Despite loss, Giacomo proves worthy Betting Belmont Stakes belmont stakes betting online

Despite loss, Giacomo proves worthyBALTIMORE -- No Triple Crown for Giacomo. Nothing to be embarrassed about, either.Giacomo's bid to back up his Kentucky Derby victory ended Saturday with a third-place finish at the Preakness. As he did in the Derby, the horse rallied gamely.This time, though, it wasn't enough.Afleet Alex survived a scary collision to win the race ahead of Scrappy T and Giacomo, who stormed to the finish after standing in 10th place at the three-quarters pole.It was a gallant effort by the horse that shocked the racing world by capturing the Derby as a 50-1 shot, but it means that another year will go by without a Triple Crown winner.Giacomo jockey Mike Smith did a wonderful job of weaving through traffic in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby, but couldn't do the same in the 14-horse Preakness."I didn't get loose until we got to the quarter pole. I was just stuck right behind them,'' Smith said. "I could have went around, but that was an awful long way to go around. I was going to lose at least 10 lengths.''His only option was to hope for an opening. By the time he found one, it was too late."I was waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,'' Smith said. "I was able to get out and make my run, but by then they were gone.''Every time he looked for a hole, the gap was filled. That's the difference between finishing first and third."A lot of them shut on me today. That happens in racing,'' Smith said. "I was so proud of him to run third. I'm looking forward to the Belmont.''Giacomo was bidding to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. He went off as the third choice in the race, and justified that support by paying $4.80 to show.He is the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby and lose the Preakness since Monarchos in 2001."I don't think there was any embarrassment in running third in the Preakness,'' trainer John Shirreffs said. "We were pleased with the effort. I think it says a lot about Giacomo. Mike Smith said he had a lot of horse at the wire. He was full of run.''With no place to go."My horse ran dynamite, but I had to idle a very long way and that really hurts you in this type of race,'' Smith said. "He galloped out great, so I know he'll come back strong in his next race.''

Kentucky Derby Beefing Up Drug Testing Betting Belmont Stakes belmont stakes betting online

Thoroughbred racing is joining the crackdown on drug cheats. The 20 horses expected to start in Saturday's Kentucky Derby will be scrutinized for illegal substances as much if not more so than their human counterparts in other sports. All horses at the Derby will undergo pre-race blood tests for alkalizing agents called "milkshakes" that help alleviate fatigue, and then a "super test" to screen post-race urine samples, which can detect about 140 different drugs. The second test will also be used at the two other Triple Crown races, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. It was administered at last year's Breeders' Cup. No horse tested positive."Racing has a serious drug problem, and a huge perception problem that is especially bothersome in a sport that depends on public confidence for our main revenue stream," C. Steven Duncker, chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's Graded Stakes Committee, said Monday. Starting Thursday, the Churchill Downs barns of Derby horses will be watched by an independent team of investigators from the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau and the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority. Also patrolling the grounds will be local police, sheriff's deputies and private security guards hired by the track. The stricter post-race testing was mandated by the graded-stakes committee, and applies to the Derby as well as all the other major races in the United States. "It's been a long, hard haul to get here because each state sets it own policy," Duncker said, "but it seems like the industry is getting serious very quickly about this issue." Officials are not worried that "juiced up" horses will go out and run in record times, they just want to reassure fans that no horse has an unfair advantage. Triple Crown winner Secretariat, for example, still holds the Derby record for 1 1/4 miles at 1:59 2/5 in 1973. Only one other horse, Monarchos in 2001, has broken 2 minutes. A total of 13 racing jurisdictions have agreed to the uniform guidelines of the "super test" and another 13 are expected to follow by the end of the year.

Rockport Harbor off Triple Crown trail Betting Belmont Stakes belmont stakes betting online

Rockport Harbor, a former top contender for the Kentucky Derby, is off the Triple Crown trail.Owner Rick Porter decided not to run the injury-plagued 3-year-old colt in any Triple Crown races after a poor showing in the Lexington Stakes on Saturday, the final prep race for the Derby.Rockport Harbor trainer John Servis and jockey Stewart Elliott, who helped lead Smarty Jones to wins in the Derby and Preakness Stakes last year, will now point the colt toward stakes races in the summer.Rockport Harbor was sixth in a seven-horse field at the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday, a finish that prompted Porter to make a tough decision."We could probably get him ready for the Preakness and the Belmont, but in our judgment, giving him a break and pointing to some good summer stakes is the better option for him," Porter said Sunday in a posting on Rockport Harbor's Web site.Unbeaten in four starts as a 2-year-old, Rockport Harbor has struggled with health problems, including a gash in his right rear leg and a blood clot in his neck.In his only other race this year, Rockport Harbor finished second by a half-length to Greater Good in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park."He has missed a lot of training and gotten off his schedule for the Triple Crown," Porter said. "He will ship back to Philadelphia Park ... and resume training."When John (Servis) feels he is settled enough and training great, we will look for a race. Some early thoughts are to eventually point for the Haskell or Travers."

