Legends of the Track: American Pharoah ends a 37-year drought. The'Belatoga' Racing Festival kicks off with a Bang. Can Mindframe win a Triple Crown Race in his First Stakes Race + Betting the Babies!
Friday Edition - June 7th, 2024 (Edition 109)
Good Morning!
Today, we look back on the historic 2015 Belmont when American Pharoah secured the first Triple Crown in 37 years. Larry Collmus, called the race that day, and he reflects on how he drew inspiration from legendary Belmont Stakes calls, particularly those by Chic Anderson for Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed. Collmus also revisited the many near-misses in Triple Crown history leading up to the race. The rest, as they say, is history.
The 'Belatoga' Racing Festival has kicked off with a bang. Saturday features six Grade 1 races, including a rematch between champions Idiomatic and Pretty Mischievous in the G1 Ogden Phipps. Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna will compete in today's Acorn, with an impressive lineup also set for today's G1 New York, and strong international contenders in the turf events.
Heading into Saturday’s Belmont, Repole's lightly raced 3-year-old, co-owned with St. Elias Stables, is all the buzz around the track. "He's 2-for-2, and his victories have been spectacular," says Repole. Can this inexperienced colt win a Triple Crown race in his stakes debut?
What I am wagering on? The 2YO EdgeMan reviews the 4th at Churchill Downs and ZJ Turf Race of the day is the 9th race at Saratoga, the G2 Intercontinental Stakes.
What I am listening to? At The Races With Steve Byk
And a bit of trivia to test your knowledge: Can you name the British racecourse which recorded its first event on the 23rd of April, 1890?
Enjoy a fantastic weekend of racing!
Riders Up!
Steve
The Belmont Stakes:
The man who called American Pharoah's Triple Crown victory
If you happened to have one of the adjacent rooms at the Garden City Hotel in Long Island last week, you could hear a man calling the stretch run of Belmont Stakes. The man did this over and over and over again in the event history struck at 6:54 p.m. ET on Saturday night in nearby Elmont, New York.
“I wonder how much the people in the next room heard,” said Larry Collmus, who called American Pharoah’s win for the ages for NBC Sports and Belmont Park. “I was practicing calling the stretch run, just trying to get the feel of how I wanted it to sound. You know what you want to say but you want to hear how you want to say it.”
History now owns Collmus’s call, and it was a terrific one.
“And they’re into the stretch, and American Pharoah makes his run for glory as they come into the final furlong. Frosted is second. With one-eighth of a mile to go, American Pharoah’s got a two length lead. Frosted is all out at the sixteenth pole. And here it is! The 37-year wait is over! American Pharoah is finally the one! American Pharoah has won the Triple Crown!”
Read the Full Article at si.com
Watch and listen to larry’s call of the 2015 Belmont Stakes
Belmont at Saratoga:
Weekend Lineup Presented By Sky Racing World: 'Belatoga' Racing Festival
This year's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is being held at Saratoga Race Course to allow uninterrupted construction at Belmont Park
This weekend's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which spans Thursday through Sunday, is highlighted by the 156th edition of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 8. The four-day Festival will include 24 stakes races with purses totaling $10.25 million, the highest purse levels and number of stakes offered since the launch of the multi-day Festival in 2014.
A field of 10 3-year-olds signed on for the Belmont Stakes, with Chad Brown-trained Sierra Leone the favorite over Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness winner Seize The Grey.
There are plenty of highlights to look forward to as well, including the rematch of champions Idiomatic and Pretty Mischievous in the G1 Ogden Phipps on Saturday, Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna running in Friday's Acorn, an absolutely stacked field for Friday's G1 New York, and a solid group of international contenders in the turf contests.
Best of luck with all your wagers this weekend.
Read the full article at paulickreport.com
Belmont at Saratoga:
Inexperienced Mindframe Brings Talent to Belmont Stakes
Mindframe wins an allowance race at Churchill Downs
Repole/St. Elias Stable colt tries to win a Triple Crown race in his stakes debut.
Leave it to Mike Repole to do something out of the ordinary as the 2024 Triple Crown season comes to a historic end.
Repole owns last year's 2-year-old champion male Fierceness . He also bred the son of City of Light trained by Todd Pletcher. At the moment, he's the star 3-year-old in Repole's barn, though by sunset June 8, with the help of something unseen for decades in the Triple Crown, there could be a changing of the guard.
With Fierceness slow to recover from a 15th-place finish as the 3-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Mindframe has been handed the baton to represent Repole and Co. in Saturday's extravaganza of the $2 million Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
"We have the 2-year-old champ in Fierceness and then there's a horse like Mindframe and by Saturday he might be the best horse in the crop," Repole said about a lightly raced 3-year-old he co-owns with St. Elias Stables. "He's 2-for-2 and the way he won both was incredible."
In a Triple Crown season that Repole believed would be a showcase for Fierceness, his hopes of securing a Triple Crown win now rests with the oh-so-talented and oh-so-inexperienced Mindframe, who will attempt a feat that can be called both incredible and ludicrous: Win an American classic in his stakes debut and third start overall.
Read the full article at bloodhorse.com
Race of the Day:
ZJ's Turf Race of the Day
Today John’s 'Play of the Day', is a Turf Only selection, and it comes in the 9th race at Saratoga, the G2 Intercontential Stakes at 5 1/2F. This race features the Queen of the Turf Sprint division, #6 Roses for Debra. She returned a winner last out despite the deep turf which dulled her late kick. She'll get a much better ground today & is 2/2 over this course. She's my Best Bet of the Day.
John has been handicapping thoroughbred horse races and picking winners at Saratoga and beyond for 30 years. Grass racing is his true specialty, He’s developed his own style of finding Double Digit Turf Winners.
Good Luck!
Folllow all of ZJ’s selections at pick4win.com
Betting the Babies
2YO Maiden Special Weight ‘Picks, Plays and Pontification’ – Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, Race 4 – Friday, June 7, 2024
By The 2YO EdgeMan
CD4:060724 – 5 1/2f on the Dirt. Ten fillies will get after it in this one. Six of them are firsters and the other four have only been out one time each. Solid trainers abound, including Walsh, Asmussen, Lynch, Norm Casse, Beckman, Romans, Desormeaux, Mark Casse, and Tom Amoss. In the sire column we’ve got Constitution, Daredevil, Omaha Beach (Spendthrift Farm), and Maximus Mischief (Spendthrift). Add to that, five Freshman sires – Global Campaign, Complexity, War of Will, Thousand Words (Spendthrift), and McKinzie. This race guarantees fun and excitement and lots of these entrants intrigue me – so, let’s closely analyze seven of these gals…
Read the full article at pastthewire.com
Podcast of the Day:
At The Races With Steve Byk
ATR from Saratoga w/ Dick Powell-Part 2: Joe & Sean Clancy, Tom Law, Win Using Thoro-Graph w/ Jeff Franklin, Seth Merrow, Frank Mirahmadi
Where on Earth?
Can you name the British Racecourse which recorded its first event on the 23rd of April 1890?
To find the answer visit Steve’s Twitter/X page and scroll through the comments
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Riders Up!
Best, Steve