Rising Star' with a debut win at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old and followed that up with a next-out victory in the Bashford Manor Stakes. He then ran second in the both the GII Saratoga Special Stakes and the GI Hopeful Stakes before capping his juvenile campaign with a third in the GI Champagne Stakes at Belmont. Raced only...

The state of New York will implement penny breakage, a horseplayer-friendly measure that will result in all wagers placed on NYRA races being paid to the penny instead of the tiered breakage model that was previously in effect under New York Law, NYRA announced Thursday. The new breakage will be in effect for Saratoga's closing day. Beginning Monday, September 1, New York will join Washington and Kentucky as the only racing jurisdictions in the country to eliminate breakage on races hosted within their state. "This is a common-sense reform that...

Secretariat's jockey, Ron Turcotte, passed away Friday at the age of 84. The news was confirmed by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in a statement reading: "Ron was a legendary rider and also an inspiration for all he achieved and overcame during his incredible life. Although best known for sweeping the Triple Crown with Secretariat--culminating with a 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes--Turcotte's Hall of Fame career spanned 18 years and more than 3,000 wins. As an ambassador for both the sport and the legacy of...

Ninety-five years ago, a horse named Jim Dandy upset Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox at odds of 100-1 in the GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Saturday, with the traditional Travers prep race now named in honor of that monumental beating, the team behind GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) reminded everyone why their colt is the top of the class, avoiding any drama to take the GII Jim Dandy Stakes. Not that there was ever any doubt. With GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) 3,000...

Aron Wellman, who heads the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners syndicate which is a co-owner of GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin), said his colt will run next in the July 19 GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. "If all goes well this coming weekend and he works to (trainer) Michael McCarthy's satisfaction and comes out of his work with good energy, the Haskell is Option A," Wellman said. "What are options B and C? I haven't thought beyond that. The Haskell is our target. If we find any reason for him...

David O'Rourke, the NYRA President and CEO, discusses the organization's successful Belmont weekend, the Belmont returning to Saratoga next year, and Belmont's hosting of the 2027 Breeders' Cup.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--As soon as Sovereignty (Into Mischief) crossed the finish line first in the GI Kentucky Derby, life changed for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. When you have the horse that wins the most famous race in America, the barn has a superstar in it. "The Derby winner is always held in high regard," Mott said outside of his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. "There are always a lot of people who want to see him. They want to see him train, the want to see him...

GI Kentucky Derby third Baeza (McKinzie) arrived at Saratoga Race Course Thursday evening to prepare for his upcoming start in next weekend's GI Belmont Stakes. Trained by John Shirreffs, the half-brother to both Dornoch (Good Magic) and Mage (Good Magic) arrived at 8:45 p.m. from California along with the Doug O'Neill-trained Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief), who will likely enter the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap. "He looks pretty bright coming off the van," said Shirreffs on Thursday evening. Of the colt's Derby effort, Shirreffs added: "I thought he ran...

Racecaller Frank Mirahmadi is counting down the days until this year's Belmont at Saratoga. He joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss the upcoming Classic event and share his fondest racing memories.

It is a prerogative of journalism--on the basis that most people won't read what you write, and that those that do will remember only what you get wrong--that you're allowed to repeat yourself. But fear not, I won't be returning to last week's soapbox other than to offer a vote of thanks to Mike McCarthy and his patrons for their willingness to explore whether a modern Thoroughbred is actually more resilient than the timid horsemen of our time generally allow us to see. It would be nice if they could...