Vekoma

One of the most welcome schedule changes imposed upon the racing calendar by the COVID-19 pandemic was the repositioning of the GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. to headline status on the July 4 holiday at Belmont Park. In 2014, the Met Mile got yanked off its decades-long anchor as the Memorial Day feature in New York, reassigned to a supporting role on GI Belmont S. Day. This move was part of the prevalent (but not always aesthetically pleasing) national practice of stacking graded stakes on big-race Saturdays. It never felt like...

Given a positive ride by Javier Castellano, R A Hill Stable and Gatsas Stable's Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) dared them to catch him in Saturday's GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. at Belmont, and catch him they could not, as the immaculately bred chestnut made every yard of the running to best perfect-trip Network Effect (Mark Valeski) by 1 1/4 lengths. Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) was forced to cover ground on the turn, but plugged on gamely to be third, while favored 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) had little...

A talented and deep field of eight will line up for Saturday's highly anticipated 127th renewal of the GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park. An unlucky second behind the mighty Mitole (Eskendereya) in last year's contest, 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) figures to vie for favoritism. He was first or second in all seven of his starts in 2019, led by a win in Saratoga's GI Whitney S. and a runner-up finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The four-time Grade I winner made up for a dismal...

We are increasingly familiar with the kind of traction even the most brazen untruth can achieve in the era of social media. I guess people either no longer believe in hell, or they've decided they're headed there anyway. But let's not kid ourselves that we were ever especially diligent in authenticating what we read in the Good Old Days of hot-metal print. How apt, for instance, that a highly pertinent observation long credited to Mark Twain--that "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting...

In these contentious times, at least the cavaliers of the turf seem to clinging to suitably knightly ethics. Last weekend, Honor A.P. (Honor Code) and Code Of Honor (Noble Mission) made a righteous stand on either coast; and Saturday's main event, the GI Ogden Phipps S., now adds Point Of Honor (Curlin) to this overflow of rectitude. In her case, however, the duplication of honors would primarily encompass trainer George Weaver, whose success with Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Carter H. at Belmont last weekend was his first at...

A number of conditioners were checking on their charges and plotting their next starts Sunday morning at Belmont following a strong card Saturday that included four graded stakes Last year's GI Runhappy Travers and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup hero Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) made a successful seasonal debut in the GIII Westchester S. and has Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey weighing either the GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. July 4 or waiting for the GI Whitney H. at Saratoga for the W.S. Farish homebred. "He seems to...

Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) made 8-5 look like a gift, as he paddled his way through the final furlong of the Belmont slop to post a dazzling 7 1/4-length victory in the GI Runhappy Carter H. and in the process, earning a fees-paid berth in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland Nov. 7. Drawn outside in a field scratched down to eight runners, Vekoma was one of the first away, but was happy to cede the early advantage to American Anthem (Bodemeister). Stalking that one through...

After Shug McGaughey saddles the likely favorite Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) in the GIII Westchester S. Saturday, he will send out on of the top choices in Belmont's GI Runhapppy Carter H. in the talented Performer (Speightstown). The Carter is typically run in April at Aqueduct, but was rescheduled and relocated due to the COVID-19 racing shutdown. It is a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Graduating at second asking going six panels at this oval last June, Performer followed suit with an...

The fact that he has only just broken into the six-figure club, at the age of 21, tells you how strong a curve Candy Ride (Arg) is taking into the evening of his career. His current sophomores, representing his 12th crop, were the first to be conceived at $60,000, up from $40,000 the previous year; while his yearlings were the first bred at $80,000, immediately following Gun Runner's Horse of the Year campaign. With his status as a sire of sires ever strengthening, moreover, Candy Ride must be counted one...