True North

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse wasn't going to lie. There is no joy in facing Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the clear leader of the 3-year-old division. But that doesn't mean Casse isn't chomping at the bit for another chance at the champ. That comes a week from Saturday when Casse's Sandman (Tapit) takes on the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner in Saratoga's $500,000 GII Jim Dandy. "I don't know if you ever look forward to facing Sovereignty," Casse said outside his barn on the...

Grade I winner Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) makes his first racetrack appearance of 2020 Saturday in Belmont's GII True North S. Victorious in the 2018 GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., the chestnut was fourth in a loaded renewal of the prestigious GI Met Mile last summer and romped in the track-and-trip GII John A. Nerud S. last July. Fading to sixth behind champion Mitole (Eskendereya) and the re-opposing Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior) in Saratoga's GI Forego S. Aug. 24, Promises Fulfilled was last seen finishing sixth when trying to defend...