MIDDLEBURG, Va. -- Armata Stable's Toughkenamon roared past favorite Paradise's Boss between the final two to win the $75,000 Temple Gwathmey hurdle stakes (Gr. II) -- first leg of the Steeplechase Triple Crown -- at the Middleburg Spring Races Saturday.
Trained by Kathy McKenna, the 6-year-old sat just off the pace of Paradise's Boss before kicking clear and winning by five lengths for jockey Rob Massey. Erin Go Bragh (Matt McCarron) was a late-running second with Paradise's Boss (Tom Foley) third. The winner covered the 2 1/8 miles in 4:01.
Massey planned to stalk the favorite, who won four of seven last year, from the start and followed the strategy perfectly.
"I wanted to be very handy today, just to keep out of trouble and have a clean run," said Massey. "I jumped very well and had a great trip around the inside. Paradise's Boss did nothing wrong last year and the plan was to not let him get too far out of our sights."
A winner in his only prior hurdle start, which came last fall, Toughkenamon raced on the flat for trainer Kevin Boniface before joining McKenna's steeplechase barn last summer. The gray son of Maria's Mon earned $45,000 for the win, and heads to the series second test, the $75,000 National Hunt Cup, May 21 at Radnor, Pa. The Steeplechase Triple Crown is restricted to novice hurdlers, who are in their first or second season of racing over jumps.
The winner is named after a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania and was bred in Maryland by Bonita Farm and Kennard Warfield.

Kinsman Stable's Bellamy Road, the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:02 4/5 at Churchill Downs Thursday morning. It was the colt's first work since his 17 1/2-length romp in the Wood Memorial (gr. I) April 9.
In the Wood, Bellamy Road, a son of Concerto, set a new stakes record and equaled Riva Ridge's track record of 1:47 flat. This effort came following a 15 3/4-length score in a Gulfstream allowance race in his 3-year-old debut and first start for trainer Nick Zito.
In Thursday's work, Zito was able to harness the colt's brilliant speed, not wanting him to do too much following his sensational performance in the Wood, in which he earned a 120 Beyer Speed Figure.
Following fractions of :13 1/5, :25 4/5, and :38, Bellamy Road, according to Churchill Downs clockers, went his final two splits in an unusual :11 4/5 and :13 before galloping out in 1:16 2/5 with an additional eighth in :13 2/5.
"It was exactly what I was looking for," Zito said. "He looked good all the way around, and I got him galloping out in 1:15 4/5."
In regard to the contrasting closing splits, Zito said. "I worked him around both turns, so the points of call were not at the normal poles. We all had his closing eighth in :11 and change. It was a great work and Carlos (Correa) did it perfectly."
Zito said he has a top rider pretty much lined up for Andromeda's Hero, but there is nothing official yet.

NEW YORK -- Acey Deucey continued her emergence within the 3-year-old filly ranks Saturday afternoon with a rousing victory in the $150,000 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct.
The New York-bred has won two of her last three, including the Dearly Precious Stakes at Aqueduct in February at 24-1.
The price was much shorter in the one-mile Comely where Acey Deucey passed the test in her first run beyond seven furlongs.
The added distance proved crucial, giving jockey Diane Nelson time to find clear running room. Acey Deucey, clocked in 1:35.95 on the fast track, gave trainer John Morrison his first graded stakes victory.
Acey Deucey earned $90,000 for owner Jeffrey Tucker and paid $9, $4.20 and $3. Seeking The Ante paid $11.80 and $5.70 with Pleasant Chimes returning $2.70 to show.
Acey Deucey was stuck in traffic turning for home before Nelson angled the filly to the far outside. Acey Deucey responded with a bold rush to storm past Seeking The Ante, the other New York-bred in the Grade 2 stakes, by a half length, followed by Pleasant Chimes, the 2-1 favorite.
"When I turned for home, I said 'Something's got to open up,''' Nelson said. "I just had to wait and get out. She wants to run that way, she wants to sit and wait.''
Last Toots battled for the lead before fading to fourth. A commanding winner of her last two at Philadelphia Park, Last Toots was sent out by the Smarty Jones team: jockey Stewart Elliott, trainer John Servis and owners Patricia and Roy Chapman.
Last Toots was followed by Quite A Ruckus, Secrets Galore, Bright Mahogany and Toll Taker.
Scott Lake, second in victories in the national training standings behind Steve Asmussen, won three races on the Aqueduct card. Lake won with Private Boot in the first, Stonewood in the third and Euro Code in the fourth.

Silent Witness added his name to a pantheon of greats by winning his 16th race without a defeat Sunday in the Group 1, $576,900 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin.
The streak equals that of Silent Witness's great grandsire, Ribot, for most lifetime races without a loss in the modern era and ties the record shared by American champions Citation and Cigar.
Breaking from post 13 in a field of 14 in the six-furlong turf event, the 1-20 Silent Witness laid three lengths off the pace in the early stages. He eased into the lead under jockey Felix Coetzee at the three-sixteenth pole and soon went clear to score by 1 3/4 lengths over Tiber. Australian Group 1 winner Cape of Good Hope finished another two lengths back in third.
"He was amazing," Coetzee said of Silent Witness. "He just switched off. They tried to ease the tempo in front on the turn, but I didn't let him break his stride, and he just cruised up there and away he went."
Silent Witness, who has now won eight Group 1 races, set or matched two other records Sunday. His time for six furlongs on good to firm ground equaled Sha Tin's track record of 1:08.40. And in picking up a pair of checks for owners Arthur and Betty da Silva - one of $346,140 for winning the race, a second of $256,400 as a bonus for winning his second straight Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Sprint Series - Silent Witness became the highest-earning horse in the history of racing in the former British colony, surpassing the mark of Indigenous with a lifetime bankroll of $5,786,550.
Trainer Tony Cruz has mapped out a rather ambitious spring program for Silent Witness. Next up will be his first attempt beyond six furlongs, in the seven-furlong Group 2 Queen's Silver Jubilee at Sha Tin on April 24. After that, a decision will be made about whether to step him up to a mile for the newly conceived Asian Mile Challenge, which comprises the Group 1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin on May 14 and the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen on June 5 at Tokyo, in which he would be making his first start away from Sha Tin.