Belmont Stakes News

The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played, the Statue of Liberty's pieces arrive in New York Harbor, Father's Day is celebrated for the first time, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed, and "Garfield" debuts, all on this day.

Dr. Jon LaPook recalls watching Secretariat become the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years at the 1973 Belmont Stakes.

Through the remainder of the year, I am going to recount some of my most memorable experiences/moments in racing over the past 40 years.

Night School, the racing industry's free national online fan education program, offers the first of two consecutive "Newbie Tuesdays" lessons with a full-length feature video on the basics of handicapping with a Q&A session to follow starting at 8:30 p.m. at www.ustrotting.com .

The $148,500 Grade III Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sunday was billed as a definitive prep for the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational for both Preakness Stakes runner-up Itsmyluckyday and Wood Memorial winner Verrazano.

Jockey Gary Stevens has certainly made the most of his two victories at the current meet at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Notacatbutallama found his way back to the winner's circle for the first time since last November and added a grade to his resume in the meantime, rallying to take the $150,000 Hill Prince Stakes .

Two milestones beckon for leading US jockey Johnny Velazquez in the next few days but his desire for one of those targets is blatantly clear.

Paynter, looking superb as he warmed up for his seven-furlong comeback as a 2-5 choice, shook free of leaving the sweeping far turn.

John Velazquez expressed more relief than joy when he guided Galloping Giraffe from last to first to win Belmont's sixth race Friday, giving the jockey his 5,000th career win in North America.

All of my readers must know that my search for "value" often causes me to publicly support horses that are not favored by the public.

In this year's Belmont Stakes, won by Palace Malice, none of the fourteen horses entered were mounted by an African American jockey.

Paynter cruising to an easy victory in last year's Haskell Stakes. He returns to the races Friday after a remarkable journey.

Larry Lederman is from Manhattan, but until last Friday had been to Grand Central Terminal only once in his life.

This spring's Triple Crown season is now in the books, but there are plenty of good reasons to keep horse racing on your radar for the remainder of the year.

Eclipse Award-winning jockey Ramon Dominguez announced his retirement from riding Thursday morning, saying injuries sustained in a Jan. 18 spill prevent him from continuing the profession he loves.

Thoroughbred trainer Kenny McPeek is a busy guy. He is a top-end conditioner that won the 2002 Belmont Stakes with Sarava at odds of 70-1, ending the Triple Crown bid of War Emblem.

Award winners Jill Loveland and Anne Broderick led a large contingent of runners from Hicksville who successfully completed the 2nd annual Belmont Stakes Blue Ribbon 5K Run for Prostate Cancer on June 2. Loveland was the first woman in the 25-29 age group to cross the finish line with a time of 23 minutes, 19 seconds.

Runners from the local area earned numerous awards in the Belmont Stakes 5K. Shari Klarfeld of Plainview was the second woman overall to cross the finish line, scoring in 19 minutes, 55 seconds.

We're not positive when this meme started, but some nincompoop had the bright idea of tweeting as top thoroughbred horses on Twitter - i.e. taking on the personality of the horse and tweeting updates from the apparently 13-year-old girl-esque equine point of view.