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It's Animal Kingdom vs. Shackleford, 10 Other, In Belmont Stakes
When the gates open for Saturday's Grade I, $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, 1 1/2-miles will be standing a dozen thoroughbreds and the right to claim the title as the 143rd winner of the "Test of the Champion."
But for Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and Preakness hero Shackleford, much more is at stake in the oldest and longest leg of racing's Triple Crown.
For the 22nd time in history, the Belmont Stakes will serve as the rubber match between the individual winners of the first two races in the Triple Crown. The scorecard, in terms of Belmont wins, reads Preakness 10, Derby 5, with Afleet Alex the most recent Preakness winner to vanquish the Derby victor, taking the 2005 Belmont in which Giacomo, longshot winner of the Run for the Roses, finished seventh.
The complete field, in post position order, for the Belmont Stakes is: Master of Hounds (jockey: Garrett Gomez, morning line odds: 10-1); Stay Thirsty (Javier Castellano, 20-1); Ruler On Ice (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 20-1); Santiva (Shaun Bridgmohan, 15-1); Brilliant Speed (Joel Rosario, 15-1); Nehro (Corey Nakatani, 4-1); Monzon (Jose Lezcano, 30-1); Prime Cut (Edgar Prado, 15-1); Animal Kingdom (John Velazquez, 2-1); Mucho Macho Man (Ramon Dominguez, 10-1); Isn't He Perfect (Rajiv Maragh, 30-1); and Shackleford (Jesus Castanon, 9-2). All horses will carry 126 lbs.
The Belmont Stakes will be telecast nationally on NBC beginning at 5:00 p.m. Post time for the Belmont Stakes is slated for 6:35 p.m. (ET). Saturday's Belmont undercard will be televised on VERSUS from 3:00-5:00 p.m. (ET). VERSUS will also carry a post-race wrapup from 7:00-7:30 p.m. (ET).
Now Available - DRF Ultimate Belmont Stakes Guide! top
Get DRF picks, PPs, contender profiles The DRF Ultimate Belmont Stakes Guide is the must-have guide for this year's Belmont, featuring DRF Picks, PPs and printable contender profiles. Get 30% off by using coupon code NTRABelmont.
Acclamation Seeks Whittingham Repeat top
Acclamation will try to become only the second multiple winner of the Grade I, $250,000 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap when he takes on five foes Saturday in the 1 1/4-miles grass test at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif.
The only horse to win the Whittingham more than once is John Henry. The extremely talented gelding captured the race three times (1980, 1981 and 1984) when it was called the Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap.
From the rail out, the field for the Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap is: Acclamation (jockey: Joe Talamo, weight: 121 pounds); Red Alert Day (Christian Santiago Reyes, 110); Celtic New Year (Victor Espinoza, 114); Falcon Rock (Brice Blanc, 114); Haimish Hy (Tyler Baze, 116); and Bourbon Bay (Rafael Bejarano, 121). Click here to read more.
HRRN Belmont Stakes Coverage top
Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) will provide six hours of live Belmont Stakes day coverage highlighted by the network's national radio broadcast of the 143rd Belmont Stakes this Saturday from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (ET).
HRRN's coverage will be available on more than 50 nationwide affiliates as well as on Sirius 92/XM 207, and online with live streaming provided on the HRRN website, www.horseracingradio.net. In addition, HRRN's Belmont Stakes broadcast will be aired to service men and women around the globe on the American Forces Network. A complete list of affiliates can be found on the HRRN site.
Monday's Night School Topic - "Breaking into the Industry" top
Special guests include Doug Reed, director of the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program, who will be in Night School live to take questions and discuss careers in racing. Video interviews with NBC Sports' Tom Hammond, renowned track announcer Larry Collmus and HRTV's Scott Hazelton will also tell their personal tales of breaking in to the racing game. The 90-minute Night School session is available on NTRA.com beginning at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time this Monday, June 13.
Study Materials available here and Joe Kristufek's Video Preview for June 13.
NTRA ADVANTAGE top
Sherwin-Williams Exclusive Offers For NTRA Members. NTRA members receive up to 40% discount on Sherwin-Williams paints, plus discounts on in-store products, including floor and wall coverings.
What's Next? Call NTRA Advantage toll-free at 866-678-4289 to establish an individual account or request a retail discount card.
