Belmont Park

ELMONT, N.Y.--Linda Rice is as meticulous as they come in preparing her horses. The conditioner knows every detail about each and every horse in her care and maps out very specific plans for them. But, as organized as Rice is, she is equally as adaptable, as every horse trainer must be, and those qualities have served her well as she prepares Max Player (Honor Code) for a step up to the big leagues in an unconventional edition of the GI Belmont S. Saturday. Max Player's unique journey to the top...

ELMONT, NY - After winning a contest in the New York Daily News back in 1979, John Imbriale got his first taste of the announcer's booth and press office at the New York Racing Association, and has been part of the fabric at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga ever since. A jack of all trades, Imbriale served as a backup to the legendary racecaller Tom Durkin beginning in 1990 and has held several behind-the-scenes roles with NYRA TV throughout the years as well. Appointed to the position of head announcer in...

A Pick 5 wager spanning Friday and Saturday and culminating with the running of the GI Belmont S., will be offered by the New York Racing Association. The sequence will be a $1 base minimum and will feature a low takeout of 15% and a mandatory payout. The Pick 5 will kick off with Friday's seventh race at Belmont, a seven-furlong optional-claiming event on the turf for older fillies and mares, with post time at 4:32 p.m. ET. The race has drawn a field of 11, with one main-track-only entrant....

Even back when Tap It to Win (Tapit) lost the GI Clairborne Breeders' Futurity by 43 1/2 lengths and the Street Sense S. by 21 1/4 lengths, Mark Casse was telling owner Charlotte Weber and anyone else who would listen that the horse was special. On Saturday, the trainer could be proven right. After some twists and turns in his 2-year-old year, Tap It to Win has won his only two starts this year and doesn't look to be in over his head in Saturday's GI Belmont S., this year's...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency WELL-RELATED FILLY DEBUTS IN 'EMPIRE' STATE 1st-BEL, $64K, Msw, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:15p.m. Gainesway's LOVE ON THE RUN (Empire Maker) makes her career bow in this spot for Bill Mott. Hammering for $425,000 at KEENOV, the bay is a half-sister to two-time Grade I winner Belle Gallantey (After Market). Bass Stables' Thankful (American Pharoah) makes her second start and first on dirt here for trainer Todd Pletcher. She finished ninth on her May 14 debut on the grass at Gulfstream after brushing the gates and...

ELMONT, NY -- Led by imposing GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Tiz the Law (Constitution), a field of 10 has been drawn for Saturday's shortened 152nd renewal of the $1-million GI Belmont S. Tiz the Law, also an authoritative winner of last term's GI Champagne S. at Belmont Park, will break from post eight under regular rider Manny Franco in the first leg of the reshuffled Triple Crown going 1 1/8 miles. The 6-5 morning-line favorite is trained by Barclay Tagg for Sackatoga Stable. Tagg and Jack Knowlton's outfit, of...

Dean and Patti Reeves, fourth with Tax (Arch) in last year's GI Belmont S., will be represented in this year's race by Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}), who took the long route from Florida to New York Tuesday. "He's going by FedEx," Dean Reeves said while the gelding was en route Tuesday. "Whatever kind of package, I guess they can do it. He had to go to Memphis and had a layover there and he should get into New York around 8 p.m. [Co-owner and assistant trainer] Andie [Biancone] is already...

The Belmont Child Care Association (BCCA) is set to reopen its Belmont Park daycare center Anna House June 22 with strict new safety protocols in place. The childcare and early-childhood education facility designed for the families of backstretch workers, most of whom are based at Belmont Park, has been closed since Mar. 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers and staff at the facility are currently undergoing training on the new protocols, which will utilize the health guidance established by the New York State Department of Health, the U.S. Centers...

7th-Belmont, $64,000, Msw, 6-13, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:34.08, fm. COST BENEFIT (GB) (f, 3, Dansili {GB}--Forgotten Dreams {Ire}, by Olden Times {GB}) took the lion's share of the pari-mutuel action at 8-5 and got her nose down ahead of her Peter Brant-owned stable companion Dovima (Union Rags) to open her account at first asking. A bit keyed up in the preliminaries, Cost Benefit broke alertly and aggressively tugged Joel Rosario to the front through an opening quarter-mile in :23.02 and a half in :46.51. Still traveling strongly, but not overracing,...

Todd Pletcher-trained Quality Road colts Dr Post and Farmington Road worked in company Saturday over the Belmont main track as they eye the GI Belmont S. in one week's time. With Oaklawn S. runner-up and GI Arkansas Derby (Nadal {Blame}'s division) fourth finisher Farmington Road broke off slightly in front of of his Unbridled S.-winning stablemate, and the pair finished together while covering four panels in :48.87 (9/37) before galloping out more or less in tandem (XBTV Video). "I was very pleased with the work," Pletcher said. "I was a...

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has released a variety of downloadable content to accompany next Saturday's GI Belmont S. Branded as Your Belmont Stakes, features include contender information, race-day activities and more. This year's Belmont will be contested without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "'Your Belmont Stakes' is a great way to get involved and follow the action on one of the best days of the year in American racing," said Don Scott, Vice President, Marketing at NYRA. "These interactive tools are our way of providing 'the next...

In these contentious times, at least the cavaliers of the turf seem to clinging to suitably knightly ethics. Last weekend, Honor A.P. (Honor Code) and Code Of Honor (Noble Mission) made a righteous stand on either coast; and Saturday's main event, the GI Ogden Phipps S., now adds Point Of Honor (Curlin) to this overflow of rectitude. In her case, however, the duplication of honors would primarily encompass trainer George Weaver, whose success with Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Carter H. at Belmont last weekend was his first at...