Belmont Stakes

Recent allowance winner Tap It to Win (Tapit) is now under consideration for the GI Belmont S. June 20, according to trainer Mark Casse. "I've always said, run them when they're good," Casse said. "We won the [GI] Breeders' Cup [Filly and Mare Sprint] with Shamrock Rose (First Dude) [off of two week's rest] and last year we spun Got Stormy (Get Stormy) back off of a week's rest to beat colts in a Grade I [Fourstardave at Saratoga]. Sixteen days will be enough time." A second-out graduate in August,...

With the GI Belmont S. postponed until June 20, NBC Sports presents a special show on NBC at 4 p.m., Saturday, June 6--the original date for the race--headlined by American Pharoah's historic victory in the 2015 Belmont. The two-hour special is entitled "Finally the One: American Pharoah's Run to the Triple Crown." NBCSN also presents TVG Trackside Live at 6 p.m., headlined by live coverage of the $400,000 GI Santa Anita Derby. TVG host and NBC Sports reporter Britney Eurton will provide commentary during the event. Live coverage will be...

King Guillermo (Uncle Mo), 'TDN Rising Star' Pneumatic (Uncle Mo) and two-time graded-stakes winning filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) are the marquee names among 22 3-year-olds that have been made eligible for the 2020 Triple Crown series at the late closing stage. The late additions to the three-race series, which this year begins with the GI Belmont S. June 20, take the total number of Triple Crown nominees to 369, pending late mail. Victoria's Ranch's King Guillermo entered the 3-year-old discussion with his 49-1 upset of Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) in...

After giving some thought to passing the race, trainer Bob Baffert said he is leaning toward starting Charlatan (Speightstown) in the GI Belmont S. June 20. Baffert had been considering running Charlatan the GI seven-furlong Woody Stephens S., also June 20, and Nadal (Blame) in the Belmont. But Nadal was injured last week and retired. "I was thinking about running Charlatan in the Woody Stephens and then the Haskell because I had Nadal for the Belmont. Now that has changed," he said. Charlatan is scheduled to breeze Monday morning. Baffert...

The deadline for late nominations to the rescheduled 2020 Triple Crown will be Wednesday, June 3. Owners and trainers can make 3-year-old Thoroughbreds eligible for the three-race series with a payment of $3,000. Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional order and dates for the Triple Crown were revised: the GI Belmont S. will be run first June 20 at 1 1/8 miles, followed by the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 and GI Preakness S. Oct. 3. A total of 347 horses were made eligible to the Triple Crown during...

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution), last-out winner of the GI Florida Derby, tuned up for the June 20 GI Belmont S. with a five-furlong work in :59.75 (1/5) at Palm Meadows Sunday. "He's doing fine. He had a nice work," said trainer Barclay Tagg. "I sent a little filly here ahead of him so he had something to look at, and he caught her going down the stretch. I'll probably breeze him here next Sunday before we head back to New York." Tiz the Law won last year's GI...

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, you can't always get what you want. But sometimes, you get what you need. That might end up being the case regarding the retooled GI Belmont S. announced last week by the New York Racing Association (NYRA). For its 2020 running, COVID-19 has transformed the $1.5-million, 12-furlong "Test of Champions" concluding leg of the Triple Crown into a one-turn, nine-furlong prep for the other two Classics with two-thirds its original purse. The revised Belmont S. will be run June 20 in a spectator-free Belmont Park...

GIII Wither S. hero Max Player (Honor Code) breezed six furlongs in 1:13.87 (1/2) Friday morning on the Belmont training track in preparation for the June 20 GI Belmont S. "He had a nice workout today. He went six furlongs in 1:13 4/5 on the training track and did it easily," said trainer Linda Rice. "We were happy with it. We'll give him two more workouts before the Belmont." A second-out graduate at Parx in December, the George Hall homebred came running late to take the nine-furlong Withers in February...

As the racing world mostly returned to order last week with the reopening of Santa Anita and Churchill and dates for two-thirds of the rescheduled Triple Crown being locked in, eyes turned to the New York Racing Association. Located in the epicenter of the world's coronavirus pandemic, NYRA hasn't run a race card since Mar. 15 at Aqueduct, and has remained in limbo like much of the state as the virus peaked, then slowly--painfully slowly--retreated. But with Governor Andrew Cuomo's proclamation that racing could resume in New York beginning June...

Belmont will reopen June 3 for a 25-day meet with a stakes schedule that includes a number of purse cuts and the cancellation of several stakes traditionally run in the spring at the NYRA tracks. Spectators will not be allowed to attend the races throughout the spring season at Belmont. Following the opening week, racing will be held Thursdays through Sundays with closing day scheduled for July 12. "The resumption of live racing at Belmont Park June 3, with all appropriate health and safety protocols in place, will support the...

What has traditionally been the final leg of the Triple Crown will now be the first. The GI Belmont Stakes will be run June 20 at the distance of a mile and an eighth, NYRA announced Tuesday. In a year where the coronavirus has caused tracks across the country to scramble and adjust their racing calendars and stakes schedules, the Triple Crown, in order, will now consist of the June 20 Belmont, the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 and the GI Preakness Oct. 3. "The Belmont Stakes is a New...

The GI Preakness S. will be run at Pimlico on Oct. 3, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced on NBC Saturday on what would have been Preakness Day under normal circumstances. The announcement confirmed a report from earlier in the week from WBAL, the NBC affiliate in Baltimore. With Churchill Downs having announced that the GI Kentucky Derby will be run Sept. 5, among the Triple Crown races, only the GI Belmont S. has yet to be scheduled. While NYRA officials have not made an official announcement regarding the timing of...