Belmont

Champion 2-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) worked a half-mile in :51 flat Friday for trainer Todd Pletcher over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga in preparation for a start in the GI NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes July 20 at Monmouth Park. Joining the GI Curlin Florida Derby winner on the work tab Friday was Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables recent GII Suburban Stakes winner Crupi (Curlin), who covered a half-mile in :52.85 in company with Talk of the Nation (Quality Road). "Both works were...

Jockey agent Kiaran McLaughlin will add jockey John Velazquez to his roster, which already includes Luis Saez, McLaughlin announced Friday on X. . "It came about because Ron (Anderson) has three jockeys and he was only allowed two, so he reached out to me a few days ago and said would you be interested in Johnny," said McLaughlin, reached by the TDN Friday morning. "He said he thought we'd be a good match. After I talked to Luis, I said I said I'd be honored to take him." Saez has...

1st-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 6-7, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:22.56, ft, 1 3/4 lengths. ILLUMINARE (c, 3, City of Light--I Still Miss You {MSW, $276,737}, by Majestic Warrior) jumped as the 9-2 third choice and flashed early speed up front before yielding the lead to 27-1 shot Call Bob (Central Banker). Poised right off that rival's flank up the backstretch, the $500,000 Keeneland September grad made his move off the turn, striking the front at the furlong marker and holding a steady advantage to the line to finish 1 3/4 lengths ahead of...

Almostgone Rocket (Into Mischief) made good on a promise of 1-2, leading home a 'TDN Rising Star' exacta as a much-the-best winner of Thursday's Jersey Girl S. at Saratoga. A $250,000 Keeneland September purchase, Almostgone Rocket decimated a field of Oaklawn maidens by nearly a dozen lengths on debut Apr. 5 to become a 'TDN Rising Star', but instead of going for a race like the GII Eight Belles S., for which she would have been well-fancied, opted for a first-level Churchill allowance May 3, and she duly obliged by...

The wagering public had their money on a son of Nyquist, it just happened to be the wrong one. The "other Nyquist", 13-1 longshot Studlydoright, kept his perfect record intact and picked up his first stakes win Thursday taking the Tremont S. on the opening day of the Belmont at Saratoga Racing Festival. A come-from-behind winner in the slop at first asking at Laurel Park, the Maryland-bred Studydoright added an extra furlong of distance Thursday and was one of only three runners in the 8-horse field with any prior experience....

1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 12:20 p.m. The second day of the Belmont at Saratoga festival continues with a strong opening race featuring China Horse Club homebred TRULLI WARRIOR (Curlin). Dam Alberobello, who CHC purchased as a yearling for $475,000, is related to a trio of 'TDN Rising Stars' in half-sisters MGSW/GISP Jojo Warrior (Pioneerof the Nile) and MSW/GSP J Z Warrior (Harlan's Holiday) along with full-sister GISW A Z Warrior. The 'Rising Star'-quality continues through the family with Jojo Warrior's son Under Oath (Speightstown) and A Z Warrior's daughter...

It was a first-of-its-kind TDN Writers' Room this week as the crew gathered to discuss the first GI Belmont S. to run at Saratoga Race Course. To get started on their handicapping ahead of a jam-packed weekend of racing at the Spa, the team brought in Green Group Guest of the Week Richard Migliore, an on-air racing analyst for NYRA who will be part of the FOX Sports coverage of the Belmont on Saturday. Calling into the show--which is presented by Keeneland--from the famed picnic tables of Saratoga, Migliore said...

Richard Migliore, a retired jockey and now a racing analyst for NYRA and Fox Sports, joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss a jam-packed card for Belmont Stakes weekend.

Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) will celebrate 'A.P. Indy Week' in the lead up to Saturday's GI Belmont S. Announced via release Monday, HRRN noted that 'A.P. Indy Week' will run Monday, June 3 through Saturday, June 8 and feature tributes to the 1992 Belmont winner and late Lanes End stallion. Listeners will also hear replays of some of his biggest wins and interviews with some of his connections looking back on his racing career. A Keeneland September Sale topper at $2.9m, A.P. Indy (Seattle Slew) was consigned by Lanes...

The Todd Pletcher-trained trio of Fierceness (City of Light), Antiquarian (Preservationist) and Mindframe (Constitution) all visited the track Friday morning in preparation for upcoming starts in the GI Belmont S. held at Saratoga. 'TDN Rising Star' and Champion 2-year-old Male Fierceness marked his first work since finishing off the board as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby earlier this month. Working in company with stablemate Mindframe, the pair covered a half-mile in :50 flat over the Oklahoma training track, galloping out in 1:02 2/5, 1:14 3/5 and 1:28 2/5....

In terms of positive momentum, the best result in the aftermath of every year's GI Preakness S. is for the GI Kentucky Derby winner to triumph again in Baltimore, setting up a potential Triple Crown bid that infuses the sport with a three-week burst of buoyancy leading up to the GI Belmont S. In the majority of years that doesn't happen, which is why the elusive Triple Crown is so special. So the next-best result is an exciting race with a compelling storyline. Saturday's 149th Preakness didn't quite deliver on...

GI Kentucky Derby winner and GI Preakness S. runner up Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will ship to Saratoga but trainer Kenny McPeek has yet to make a decision on whether the colt will contest the third leg of the Triple Crown, the GI Belmont S. "It's impossible to be disappointed about being involved with these kind of races and be competitive," McPeek told assembled media at Pimlico Sunday morning. "One, they are hard races to get into, but to be competitive in them is a big deal. You just do your...