ELMONT, N.Y. - Kentucky-based trainer Billy Gowan, who will saddle Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin in the Belmont Stakes, is still getting re-acclimated to New York after a long absence.
“I kind of miss my home food down there in the South a little bit,” said the trainer, who earlier had joked that he couldn’t find a good order of grits near the Belmont backstretch.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey were riding California Chrome, he knows the tactics he would use with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner from post No. 2.
“If it were me, it would just strengthen my resolve that I need to just go ahead and do what he does best – use his speed,” said Bailey, a two-time Belmont-winning jockey.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Six years ago, the last time a Triple Crown was on the line in the Belmont Stakes, the “fan experience,” as it is fashionably termed, could have been a whole lot better – and that had little to do with Big Brown failing to finish the Belmont as a huge favorite.
The day not only was hot and muggy, but the plumbing malfunctioned, and water pressure was virtually nonexistent, with the problem ultimately blamed on a sewage system improperly maintained. For many fans, those memories of 2008 remain not so pleasant.
ELMONT, N.Y. - In what he believes is a first for him, trainer Todd Pletcher will have runners in all 13 races carded Saturday, having entered 18 in total. Eastwood, entered in a second-level allowance race, was expected to run in Friday’s Grade 2 True North instead, but Pletcher would still have a runner in that race with Celebrator.
“I don’t think we’ve ever done that,” Pletcher said of having a starter in every race. “There’s been a time or two at Gulfstream where we were close. I figured it could happen when the condition book came out.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Owner Jessie Ladouceur said Woodbine Oaks favorite Paladin Bay came out of her quick 59.80-second, five-furlong breeze Monday in fine fettle and is scheduled to have her final drill before the June 15 Oaks on Sunday. Paladin Bay upset the heavily favored My Conquestadory here May 18 in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes after a hard-fought stretch battle with that imposing Grade 1 winner.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Belmont Park is offering several multirace pool guarantees Saturday, starting with a $500,000 guarantee on the opening 50-cent pick five, which starts with the first of 13 races at 11:35 a.m. Eastern.
The other guarantees are $1 million for the $2 pick six (races 6-11) and $1.5 million for the second of three pick fours (races 8-11). Both end with the Belmont Stakes.
ELMONT, N.Y. - In his “day job” as senior director of communications and media services at Churchill Downs, Darren Rogers is the caretaker of some fairly coveted stuff: media passes for the Kentucky Derby.
But Rogers happily accepted a temporary role this week in guarding something far more valuable: the Triple Crown trophy that normally is housed at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Ky.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Wicked Strong and Social Inclusion both schooled in the starting gate Wednesday, but the results were markedly different.
Wicked Strong, the Wood Memorial winner who was made the second choice for Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, walked in and stood quietly twice on the training track. Wicked Strong misbehaved near the gate before the Holy Bull in Florida and was a bit anxious during the post parade in the Kentucky Derby.
AUBURN, Wash. – If there were an official “horses to watch” list at Emerald Downs, Trackattacker would share top billing with Stopshoppingdebbie, the undefeated 4-year-old filly who will put her 6-for-6 record on the line Sunday in the $50,000 Washington State Legislators Stakes.
Trackattacker’s next start is unknown. It could come in the $50,000 Emerald Express on July 20, the meeting’s first stakes race for 2-year-olds. But folks at Emerald are still buzzing about Trackattacker’s first outing last Sunday, in which he broke the long-standing track record for 4 1/2 furlongs.
ELMONT, N.Y. – The Belmont Stakes clocker report, like just about everything else around these parts the last couple of weeks, is first and foremost the California Chrome watch. All eyes have been on the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner since his arrival from Baltimore, his every move under close scrutiny, especially those he makes once he takes to the racetrack each morning between 6 and 6:30.
