SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher may not be running his most accomplished 3-year-old in the Belmont Stakes on June 8, but he could arguably be running his most exciting prospect when he sends out Mindframe in the third leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown to be run at Saratoga.
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Fierceness, last year’s 2-year-old champion male who finished 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, will skip the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga and instead point to the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell on July 20 at Monmouth Park, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday afternoon.
Pletcher said he feels Fierceness “needs a little more time” after his race in the Derby.
Though he won’t make a final decision until Sunday, trainer Kenny McPeek appears to be leaning toward running Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga.
During a national conference call Thursday, McPeek said that if Mystik Dan works well this weekend at Saratoga and comes out of it well, he would likely run in the Belmont where he would face Preakness winner Seize the Grey. It would be the first meeting of separate winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness since Orb and Oxbow met in 2013.
Twelve of the 24 Belmont Stakes run since 2000 have been won by horses who ran in but did not win the Kentucky Derby, skipped the Preakness, and came in relatively fresh for the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
There figures to be a handful of horses attempting to duplicate the likes of Mo Donegal (2022), Essential Quality (2021), Palace Malice (2013), Birdstone (2004), and Commendable (17th in 2000) when this year’s Belmont Stakes is run June 8 at Saratoga and at the shortened distance of 1 1/4 miles.
Seize the Grey, the Preakness winner, will run in the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga, trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
“He bounced back really well, exceptional,” Lukas said Tuesday though he had hinted on Sunday he was leaning toward running. “[Bob] Baffert and I were looking at him [Sunday] and Baffert couldn’t believe how he held his flesh.”
The Blood-Horse was the first to report the news.
Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone returned to the work tab Saturday in Saratoga, working a half-mile in 48.20 seconds over the Oklahoma training track.
Sierra Leone worked in company and on the inside of Domestic Product, the Tampa Bay Derby winner who finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby.
Sierra Leone is pointing to the Belmont Stakes to be run June 8 at Saratoga. There are no immediate plans for Domestic Product.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - On Saturday, Antiquarian gave trainer Todd Pletcher his fifth victory in the Peter Pan Stakes. In four weeks, Antiquarian will try to give Pletcher his fifth victory in the Belmont Stakes.
None of Pletcher’s four previous Peter Pan winners was successful in the Belmont. Of the three who ran back in the Belmont, Sunriver in 2004 managed to finish third. In 2014, the Pletcher-trained Commissioner, who finished second in the Peter Pan to Tonalist, came back to run second, beaten a nose, by Tonalist in the Belmont.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It could be a fun summer in the 3-year-old division.
With three different winners of the Triple Crown races, seven different winners of Grade 1 stakes, and several other talented runners in the division, Grade 1 summer races such as the Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 22 and the Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 26 should be pivotal in defining a division leader.
With every passing month, the loss of champion Arrogate early in his stallion career becomes starker. It was apparent again Saturday evening, as Arcangelo won the Belmont Stakes, conferring classic sire status on Arrogate posthumously.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Arcangelo, the Belmont Stakes winner, will soon ship to Saratoga, where he will train this summer and where he potentially could run in races such as the Jim Dandy on July 29 and/or the Travers on Aug. 26, his connections said Sunday morning.
Trainer Jena Antonucci said she will be in no hurry to decide when to run Arcangelo, who beat champion 2-year-old Forte by 1 1/2 lengths in Saturday’s Belmont, and will let the horse dictate when he’s ready to go.