Free Republic

Pari-mutuel betting, for better or worse, is in my blood. My maternal grandfather spent every day for 60 years plying the greyhound tracks of South Florida and Massachusetts, and there’s enough of him in me to draw me to Belmont Park every time there’s a shot at the thoroughbred Triple Crown. There’s also enough of him in me to know that while I can’t guarantee that California Chrome will win the 146th Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, I can guarantee there’s a sure thing for anyone who wants to bet the race. This...

There will be a lot of people on Saturday at Belmont Park rooting for California Chrome to become the 12th winner of the Triple Crown, and a lot of people who think he has a shot to do it. But there will also be people trying to beat him: his morning line odds of 3/5 aren’t going to offer much in the way of an ROI, and 21 horses have entered the starting gate of the Belmont Stakes with Derby/Preakness wins in hand, only to fall short. A field of 11 will try the test of the champion on Saturday...

His competition can’t stop him, his cough didn’t slow him down but New York regulations could stop California Chrome’s Triple Crown bid. California Chrome wears a nasal strip and has since Dec. 22, when he started his current six race winning streak that includes victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Currently, New York is the only racing state in the country that doesn’t allow it for thoroughbreds, but does for harness horses racing in New York. “These people (the owners) tell me if at any time the horse isn’t ready to go to the races don’t hesitate,”...

Here is a direct link to the free 2012 Belmont Stakes Past Performances from the Daily Racing Form (on PDF file):http://www.nyra.com/Belmont/BelmontContenders060612.pdf

The horse racing industry should be deeply shamed that extraordinary security measures had to be ordered to guard horses in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes from the doping abuses engulfing thoroughbred racing. The horses will be kept in an isolated barn with visitors limited, feed and hay bales checked for drugs, and veterinarians and trainers under daily watch to ensure there is no manipulation of food or medication. If anyone thinks this is an overreaction, they should take a look at the record of Doug O’Neill. He is the trainer of I’ll Have Another, the horse primed for the chance to...

NEW YORK- Horse racing's final Triple Crown event, The Belmont Stakes, is taking place this Saturday and one of the favorites - for second place - is a horse named "First Dude." Yes, that's First Dude, as in the nickname of the former First Gentleman of Alaska Todd Palin, husband of Tea Party darling and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. A big, long-striding horse, the Preakness runner-up is owned by Don Dizney

Secretariat Foaled 40 Years Ago by David Schmitz (Secretariat, shown as a 2-year-old, was foaled March 30, 1970) March 30 marks 40 years since the birth of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat at Christopher T. Chenery’s The Meadow near Doswell, Va. It’s a date well worth remembering by any racing fan but especially by those who were around during Secretariat’s racing days and more so by those lucky enough to see the strikingly handsome chestnut colt with three white stockings in action. Secretariat’s magnetism was evident soon after the colt’s birth. Chenery’s daughter, Penny, was so overwhelmed after getting her...

Each day brings new entries in the "Brown Shoe Diaries." The latest photos from the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) reveal Big Brown was stepped on by Guadalcanal leaving the gate, and that the shoe did not re-set itself during the race as previously thought; the colt ran the entire way with the shoe dislodged and the nail protruding from it. Even trainer Rick Dutrow, who had a hard time accepting the possibility that the incident hampered the colt, now believes after seeing the photos that it could have been an issue. In a photo (shown below) that originally appeared as...

A photo taken during the early stages of the Belmont Stakes has revealed Big Brown was running with a loose shoe as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner attempted to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1979, Newsday reported Monday.

Secretariat is widening now.!....He is moving like a tremendous machine!........Secretariat by 12!.......Secretariat by 14 lengths on the turn!.......Video

NBA playoffs: Miami-Dallas Sunday, 9 9.1 (7.0 million) ABC Up 8% from Detroit-San Antonio Finals game last year. ABC running ahead of last year's Finals, which were the. But if Mavericks win Game 3, ratings could go south. Belmont Stakes Saturday, 5:30 6.1 (4.7 million) ABC Down 38% from race coverage last year. Lowest overnight since 2000 Belmont, which was the last time ABC showed the race — and the last time it didn't have either winner from the other Triple Crown races. World Cup soccer: Trinidad and Tobago-Sweden Saturday, noon 2.9 (2.2 million) ABC Up 107% from Ireland-Cameroon game...

    Cacique, right, with Edgar Prado aboard, beats Relaxed Gesture, second from left, and Grey Swallow, left to win the 105th running of the Manhattan on the turf course at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, Saturday, June 10, 2006. All three horses are from Ireland. English Channel, second from right, finished out of the money. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams) NEW YORK -- Cacique beat Relaxed Gesture by a head to win the $400,000 Manhattan Handicap on the turf, the premier event Saturday on the Belmont Stakes undercard.  Ridden by Edgar Prado, Cacique went right to the front...

Glory, or heartbreak. I looked but did not see a thread. My apologies if someone else did one. I will post as many good racing links as I can find. The lineup: BirdstoneCaimanEddingtonMaster DavidPurgeRock Hard TenRoyal AssaultSmarty JonesTap Dancer

Lukas rips grueling spring rite The trainer thinks the Triple Crown races are too taxing. By Joe Logan Inquirer Staff Writer BALTIMORE - OK, Triple Crown fans, how about a quick test: Other than Funny Cide, upset winner in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, name the nine other horses in tomorrow's 128th Preakness. Can't do it? Can't name even four or five? You're not alone. "Call the best guy you know in racing and ask him to name the 10 horses running here," D. Wayne Lukas, trainer of Scrimshaw (5-1) and Ten Cents a Shine (15-1), said yesterday, throwing...