RACING ON THE AIR (all times Eastern) top
June 10, Brooklyn Handicap (Belmont Park); 5:00-6:00 p.m., Versus
June 11, Belmont Stakes undercard (Belmont Park); 3:00-5:00 p.m., Versus
June 11, Belmont Stakes (Belmont Park); 5:00-7:00 p.m., NBC
June 11, Belmont Stakes Wrapup; 7:00-7:30 p.m., Versus
RACING TO HISTORY top
June 9, 1888: James McLaughlin set the record for most number of wins by a jockey in the Belmont Stakes, six, when he rode Sir Dixon to a 12-length victory. McLaughlin's record was matched by Eddie Arcaro in 1955.
June 9, 1887: Only two horses competed in the Belmont Stakes. It was the smallest field in the race's history, which again had only two starters in 1888, 1892, 1910, and 1920, the year Man o' War won the Belmont by 20 lengths.
June 9, 1945: Hoop Jr. won the Kentucky Derby, which was run one month after a national wartime government ban on racing was lifted.
June 9, 1973: Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths-the longest winning margin in the race's history-while setting a track record of 2:24, which has not been surpassed. The time was 2 3/5 seconds faster than the mark set by Gallant Man in 1957. Secretariat's victory made him the ninth Triple Crown winner and first since Citation had swept the Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 1948.
June 9, 1979: Spectacular Bid lost his chance for the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes, finishing third to winner Coastal. Trainer Bud Delp alleged that the colt had sustained a foot injury after stepping on a safety pin the morning of the race.
June 9, 1984: Riding Swale in a wire-to-wire victory, Laffit Pincay Jr. won his third consecutive Belmont Stakes, becoming the only rider in this century to accomplish that feat. Pincay rode Caveat to victory in 1983 and Conquistador Cielo in 1982; all three of his mounts were trained by Woody Stephens. Jockey James McLaughlin also rode three consecutive Belmont winners, once from 1882-84, and again from 1886-88. Swale's Belmont was also the first in which a female trainer saddled a horse for the race. Sarah Lundy sent Minstrel Star to a last-place finish.
June 9, 2003: Spectacular Bid, a Champion at ages 2, 3 and 4, died at the age of 27.
June 9, 2007: Rags to Riches wore down Preakness winner and eventual Horse of the Year Curlin in the stretch to become the first filly in 102 years to capture the Belmont Stakes. It was the first Triple Crown race won by trainer Todd Pletcher.
June 10, 1890: The Preakness Stakes was run outside Baltimore, at Morris Park in New York, under the auspices of the New York Jockey Club. Suspended for three years, the race was next run at the Brooklyn Jockey Club's Gravesend Course, 1894-1908.
June 10, 1938: Hollywood Park opened in Inglewood, Calif. In its inaugural year, Hollywood Park attracted such racing stars as Lawrin, who had given jockey Eddie Arcaro his first Kentucky Derby victory, as well as Ligaroti and Seabiscuit, whose rivalry later reached its pitch in a match race contested at Del Mar on Aug. 12, 1938.
June 10, 1944: The only triple dead heat for first in a stakes race occurred at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Carter Handicap. The three winners were Brownie, Bossuet and Wait a Bit.
June 10, 1953: Trainer Charlie Whittingham, at age 40, saddled his first stakes winner when Porterhouse, ridden by Bill Boland, won the National Stallion Stakes at Belmont Park. Porterhouse was later named champion two-year-old of 1953.
June 10, 1972: Laffit Pincay Jr. won his 2,000th victory while riding at Hollywood Park.
June 10, 1978: Steve Cauthen, at age 18, became the youngest jockey ever to win the Triple Crown when his mount, Affirmed, won the Belmont Stakes. Also on that day, Alydar became the only horse to finish second in all three Triple Crown races. Affirmed was the 11th winner of the Triple Crown.
June 11, 1898: Willie Simms became the only African American jockey to win the Preakness Stakes when he rode Sly Fox to victory. With this win, Simms became the only African American jockey to have won all three Triple Crown races. His other Triple Crown wins took place in the Kentucky Derby (1896, 1898) and Belmont Stakes (1893, 1894).
June 11, 1919: The first Triple Crown was won by Sir Barton after he completed the Belmont Stakes, then run at 1 3/8 miles rather than the traditional 1 1/2 miles. Prior to his Triple Crown sweep, Sir Barton had been winless in six tries at racing.
June 11, 1921: Grey Lag, under Earl Sande, won the first Belmont Stakes ever to be run counter-clockwise. Previous Belmonts had been run clockwise over a fish-hook course that included part of the training track and the main dirt oval.
