Winner of last three starts faces tough Acorn field Betting Belmont Stakes belmont stakes betting online

Winner of last three starts faces tough Acorn fieldBELMONT, N.Y. - The first Saturday in June last year at Belmont Park brings back bad memories for trainer John Servis, who saw his chance of making racing history fall one length short when Smarty Jones was denied the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown by Birdstone.Servis hopes for more pleasant memories on the first Saturday in June this year. That's when Servis returns to Belmont to saddle Round Pond in the $250,000 Acorn Stakes. The Grade 1 Acorn is run at one mile.Round Pond, a daughter of Awesome Again, has won her last three starts, including the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park on April 15. Never intending to run her in the Kentucky Oaks, Servis was pointing Round Pond to the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico on May 20. But upon returning East from Oaklawn, Round Pond got sick and missed some training time, which forced her to miss the Black-Eyed Susan.Since resuming training, Round Pond has put in a solid work tab that includes a five-furlong drill in 57.71 seconds Monday at Philadelphia Park."She's getting better every week,'' Servis said Wednesday from Philadelphia Park. "She's a late May foal and it took a little time for her to come around.''Round Pond didn't debut until February, when she finished third in a six-furlong maiden race at Oaklawn. She caught some traffic trouble that day, but according to Servis, Round Pond galloped out past the field after the wire.Stewart Elliott, who was the regular rider of Smarty Jones, will be here from Monmouth to ride Round Pond.Round Pond will face a solid field that includes Kentucky Oaks runner-up In the Gold, La Troienne winner Seek a Star, Nassau County winner Seeking the Ante, Spinaway and Matron winner Sense of Style, Hollywood Starlet winner Splendid Blended, and Smuggler.Rockport Harbor back in trainingServis reported that Rockport Harbor, his talented 3-year-old colt, galloped Wednesday at Philadelphia Park for the first time since finishing sixth in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 23."He's been training for five days,'' Servis said. "Today we turned him around and galloped him and he went super. We're moving forward.''Rockport Harbor won all four of his starts at 2, but is 0 for 2 this year. His troubles began when he got stepped on during the running of the Remsen last November. Servis was battling problems with Rockport Harbor's right rear foot as well as a blood clot in the colt's neck this spring while trying to get him ready for the Triple Crown. Rockport Harbor finished second in the Rebel Stakes before the Lexington.Regarding the foot, Servis said, "Don't expect that to be an issue the rest of the year.''At the time Rockport Harbor was pulled from the Triple Crown trail, owner Rick Porter and Servis expressed hope he could make races such as the Haskell and Travers later this summer."He usually comes around pretty fast, he's such a big striding horse,'' Servis said. "I don't have any set goals. We'll see how he comes along and choose a spot when we get closer.''

Zito has trained two Kentucky Derby winners Betting Belmont Stakes belmont stakes betting online

Zito has trained two Kentucky Derby winners
NEW YORK -- At long last, trainer Nick Zito will find out what it's like to be inducted into racing's Hall of Fame instead of attending the ceremony and wondering."I remember just about every one of them, and I just loved it," Zito said Tuesday after being elected to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. "I just wanted to know how it would feel someday, like everybody else. Anybody that says they don't want to be in there, they're just not human. It's a great, great honor."Zito, voted into the hall in his eighth year of eligibility, will be inducted Aug. 8 at Saratoga Springs, along with three standouts in steeplechase racing -- jockey Thomas Walsh, trainer Sidney Watters Jr. and five-time champion Lonesome Glory.The two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer acknowledged he was frustrated it took so long to get in."But on the other hand, you have to wait your turn, you have to be humble, and do the right thing and try to realize you're in a great game and the game is bigger than everyone," the 57-year-old Zito said on a conference call. "And I'm not ancient, so that's good. I'm just gratified that I did get this great honor."Zito won the Derby with Strike the Gold in 1991 and Go for Gin in 1994, and also won the 1996 Preakness with Louis Quatorze and the 2004 Belmont Stakes with Birdstone, who played the spoiler's role in Smarty Jones' Triple Crown bid.Under a new voting format, nominees in four racing categories -- trainer, jockey, contemporary male horse and contemporary female horse -- must receive 75 percent of the votes to be elected. Previously, the top vote-getter in each category was elected. Zito was the only one of 20 nominees who received the necessary votes (of the 163 eligible voters, 127 returned ballots).The steeplechase division is separate, with nominees considered every four years and voting done by a 12-person committee.Despite missing out on a chance to win the Derby with a record-tying five horses or the Preakness with a record-equaling three horses this year, Zito has amassed numbers worthy of Hall of Fame recognition.The New Yorker has saddled 1,410 winners in a career that began in 1972, including 83 in graded stakes races, and they have earned $69,333,163 in purse money.“Anybody that says they don't want to be in there, they're just not human. It's a great, great honor ”— Nick ZitoZito had his best earnings year in 2004, when he saddled 86 winners and totaled nearly $7 million in purse money."The Hall of Fame is based on a career," Zito said. "I always try to philosophize life in general ... My disappointment is in the Derby, of course. I'm human. But I must have had some pretty good days, too. Sure it's disappointment, but nothing tops this."During his 12-year riding career that ended in 1967 at the age of 27, Walsh was fifth in victories with 253, including five consecutive wins in the prestigious Grand National Steeplechase. Walsh currently trains horses and is based at Belmont Park.Watters, 87, led or shared the lead in steeplechase victories six times between 1948 and 1971. He led steeplechase trainers in purse money earned three times. He also was a successful flat-race trainer, handling 1983 3-year-old champion Slew o' Gold and 1970 2-year-old champion Hoist the Flag.Lonesome Glory, with 24 wins in 44 career starts in 1991-1999, is steeplechase racing's leading money-earner with $1.4 million.Nominated jockeys who failed to receive the required votes were Eddie Maple, Craig Perret, Randy Romero, Jose Santos and Ismael (Milo) Valenzuela.Contemporary female nominees were Inside Information, Mom's Command, Open Mind, Silverbulletday and Sky Beauty. Contemporary male nominees were Best Pal, Housebuster, Lure, Manila and Silver Charm.Other trainers on the ballot were Dale Baird, Gary Jones, Mel Stute and John Veitch.Zito started out as a hotwalker for Buddy Jacobson and was an assistant trainer for Johnny Campo and LeRoy Jolley before opening a two-horse stable in 1972. His first Grade 1 winner came in 1986 -- Ride Sally win the Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct. Five years later, he was in the winner's circle with Derby winner Strike the Gold, and racing in the Triple Crown events became Zito's primary goal.Zito has sent out 19 starters in the Derby, 16 in the Preakness and 13 in the Belmont. He also has trained two divisional champions, both fillies -- Storm Song in 1996 and Bird Town in 2003.

