ELMONT, N.Y. – Blended Citizen has taken a circuitous route to the Belmont Stakes that includes three starts on turf, two on synthetic tracks, and being stranded on the also-eligible list for the Kentucky Derby.
His trainer, Doug O’Neill, who will be saddling his first Belmont Stakes starter, has taken an even more unusual path to the race.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Several horses entered for stakes races at Belmont Park on Friday were re-entered for stakes on Saturday, including Limousine Liberal, who is expected to try a mile for the first time in his career in the Grade 1, $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Lucullan will miss an intended start Saturday in the Grade 1 Manhattan on the Belmont Stakes undercard and likely the rest of the summer after coming out of a breeze last week with an undisclosed injury.
Lucullan worked June 1 at the Greentree training track at Saratoga in what was supposed to be his final Manhattan breeze, but instead has been sent to Kentucky for further evaluation.
“We were planning on running, but we had to send him home for a break,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “The timing is really bad.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Not the mile and a half, not the pressure of the Belmont Stakes. No, for jockeys who have swept the Triple Crown, the waiting for that final leg is the hardest part.
“You count down the days, the hours, the minutes,” Victor Espinoza, who was aboard American Pharoah in 2015, said on a national teleconference earlier this week.
“After the Preakness, those were the longest three weeks of my riding career,” said Steve Cauthen, who piloted Affirmed in 1978.
SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Mike and Mickala Sisk have made significant inroads in racing since getting into the sport in November 2016. The couple, which competes as M and M Racing, won the Oaklawn Park owners title in April, and through Monday ranked among the leading stables at the Belmont Park spring meet.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Four measly starts.
That’s the entire racing career for both Hofburg and Tenfold, two Belmont Stakes starters with many supporters who believe one of them might derail Justify’s bid to become America’s 13th Triple Crown winner.
One would think the marathon 1 1/2-mile Belmont rewards experience, seasoning, an extensive racing history. It doesn’t.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Finley’sluckycharm, the standout sprinter who was not entered in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses on Friday at Belmont Park, is being considered for the $75,000 Roxelana on June 23 at Churchill.
“It’ll probably either be that or just wait for the Honorable Miss” on July 25 at Saratoga, said trainer Bret Calhoun. “The mare’s doing very well. All we’re doing is working backward from the Breeders’ Cup” Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3 at Churchill.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Friday’s 11-race card will kick off with a $100,000 allowance race on the turf that features the return to the races of Grade 1 winner Almanaar.
Almanaar hasn’t run since he won the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf in February 2017, beating Beach Patrol.
“That horse had an injury, it took a long time to rehab him,” trainer Chad Brown said. “The team at Shadwell did an outstanding job and sent this horse back in really good condition. Knock on wood, he stays sound. I’m excited about the possibilities for this horse this year if he stays healthy.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Though Rushing Fall returned to the work tab Sunday morning at Belmont Park, she is no longer under consideration for the Group 1 Coronation Stakes on June 22 at Royal Ascot, trainer Chad Brown said.
Brown said he is considering just training Rushing Fall up to the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 7.
“I feel like she’s not up to making that trip right now, I need some more time with her,” Brown said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fresh off a career-best effort that equated to an eye-popping 110 Beyer Speed Figure, Chief Cicatriz could run once more at Churchill Downs before the spring meet ends.
Chief Cicatriz wowed a Downs After Dark crowd of 17,068 by posting his first graded stakes victory Saturday night in the Grade 3 Aristides, winning off by 6 1/4 lengths in 1:08.44 for owner-breeder Roy Gene Evans and trainer Shawn Davis.
