Belmont Park

Irad Ortiz, Jr., the leading rider at the current Belmont spring/summer meet, will be out of action for about two weeks after being unseated in Thursday's fifth race, agent Steve Rushing said. The 28-year-old, who has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey for the past three years running, was transported to hospital for further evaluation and cleared. "A CT scan and X-rays were negative," said Rushing. "He will probably be out for two weeks." Ortiz was named to ride Known Agenda (Curlin) in Saturday's GI Belmont S. Trainer Todd...

ELMONT, NY -- What a difference a year makes. Back in its traditional spot on the calendar and 1 1/2-mile distance after the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world-and Triple Crown-completely upside down in 2020, Saturday's GI Belmont S. will feature a showdown between last year's champion 2-year-old colt Essential Quality (Tapit) and GI Preakness S. upsetter Rombauer (Twirling Candy). The Godolphin homebred was unstoppable in his first five career starts, headed by a win in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Sent off as the 5-2 favorite in the GI...

Peter Callahan's Eclipse Award winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), the joint second choice on the morning line for Saturday's $500,000 GI Ogden Phipps S. at Belmont Park, will be scratched from the race after spiking a fever. "Unfortunately Swiss Skydiver had a 104 fever this morning. We are a scratch," trainer Ken McPeek tweeted early Friday. "We've treated her to knock down the fever and will regroup later in the season." Last year's GI Preakness S. upsetter returned from her winter's rest to romp by 2 3/4 lengths in the GI...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 11:35 a.m. Juvenile colts kick off the festivities on GI Belmont S. day. Trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle three for the big one, and two members of the next generation in here. Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Gainesway Stable's Wit (Practical Joke) was a $575,000 Keeneland September buy. He is a half brother to the talented Washington-based GSW Barkley (Munnings). Wit's stablemate Keepcalmcarryon (Union Rags) cost $75,000 at the same auction. His dam Lavender Chrissie (Scat Daddy) was...

A field of eight is set to go postward in the GII Belmont Gold Cup at Belmont Park Friday, with only Conviction Trade (Exchange Rate) ever having attempted the marathon two-mile distance. The 5-year-old set the pace before settling for second in the H Allen Jerkens S. at Gulfstream Park last December. Again on the front end early, he tired to third in the 1 1/2-mile John B. Connally Turf Cup S. at Sam Houston Jan. 31. Eighth in the Mar. 20 GII Muniz Memorial Classic S. at Fair Grounds...

Lane's End Racing and Hronis Racing's Flagstaff (Speightstown), fresh off a dramatic first Grade I victory in the May 1 Churchill Downs S., will be aiming for a third straight win when he goes postward in the GII True North S. at Belmont Park Friday. The 7-year-old gelding won the GIII Commonwealth S. at Keeneland Apr. 3 before outbattling Lexitonian (Speightstown) and Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) in a blanket finish in the Churchill Downs. He is cutting back from seven furlongs to 6 1/2 furlongs for the True North. "It was...

Alex Campbell's Mean Mary (Scat Daddy), who dominated last year's GII New York S. by a front-running 5 1/4 lengths, faces 10 rivals as she seeks to defend her title in the 1 1/4-mile race at Belmont Park Friday. The 5-year-old mare was beaten just a neck when second to Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) in the GI Diana S. at Saratoga last summer and vied for the lead before tiring to seventh in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf. She went wire-to-wire to win the GIII Gallorette...

Japan's France Go de Ina (Will Take Charge) put in his final breeze for Saturday's GI Belmont S. Wednesday, going five furlongs over Big Sandy in 1:02.62 (5/9). Under exercise rider Masaki Takano, he hit the track, clocking splits of :13.12, :25.78 and :49.23. Trainer Hideyuki Mori was on site to watch his charge, who was last seen finishing seventh in the GI Preakness S. "He moved really well. We were really happy with the work this morning," Mori said through translator Kate Hunter. "The extra time between this race...

Godolphin's Essential Quality (Tapit) will break from post two and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite when post positions were drawn Tuesday morning for Saturday's GI Belmont S. The Brad Cox trainee suffered the first loss of his career when fourth in the GI Kentucky Derby, but had previously been undefeated in five starts and was named last year's champion 2-year-old male. "He ran what I thought was a winning race in the Derby; he didn't have the trip, but he showed up and he's been improving in every...

Godolphin's Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of the G2 UAE Derby in March, will be forced to miss Saturday's GI Belmont S. due to an infection in a hind leg, according to a tweet from Godolphin Tuesday morning. "We hope this is only a minor setback and we look forward to seeing him back on the racecourse in the near future," the tweet read. With his UAE Derby victory, Rebel's Romance had qualified into the field for the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, but connections decided to bypass that...

Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith, and Spendthrift Farm's Keepmeinmind (Laoban), who worked a half-mile in :46.92 (1/6) over a sloppy Belmont dirt training track Monday, will skip Saturday's GI Belmont S. and could make his next start over the turf in the July 10 GI Belmont Derby. "He worked great this morning, but thinking about it some more, I think he needs a little more time," trainer Robertino Diodoro said. "We were always 50-50 for the race, but I think as soon as we arrived at Belmont people got the...

Sainthood, 11th last time in the GI Kentucky Derby, became the first black-type and graded stakes winner for his sire (by Medaglia d'Oro) with a resilient victory in this off-turf prep for the GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. Beaten a head dirt sprinting at Gulfstream Jan. 9, the dark bay scored by a nose around two turns on the Fair Grounds main track Feb. 13. He earned a spot into the Derby starting gate with a runner-up finish in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks over Turfway Tapeta Mar. 27, and...