Belmont Park

Baffert Will Point to Oaks with Gamine, Doesn't Rule Out Preakness

Coming off one of the most talked about performances of the year, Gamine (Into Mischief) is headed back to the barn of Bob Baffert, who will wait a few weeks before deciding what's next for the 3-year-old filly. Nothing could have overshadowed the win in the GI Belmont S. by Tiz the Law (Constitution), but Gamine came close in the GI Acorn S. With John Velazquez aboard, she won by 18 3/4 lengths and her time for the mile, 1:32.55, shattered the stakes record (video). Her effort earned a 110...

[ Read More ]
Into Mischief Colt Runs to the Money for Ward

2nd-Belmont, $59,520, Msw, 6-21, 2yo, 5f, :57.86, ft. RODERICK (c, 2, Into Mischief--Cayala, by Cherokee Run), pounded down to 2-5 while facing just three foes after his chief market rival scratched in the paddock, dueled and drew off to prove much the best Sunday at Big Sandy. Having recorded breezes over the Palm Meadows turf, Gulfstream Park West dirt and Keeneland main track, the Wesley Ward pupil was out-footed slightly by rail-drawn Berhanu (The Factor) but sidled up to that foe entering the bend as they posted an opening quarter...

[ Read More ]
No Need for an Asterisk, Tiz is Super

Tiz the Law (Constitution) won the GI Belmont S. Saturday, dominating nine rivals who were outclassed by the best 3-year-old colt in North America. Let the debate begin. What, exactly, is Tiz the Law's place in racing history and should he win the Triple Crown, does he belong in the same sentence as Secretariat, Citation, Seattle Slew and the other 10 immortals? Some will say no. Their point is that he won the first third of a Triple Crown that is unlike anything anyone has ever seen, starting with a...

[ Read More ]
Belmont Generates Over $67.7M in Handle

Saturday's 12-race GI Belmont S. day card, featuring six graded stakes, generated all-sources handle of $67,753,336. All-sources handle on the Belmont itself, carded as Race 10, was $34,088,475. The 2019 all-sources handle was $102,163,280, a NYRA record for a non-Triple Crown year. To align with required health and safety measures implemented in New York to mitigate risk and combat the spread of COVID-19, the Belmont card was held without spectators in attendance.

[ Read More ]
Decorated Invader Runs to the Money in Pennine Ridge

Decorated Invader (Declaration of War) was hammered down into heavy favoritism for the GII Pennine Ridge S. and ran to the money, charging through late for a dominant score. Handier than usual from third as Proven Strategies (Sky Mesa) set opening splits of :23.86 and :47.50, the bay saved ground all the way under a patient Joel Rosario. Spotting an opening on the fence approaching the bend, Rosario sent Decorated Invader through and the colt responded with a brave punch, pushing past the pacesetter and rolling clear to score. "I've...

[ Read More ]
Sunday's Racing Insights

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-BEL, $64K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:50 p.m. Wesley Ward has a pair of Keeneland-based juveniles entered in this spot. Breeze Easy's Roderick (Into Mischief) was a $550,000 KEESEP yearling and is a full-brother to two-turn GSW One Liner. He hails from the extended female family of highest-level winners Albertus Maximus, Daredevil and King Charlemagne. Roderick's stablemate Copley (Air Force Blue) is from a Ned Evans family that includes the likes of Grade I winners Swagger Jack and Malibu Prayer. Winfromwithin (Into Mischief), just a...

[ Read More ]
This Side Up: Inside-Out Classic Has Redemptive Potential

The last shall be first; and the longest, shortest. Insofar, that is, as we have a Triple Crown series at all. This year, to many, the GI Belmont S. is just another mile-and-eighth GI Kentucky Derby prep, conveniently loaded with qualifying points. For those deigning to line up, however, an asterisk is a perfectly acceptable price for becoming a 152nd consecutive name in the annals of the oldest Classic, extending all the way back to Ruthless at Jerome Park. The modern ruthless can perhaps be found at Churchill Downs instead--albeit...

[ Read More ]
To Hell and Back: Belmont Marks a Deserved Triumph for New York City

The history of Belmont Park, believe it or not, goes back over 350 years, to when America itself wasn't even an idea yet. In 1665, New York's colonial governor Richard Nicholl constructed a racetrack called Newmarket in Queens. It stood for over a century, and proved so popular that even after the British were expelled in 1783, a thirst for horse racing lived on in the hearts of newly independent New Yorkers. Union Course sprouted up in 1821 and became the country's leading track. After that came Brighton Beach Race...

[ Read More ]
Brisnet.com Triple Crown Throwdown: Belmont Stakes

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Belmont, Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Highest bankroll at the end wins. DeRosa - Runhappy Santa Anita Derby Result - Honor A. P. got the money as the 2-1 second choice. Bankroll: $3215. GI Belmont S. - In retrospect, Tiz the Law paying around $5 in his last two starts...

[ Read More ]
Invader Wages War on Pennine Ridge

Grade I winner Decorate Invader (Declaration of War) looks to secure his second straight win of the season Satuday in Belmont's GII Pennine Ridge S. Following his second-out graduation at Saratoga in August with a win in Woodbine's GI Summer S. in September, the bay checked in fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita Nov. 1. He kicked off 2020 on a winning note, rallying from last to first in Gulfstream's one-mile Cutler Bay S. "Decorated Invader is doing great. He's had two very nice breezes...

[ Read More ]
Unbeatens Meet Grade I Winner in Acorn

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) will look to take her record to a perfect three-for-three while making her stakes debut in the GI Longines Acorn S. at Belmont Park Saturday. The highly regarded $1.8-million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale topper debuted with the easiest of victories as the 1-9 favorite sprinting at Santa Anita Mar. 7, then gamely held off the hard-knocking subsequent GII Santa Oaks runner-up Speech (Mr Speaker) by a neck in front-running fashion in her two-turn debut in an optional claimer at Oaklawn May 2. The...

[ Read More ]
Short, But Talented Field Set for Woody Stephens

The streaking Mischevious Alex (Into Mischief) will look for his fourth straight score, third at the graded level, versus four fellow sophomores in Saturday's GI Woody Stephens S. at Belmont Park. A jaw-dropping seven-length winner of Gulfstream's GIII Swale S. at this same seven-furlong distance, the speedy bay outslugged 10 rivals for a sharp decision in the GIII Gotham S. going a one-turn mile last time at the Big A Mar. 7. "I'd love to be running in the Belmont," trainer John Servis said. "But I wanted to run him...

[ Read More ]
X

Never miss another story from the TDN

Click Here to sign up for a free subscription.