June 11, 1955: Jockey Eddie Arcaro tied James McLaughlin's record of six Belmont Stakes wins when he rode Nashua to victory.
June 11, 1966: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. recorded his first American stakes victory, taking the Christiana Stakes aboard two-year-old Hermogenes at Delaware Park.
June 11, 1973: Triple Crown winner Secretariat simultaneously made the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated.
June 11, 1977: Upon winning the Belmont Stakes, Seattle Slew became the tenth Triple Crown winner and the first Triple Crown winner to remain undefeated, with a career record of nine-for-nine.
June 12, 1920: Man o' War won the Belmont Stakes, which was then run at a distance of 1 3/8-miles, in 2:14 1/5. He shattered the existing world record by 3 1/5 seconds and also set the American dirt-course record for that distance.
June 12, 1926: The August Belmont family first presented their permanent commemorative Tiffany trophy to the winner of the Belmont Stakes. The silver trophy was created in 1869 in recognition of Fenian's win in the Belmont.
June 12, 1948: After riding Citation to victory in the Belmont, jockey Eddie Arcaro became the only rider in history to have won two Triple Crowns. His previous Triple Crown was with Whirlaway, in 1941. In wining the Belmont, Citation became the eighth Triple Crown winner.
June 12, 1960: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. rode his first race at El Comandante in Puerto Rico.
June 12, 1982: Jockey Mike Smith rode his first winner, Future Man, in a $2,000 claiming race at Santa Fe.
June 13, 1874: English-bred Saxon became the first foreign bred horse to win the Belmont Stakes.
June 13, 1913: James Rowe, who had won back-to-back Belmonts in 1872-3 as a jockey, set the record for most number of Belmont Stakes wins by a trainer, eight, when he sent Prince Eugene to victory.
June 13, 1961: Ben A. Jones, who trained a record six Kentucky Derby winners, died.
June 13, 1992: Angel Cordero Jr. won his first race in two tries as a trainer, with Puchinito, in the fourth race at Belmont Park.
June 13, 1999: Silver Charm, winner of the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and the 1998 Dubai World Cup, retired after finishing fourth in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. Silver Charm retired with earnings of $6,944,369 (third-highest of all time) and won 12 of 24 starts.
June 13, 2010: Zenyatta scored her 17th win without a loss in the Grade I Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park. The victory moved Zenyatta past Citation, Cigar and Mister Frisky among horses with win streaks in open company races.
June 14, 1880: The first post parade of horses in any American race took place prior to the running of the Belmont Stakes. Horses had previously gone directly from paddock to post.
June 14, 1967: Jockey Craig Perret, age 16, won his first career race at Arlington Park. Despite starting well into the season, Perret finished the year third among the nation's apprentice riders in races won (with 114) and led all apprentices in the earnings category, with $610,003.
June 15, 1963: Five weeks prior to his 90th birthday, Hall of Fame trainer ‘Sunny Jim' Fitzsimmons retired. "Mr. Fitz," as he was also known, trained such outstanding runners as Nashua, Bold Ruler, Johnstown and Triple Crown winners Gallant Fox and his son Omaha.
June 15, 1972: In preparation for his July 4 debut, Secretariat worked five furlongs from the starting gate in 1:00 1/5.
June 15, 1977: Future rivals Affirmed and Alydar met for the first time, in the Youthful Stakes at Belmont Park. Affirmed triumphed over Alydar, who finished fifth, and went on to win four of their six races together in 1977.
June 16, 1943: With a shortage of male workers due to the war, Garden State Park announced it would employ female mutuels clerks.
June 17, 1912: A record parimutuel payoff on a straight $2 wager was set when Wishing Ring, sent off at odds of 941-1, paid $1,885.50 to win at Latonia. The mark was only surpassed in 1989, when Power to Geaux paid $2,922 for a $2 wager made at AKsarben on a race that was simulcast from Fair Grounds.
June 17, 1967: Buckpasser's 15-race winning streak ended when he finished third to stablemate Poker in the Bowling Green Handicap at Aqueduct, his only attempt at turf racing. Buckpasser carried 135 pounds while Poker was assigned 112.
June 18, 1936: Omaha, the 1935 Triple Crown winner owned by New York banker William Woodward, lost the 2 1/2-mile Ascot Gold Cup by a head to filly Quashed at Ascot, England. A crowd of 200,000 was said to be present for the race, for which Omaha was the 11-8 favorite. Omaha had shipped to England aboard the Aquitania on Jan. 8, 1936 and won the May 30 Queens Plate at Kempton Park, England.
