Forte

Trainer Robert "Red" McKenzie doesn't get much ink south of the border here in the States, but he is a living legend on the western Canada racing circuit. With practically zero fanfare or notice, McKenzie added to his impressive list of lifetime accomplishments Friday night when he saddled Entitled Star (Roi Charmant), a 10-year-old mare he owns, to a 25-1 upset victory in a $4,000 claimer in the second race at Century Mile in Edmonton. The win was significant because McKenzie is 96 years old. The feat could very well...

The team around Arcangelo (Arrogate) was still basking in the glory of his GI Belmont S. victory Sunday morning, even as trainer Jena Antonucci admitted no future plans had been mapped out for the gray colt who was taking a power nap nearby. "There is zero idea," Antonucci said of a potential next start for Arcangelo. "We know what the calendar is and what's where, so we'll let him come out of this and tell us. [The Aug. 26 GI Travers] is on our radar, but the stakes schedule is...

ELMONT, NY - There wasn't a Triple Crown on the line in Saturday's 155th renewal of the GI Belmont S., but the sunsplashed crowd of 48,089 still witnessed a piece of history. Trainer Jena Antonucci became the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race when the lightly raced Arcangelo (Arrogate) delivered a decisive victory at 7-1 in the 1 1/2-mile Classic. It was 1 1/2 lengths back to champion Forte (Violence), favored at 2-1, who nosed out his Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Tapit Trice (Tapit) for second. A former...

Mike Repole took to Twitter Saturday before the Belmont Stakes in a post he titled, "ATTENTION ENTIRE HORSE RACING INDUSTRY" which calls for change and transparency. Repole challenged the racing industry to either be part of the problem or the solution. In its entirety, the post reads: "I am calling for immediate action in the vision, the strategy of changing and evolving this great game we all LOVE. Either we're an agent for change and evolution or we are on the side of stubborn, traditionalist self-inflicted demise of the sport....

ELMONT, NY - Breathe easy. Following significant improvement in air quality conditions throughout New York State, the 155th GI Belmont Stakes--celebrating the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's performance of a lifetime in the final leg of the Triple Crown--will go on as scheduled Saturday evening. If there's one sire's name that you want to see when handicapping the 1 1/2-mile Classic, it's Tapit. Responsible for a co-record four Belmont winners, two second-place finishers and two third-place finishers, the 22-year-old Gainesway kingpin will be represented by potential race favorite Tapit Trice (Tapit)...

So, what's next? The plague of locusts? The only surprise is that the smoke filling the air at Belmont Park has drifted across the continent from Canadian forests, and didn't actually emerge from a widening fissure in the crust, crumbling daily, that appears to divide horsemen and their horses from the inferno. Hopefully a reprieve of the GI Belmont S. might yet be extended to some other elements in what has become too relentlessly apocalyptic a narrative. In terms of what has been definitively established, our sport's macabre run of...

The GI Belmont S. entrants are listed in "likeliest winner" order. 1) NATIONAL TREASURE (c, Quality Road--Treasure, by Medaglia d'Oro) O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $500,000 ylg '21 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: GISW, 6-2-1-2, $1,335,000. Last Start: 1st GI Preakness S. at Pimlico May 20. National Treasure drew post one, added blinkers, and looked on paper to be the controlling speed in...

As live racing cancellations continued to mount Wednesday in light of unhealthy air quality due to residual smoke from Canadian wildfires, training will be prohibited Thursday morning at both Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Wednesday evening. This is particularly impactful as Belmont's three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is scheduled to kick off Thursday afternoon. A decision regarding Thursday's live racing program at Belmont, which has a first post of 3:05 p.m. and will feature the GII Wonder Again S. for 3-year-old fillies...

ELMONT, NY - With the rising sun attempting to make its way through hazy skies as air quality health advisories remain in effect throughout the New York City area due to the Canadian wildfires, eight of the nine GI Belmont Stakes runners were in action during the first hour of training on a cool Wednesday morning. Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Tapit Shoes (Tapit), both equipped with white bridles and NYRA's commemorative 50th Anniversary Secretariat Belmont S. saddle towels, made a favorable impression in their first day of training...

ELMONT, NY -- Last year's champion 2-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), scratched on the morning of the GI Kentucky Derby with an untimely foot bruise, was tabbed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the 155th running of the GI Belmont Stakes at Tuesday's post-position draw held in the Triple Crown Lounge at Belmont Park. The Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable colorbearer, last seen defeating subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in dramatic fashion in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 1, will exit from post...

With one week out until the GI Belmont S., a trio of Brad Cox trainees put in their final works ahead of the last leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Tapit Shoes (Tapit) each put in five-furlong works while a handful of additional Cox stable stars completed their final tune-ups in preparation for bids in a jam-packed Belmont undercard. The Churchill Downs-based Cox contingent is set to head to Belmont Park on Monday. Angel of...

Alexandres LLC's Il Miracolo (Gun Runner) breezed five furlongs at Gulfstream Park Friday morning in preparation for a scheduled start in next Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes. He was timed in 1:00.88, the fastest clocking of four recorded at the distance. The Antonio Sano trainee is coming off a front-running score at Gulfstream in an optional claiming allowance at a mile May 11 in his first start since finishing sixth to 'TDN Rising Star' Forte in the GI Curlin Florida Derby. "The horse wants distance and is doing really good, so...