Casino Drive Out
Casino Drive is an early scratch from this afternoon’s Belmont Stakes due to a bruised left hind hoof:
Racing manager Nobutaka Tada said Casino Drive was fine during a three-furlong jog early Saturday, but he appeared to be favoring the hoof while receiving a bath following the workout.
The injury, initially reported on Friday, is considered minor.
10:15 a.m. oddity: TwinSpires accurately shows Casino Drive as scratched and won’t process a bet on the horse, but NYRA’s online wagering service currently shows Casino Drive at 5-1 and did let me bet $2 to win on #5. Wow, that seems like an oversight and a problem. I guess I’ll look for a refund sometime this afternoon, when NYRA online finally catches up with NYRA scratches …
Belmont Day Live
Handicapping and blogging, beginning around 11:00 a.m.
Belmont Post Positions
| PP | Horse | Jockey | ML |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Brown | Desormeaux | 2-5 |
| 2 | Guadacanal | Castellano | 50-1 |
| 3 | Macho Again | Gomez | 20-1 |
| 4 | Denis of Cork | Albarado | 12-1 |
| 5 | Casino Drive | Prado | 7-2 |
| 6 | Da’ Tara | Garcia | 30-1 |
| 7 | Tale of Ekati | Coa | 20-1 |
| 8 | Anak Nakal | Leparoux | 30-1 |
| 9 | Ready’s Echo | Velazquez | 30-1 |
| 10 | Icabad Crane | Rose | 20-1 |
A surprise entrant, favored Big Brown in post one — intrigue!
Big Brown Preps
Big Brown breezed five furlongs in 1:00.03, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40, shortly after the renovation break at Belmont this morning. A crowd of onlookers observed the move, which was done without a patch on Big Brown’s cracked front hoof (final repairs are planned for Friday) and elicited predictable praise from trainer Rick Dutrow — “We’re very happy with things right now” (Blood-Horse). Questions and concerns burble elsewhere, adding intrigue to Saturday’s foregone conclusion. NYRA expects to draw a field of nine on Wednesday for the Belmont Stakes, but don’t look for an afternoon post position draw show with Jerry Bailey, connection interviews, or swooshy graphics on ESPN2. In keeping with NYRA’s oddly low-key approach to promoting a possibly historic race, the draw is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and will appear on ESPNEWS sans hoopla.
Still the Standard
Secretariat, that is. (Forgive the self-promotional link, it’s not every day I get quoted in the company of such luminaries as William Nack and Ed Bowen.)
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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