Afleet Alex Works at Pimlico; Ships to Belmont Saturday Betting Belmont Stakes belmont stakes betting online

Cash is King Stable's Afleet Alex, winner of the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), breezed five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 at Pimlico Wednesday in preparation for the June 11 Belmont Stakes (gr. I). At this point, the colt is expected to arrive in New York on Saturday. The son of Northern Afleet was clocked in fractions of :14, :26 2/5, :38, and :49 4/5 for the half mile. He was caught galloping out six furlongs in 1:14 2/5, pulling up seven panels in 1:29. "He came out of it well and cooled out perfect," trainer Tim Ritchey said. "We scoped him 45 minutes after the work and he scoped clean as can be. Our plan was to start out easy and let him finish strong. It was a maintenance breeze to make sure everything's good with him. After watching that and how he came back, I think we are in good shape." Ritchey had originally planned on vanning to Belmont last Saturday, but decided against it after a suspected case of strangles was discovered. "I'd like to have gotten him to Belmont earlier, because, just like I did here, I wanted to get him over that track as many times as possible," Ritchey said. "But with the suspected strangles there, I was unable to. I didn't want to put his health at risk and would never do that. It's actually been very good at Pimlico, because we're the only ones in the whole barn. It's laid back and he's been able to relax, more so than if he had been at Belmont with all the media attention. "We just have to work with what we've got. Hopefully, I'll be able to ship on Saturday. From what they tell me, it should be OK. I'll train him Saturday morning, get him all done up, then we'll ship there and arrive about 4 or 5 o'clock. They're just waiting for the tests to come back on some horses who were in the same barn as the horse with the suspected case of strangles. From what they're telling me, they're going to put all the horses shipping in for the Belmont in one barn all by themselves, so everybody is away from everybody else. They've been cleaning the barn and disinfecting everything from top to bottom, so I'm sure they'll have everything under control." Afleet Alex and jockey Jeremy Rose narrowly escaped disaster in the Preakness after clipping heels with Scrappy T at the head of the stretch and almost going down. Alex made an amazing recovery, and without missing a beat, went on to score an impressive 4 3/4-length victory. "He'll live in history after that race and he deserves it," said Rose. "That race will be shown for two decades. I don't know how to explain it. There was an unbelievable amount of fear. Obviously we wanted to get come back on our feet and not get run over by anyone. He lost maybe a half-length on Scrappy T and that's it. It was one of those things that you had to be on his back to understand how scary it is." The Belmont at this point looks to be a showdown between Afleet Alex and Kentucky Derby (gr. I) Giacomo, with several others with solid credentials also pointing for the 1 1/2-mile race. "None of them really scare me," Rose said. "All are very nice horses, very accomplished horses. They have to be to run in this race, but as long as Alex is under me, he does the talking. He just does what he does and pretty much silences everybody, especially after the Preakness. Now they are saying he can't go a mile and a half. Do you think it would have mattered in that race? If it were a mile and a half, how many more would we have won by?"