June 18, 2001: Jockey Russell Baze closed out the 2001 Bay Meadows meet by winning the track's riding title for an amazing 25th time.
June 19, 1867: The inaugural Belmont Stakes was run at Jerome Park in the Bronx and was won by a filly, Ruthless, who defeated colts to earn $1,850 for her victory. Ruthless was one of a group of fillies known as the "Barbarous Battalion," daughters of the mare Barbarity, owned by Francis Morris of New York. The other "battalion" members-all full sisters-were Remorseless, Relentless, Regardless and Merciless.
June 19, 1880: Sheepshead Bay racecourse opened for a six-day meet. The track was the original site of the Suburban, Futurity and Realization Stakes, which eventually were transferred to Belmont Park.
June 19, 1942: Count Fleet won his first race, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
June 19, 1973: Officials of Arlington Park invited Secretariat to compete in a specially created race, the $125,000 Arlington Invitational Stakes.
June 19, 1992: Charlie Whittingham became the second trainer in history, behind D. Wayne Lukas, to top $100 million in purse earnings when he sent Little by Little to a second-place finish in the sixth race at Hollywood Park.
June 19, 1998: The NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship from Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tex., was nationally televised for the first time on ESPN2. Shane Sellers won the 12-jockey competition.
June 20, 1908: With his final victory in the Tidal Stakes at Sheepshead Bay, Colin retired undefeated after 15 starts. No major American racehorse approached this record until 1988, when Personal Ensign retired with a perfect 13-for-13 career.
June 21, 1924: Exterminator, winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby, concluded his seven-year racing career. Exterminator raced until he was nine, winning 50 of his 100 starts. He seldom carried less than 130 pounds in handicap races. Like other geldings Kelso, Forego, and John Henry, Exterminator improved with age, enjoying his greatest success when he was seven.
June 21, 1947: Assault won the Brooklyn Handicap and dethroned Whirlaway as the then money-winning champion of the world. The victory boosted his earnings to $576,670.
June 21, 1975: S. Kaye Bell became the first woman to train the winner of a $100,000 stakes race when she sent Mr. Lucky Phoenix to win the Michigan Mile and One-Eighth Handicap at Detroit Racecourse.
June 22, 1935: Seabiscuit won his first race, at Narragansett Park
WEEKEND STAKES RACES
(unrestricted stakes in N.A. worth $75,000 and up) top
FFRIDAY, JUNE 10
Brooklyn Handicap, 3&up, $150,000, Grade II, 1 1-2M, Belmont Park
Poker Handicap, 3&up, $100,000, Grade III, 1M (T), Belmont Park
SATURDAY, JUNE 11
Belmont Stakes, 3yo, $1,000,000, Grade I, 1 1-2M, Belmont Park
Foxwoods Just a Game Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $400,000, Grade I, 1M (T), Belmont Park
Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap, 3&up, $400,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M (T), Belmont Park
TVG Acorn Stakes, 3yo fillies, $300,000, Grade I, 1M, Belmont Park
Charles Whittingham Memorial Stakes, 3&up, $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M (T), Hollywood Park
True North Handicap, 3&up, $250,000, Grade II, 6F, Belmont Park
Woody Stephens Stakes, 3yo, $250,000, Grade II, 7F, Belmont Park
Jostle Stakes, 3yo fillies, $200,000, 6 1-2F, Parx Racing
Honeymoon Handicap, 3yo fillies, $150,000, Grade II, 1 1-8M (T), Hollywood Park
Obeah Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $150,000, Grade III, 1 1-8M, Delaware Park
Affirmed Handicap, 3yo, $100,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M, Hollywood Park
Early Times Mint Julep Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M (T), Churchill Downs
Just Smashing Stakes, 3yo fillies, $75,000, 6F, Monmouth Park
Leave Me Alone Stakes, 3yo fillies, $75,000, 6F, Calder
Ponche Handicap, 3&up, $75,000, 6F, Calder
Rumson Stakes, 3yo, $75,000, 6F, Monmouth Park
U Can Do It Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $75,000, 6F, Calder
Unbridled Stakes, 3yo, $75,000, 6F, Calder
SUNDAY, JUNE 12
Monmouth Stakes, 3&up, $250,000, Grade III, 1 1-8M (T), Monmouth Park
Victoria Park Stakes, 3yo, $150,000, 1 1-8M, Woodbine
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15
Oliver Stakes, 3yo, $200,000, 1M (T), Indiana Downs |
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