Todd Pletcher

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)...

1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 6fT, 11:20 p.m. A New York-bred daughter of 2022's champion freshman sire Bolt d'Oro, ADVANCE ATTACK makes her afternoon debut to open the card on Belmont S. day. Purchased for $450,000 out of last year's OBS April Sale, she is a half-sister to GI Shoemaker Mile S. winner Bolo (Temple City), SW Build to Suit (Dominus), and GSP Let Me Go First (Paddy O'Prdo). Her dam, unfortunately lost in 2021, was a half to the dam of GI Kentucky Derby upsetter and Canadian champion 2-year-old...

Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) can make some noise at what has to be a terrific price in Saturday's GI Belmont S. He continues to improve with each of his six career starts for trainer Brad Cox, and was a bit unlucky in his last two tries. The handsome gray came up just a nose short with a wide trip after bouncing off rivals down the stretch in the GII Wood Memorial S., then was a respectable fifth after racing too close to a scorching pace in the GI Kentucky...

ELMONT, NY - A pair of stakes races, led by the featured GII Wonder Again S. for 3-year-old fillies on grass, will raise the curtain on the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Thursday afternoon. Repole Stable's Spansive (Karakontie {Jpn}) will put her perfect two-for-two record on the line for Todd Pletcher while making her stakes debut in the eight-deep Wonder Again. Trainer Chad Brown will have three chances for his fifth Wonder Again win. He will saddle 5-2 morning-line favorite Revalita (Fr) (Recoletos {Fr}), a rallying second in the GII...

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...

Spendthrift Farm's MGSW Major Dude (3, c, Bolt d'Oro--Mary Rita, by Distorted Humor) showed his class, overcoming a bit of trouble to gut out victory in the GII Penn Mile S. at Penn National Friday evening. The 2-5 choice looked to bobble slightly coming out of the gate before assuming a tracking spot behind the :23.17 and :47.85 fractions carved out by Recruiter (Army Mule). Tucked in third on the inside, Major Dude made an initial move on the backstretch, easing to within a neck shy of the front before...

Ever since she was a young girl, Chelsie Raabe had dreamed of reaching the pinnacle moment in her career as an equestrian, where she envisioned one day standing atop the Olympic podium or making the victorious walk out following a clear cross-country round at the Land Rover Three-Day event. But it wasn't until the evening of March 25 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, as she looked up at a bustling grandstand that echoed with the crescendo of excited fans awaiting the start of the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen on...

There were a lot of "firsts" associated with Fusaichi Pegasus, the 2000 GI Kentucky Derby winner who was euthanized at Ashford Stud May 23 due to old-age infirmities that had accumulated over his 26 years. As the first Derby winner of the 2000s decade, this high-spirited, headstrong son of Mr. Prospector had commanded a $4-million price tag at Keeneland July, then the highest price paid for a yearling at that sale in 13 years. And to this day, that auction price remains as the highest ever paid for any starter...

Compared to an exquisite painting by her owner Barbara Banke, Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy) has been regarded as racing royalty from the very beginning. Now 13 years old, the Grade I winner reigns as monarch of Stonestreet's world-class broodmare band, and this spring, she was crowned 2022 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Thanks to the efforts of her two Curlin daughters Malathaat and Julia Shining, Dreaming of Julia has already put together a produce record for the books, yet Banke and her team at Stonestreet are hopeful that their...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher gave a "thumbs up" following a Saturday morning breeze from Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's reigning champion 2-Year-Old Forte (Violence), who worked five-eighths over the Belmont Park main track in preparation for the GI Belmont S. NYRA clockers caught Forte through three-eighths in :35 before completing five furlongs in 1:00.44 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 over the fast main track. "I was really, really happy. I thought he was moving great. He got into a good rhythm, finished up great and...