Blood-Horse

Top horses most assuredly are still being trained in California, especially when it comes to classic-type dirt horses.

With a smart front-end score in the $300,000 Poker Stakes (G3T) on the inner turf June 5 at Saratoga Race Course, Donegal Momentum added another accomplishment to his ever-building résumé.

Favored Future Is Now obtained the hole necessary to secure running room in the $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes (G2T), but Pipsy had the speed and the heart.

Spendthrift Farm-based freshman sire Yaupon saw the first stakes winner of his career June 5 when Sassy C W blitzed four other juvenile fillies to post a three-length victory in the $145,500 Astoria Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

Ten-time Epsom Oaks (G1)-winning trainer Aidan O'Brien sends out a strong trio, led by Minnie Hauk, to oppose One Thousand Guineas (G1) winner and favorite Desert Flower in this year's race.

With Spirit of St Louis in the June 7 Manhattan Stakes (G1T) and undefeated Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Good Cheer in the June 6 Acorn Stakes (G1), there's plenty of attention on their sire, Medaglia d'Oro, at this year's Belmont Stakes weekend.

Maryland's Fair Hill Training Center will replace its seven-furlong Tapeta Footings track this summer, an upgrade from one of the synthetic surface's earliest installations to the company's newest iteration Tapeta 13.

Eric Reed, best known as the trainer of 2022 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Rich Strike, has been suspended 15 days and fined $2,500 for a gabapentin positive found in the filly She's a Saint.

Four days before the Metropolitan Handicap (G1), trainer Doug O'Neill admitted to feeling some nerves, though not for the usual horse trainer reasons.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert believes pace will be a determining factor in the chances for his trainee, Rodriguez, in the June 7 Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

The 22nd New Vocations All-Thoroughbred Charity Horse Show Presented by Heider Family Stables raised more than $184,000.

Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 261 selected yearlings for The July Sale, to be held July 8 at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. ET.

Love Cervere, winner of the Take The A Train Stakes, will take on a field of nine in the $175,000 Soaring Softy Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga June 8. Among the entries for the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint is the runner-up in the Take The A Train—Hey Bertie.

Like a human's comfort food, a healthy snack has helped Baeza feel right at home during his preparations for the June 7 Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

Todd Pletcher is no stranger to running a 3-year-old in the Belmont Stakes (G1). But this 157th edition of "The Test of the Champion" is not the typical experience for Pletcher.

No connections are going to celebrate a championship in early June, but the results of big races on the Belmont Stakes weekend cards certainly can put horses in the driver's seat for the second half of the year.

Australasian Oaks (G1) winner Benagil will bid to bounce back from a last-start 10th placing in The Roses (G2) when she lines up in the June 7 Queensland Oaks (G1) at Eagle Farm Racecourse.

There were 10 betting favorites on the June 4 card as the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course opened. But the day also featured what may be remembered as the biggest sentimental favorite of the five-day meet.

LSU Stables—in action with five horses this week at Saratoga, culminating with Far Bridge in the June 7 Manhattan Stakes (G1T)—got off to a quick start June 4 with a victory from Bank Frenzy in the $200,000 Commentator Stakes.

It's the showdown everyone was hoping for June 7 in the $2 million Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course: Sovereignty vs. Journalism.