BELLAMY ROAD COMES FULL CIRCLE.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with Funny things have happened to horse racing's heavyweights since the May evening Bellamy Road walked into the Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. starting gate starting gate n. Sports 1. A series of stalls with interconnected doors that open simultaneously at the beginning of a race. 2. as a budding superstar, only to finish seventh behind 50-1 winner Giacomo and exit injured. Weirder yet is the possibility that, after so many other horses have been tripped up, Bellamy Road will find himself the center of attention again at the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. at Belmont Park Noun 1. Belmont Park - a racetrack for thoroughbred racing in Elmont on Long Island; site of the Belmont Stakes Belmont Elmont - a town on Long Island in New York; site of Belmont Park on Oct. 29. The colt owned by George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (born July 4, 1930 in Rocky River, Ohio), often known as "The Boss", is an American billionaire businessman and the principal owner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. can begin to make that a reality with a successful comeback in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, the season's last battle royal for 3-year-olds. ``The ideal (on the) wish list would be that he runs the same way he ran in the Wood Memorial,'' Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said on the day Bellamy Road (Javier Castellano riding) drew post position 1 and was selected the 2-1 favorite for the 136th Travers. Zito knows he can't expect Bellamy Road to bounce back from a foreleg injury and a nearly four-month layoff to repeat his 17 1/2-length Wood victory in April. Caution is advised especially because Zito and the Steinbrenner camp didn't decide until Tuesday whether Bellamy Road would return to competition in the 1 1/4-mile Travers, not the seven-furlong King's Bishop Stakes The King's Bishop Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses. The race is open to three-year-olds willing to sprint seven furlongs on the Saratoga dirt track. The race, in its 22nd renewal in 2006, is a Grade I and carries a purse of $250,000. on the same Saturday card. ``I have to ask Bellamy Road to do me a favor,'' Zito said. ``It is a big, big, step, there's no question. Obviously, I'm putting him through something that is not an easy thing to do. He is an exceptional horse, so we're just going to do the best we can.'' The Travers, as big a race as it is, shapes up as just a step for the Florida-bred son of Concerto who likely would have one more race between this and the Breeders' Cup Classic to tap his apparently awesome potential. The post-position lineup for the Travers (ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network , 2 p.m.): Bellamy Road; Andromeda's Hero (Corey Nakatani), 12-1; Chekhov (Gary Stevens), 10-1; Roman Ruler (Jerry Bailey), 5-2; Don't Get Mad (Edgar Prado), 10-1; Reverberate re·ver·ber·ate v. re·ver·ber·at·ed, re·ver·ber·at·ing, re·ver·ber·ates v.intr. 1. To resound in a succession of echoes; reecho. 2. (Jose Santos), 8-1; and Flower Alley (John Velazquez), 3-1. Roman Ruler comes into the Travers off victories in Belmont's Dwyer Stakes and Monmouth's Haskell Invitational. Flower Alley was second in the Dwyer before beating Reverberate by 5 1/4 lengths in Saratoga's Jim Dandy. Then there are all of the star 3-year-olds who aren't in the Travers: Giacomo won't race again until at least the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita after having bone-chip surgery in June. Afleet Alex, the Preakness and Belmont winner, now seems unlikely to come back from a July fracture in time to race in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Closing Argument, the Derby runner-up at 71-1, hasn't competed since finishing ninth in the Preakness and is shooting for races later in the summer. The injury bug has gobbled up older stars as well: Ghostzapper, the Horse of the Year in 2004, has been retired after one start in 2005. Roses in May, who chased Ghostzapper in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Classic, was retired earlier this month. Eddington, the Pimlico Special winner, also has gone to stud. All of which should have allowed Donn Handicap and Stephen Foster Handicap The Stephen Foster Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run in mid June at the end of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet in Louisville, Kentucky. The Stephen Foster Handicap is run on the dirt at a distance of one and one-eighth miles. winner Saint Liam to pad his lead in the 3-year-olds-and-up division, but his reputation was dented when front-running Commentator upset him in Saratoga's Whitney Handicap. In California, meanwhile, Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. winner Lava Man and Swaps Stakes winner Surf Cat lost their Breeders' Cup momentum when they waged an early duel and finished third and sixth behind 12-1 Borrego in last Sunday's Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Suddenly, in the World Thoroughbred Poll rankings of Breeders' Cup Classic contenders, Rock Hard Ten has moved all the way up to No. 2 (below Saint Liam) while not racing since his Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during win in March because of physical problems. The search for Breeders' Cup threats seems to have brought us full circle to the stars of the spring. Weird, but it suits Bellamy Road just fine. --At Del Mar: The Del Mar season, which peaked when a track-record $24,048,615 bet on the Pacific Classic program Sunday, begins to wind down this weekend. Saturday's $250,000 Del Mar Debutante, the sixth and last Grade I stakes at the meet that ends Sept. 7, matches Sorrento winner Bully Bones (Rene Douglas), Landaluce winner Indian Breeze (Pat Valenzuela) and Cinderella winner River's Prayer (Victor Espinoza) in a field of 11. The Associated Press contributed. CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE BY KEVIN MODESTI |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion