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Sunday’s Racing Insights

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2nd-BEL, $64K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:50 p.m.

Wesley Ward has a pair of Keeneland-based juveniles entered in this spot. Breeze Easy’s Roderick (Into Mischief) was a $550,000 KEESEP yearling and is a full-brother to two-turn GSW One Liner. He hails from the extended female family of highest-level winners Albertus Maximus, Daredevil and King Charlemagne. Roderick’s stablemate Copley (Air Force Blue) is from a Ned Evans family that includes the likes of Grade I winners Swagger Jack and Malibu Prayer. Winfromwithin (Into Mischief), just a $100,000 September yearling, was produced by a half-sister to turf MGSW and MGISP Shakis (Ire) (Machiavellian). Zebra Cake (Runhappy), yet another September buy ($200,000), is out of a half to GSW Mo Tom (Uncle Mo) and SW and MGISP juvenile Beautician (Dehere). Further down the page is talented GII Black-Eyed Susan S. winner Red Ruby (Tiznow). Peter Vegso homebred Berhanu (The Factor) is out of a debut and stakes-winning full-sister to GSW juvneile Aegean (Northern Afleet). TJCIS PPs

3rd-SA, $50K, Msw, 2yo, 4 1/2f, 4:30 p.m.

Doug O’Neill-trained Ambivalent (Constitution) was a $95,000 KEESEP yearling turned $550,000 OBS March juvenile–the fourth-highest price paid at that auction–off a powerful :20 4/5 breeze. The Reddam Racing colorbearer is a grandson of MGSW turfer Roshani (Fantastic Light). TJCIS PPs

11th-SA, $50K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 8:33 p.m.

Bob Baffert will saddle a pair of well-bred fillies here. Newcomer Provocation (Into Mischief), a $350,000 OBS April pick-up last year (:20 3/5), is out of GISW Meadow Breeze (Meadowlake), making her a half to ‘TDN Rising Star‘ and turf GSW Magic Star (Scat Daddy) and GISP juvenile Royal Copy (Bodemeister). Meadow Breeze is half to GISW Overanalyze (Dixie Union), GISP Majesto (Tiznow) and GSP Mighty Monsoon (Forestry). Grand Farm Family’s Himiko (American Pharoah), a $1-million Fasig-Tipton November weanling, was eighth with some trouble when debuting in a turf sprint here May 16. She’s a half to the talented GISW and fellow Baffert pupil Bodemeister (Empire Maker). GSW and GISP dam Untouched Talent (Storm Cat), a $5,000,000 Fasig-Tipton November seller in 2012, is also responsible for MGISP Fascinating (Smart Strike). Himiko shares a second dam in MGSW Parade Queen (A.P. Indy) with last week’s GI Ogden Phipps S. heroine She’s a Julie (Elusive Quality).TJCIS PPs

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Cut Back To Seven Furlongs, No Parole Takes Them All The Way In Woody Stephens

Maggi Moss' Louisiana-bred 3-year-old No Parole absolutely dominated state-bred competition in his first three starts, leading to Triple Crown hopes for the son of Violence. A failed experiment in the G2 Rebel quickly convinced trainer Tom Amoss that the colt preferred shorter distances, and No Parole rebounded with a six-furlong allowance score at Oaklawn in his next start.

That victory convinced Amoss to try sprinting the colt against Grade 1 company, and this time the experiment was successful. On Saturday, No Parole led the field from gate-to-wire to win the G1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park, completing seven furlongs over the fast main track in 1:21.41. Ridden by Luis Saez, the 3-1 chance No Parole defeated runner-up Echo Town by about four lengths.

No Parole broke well from the rail and immediately took up a one-length lead over his four rivals, settling in for fractions of :22.31 and :45.01. Post-time favorite Meru (2-1) chased from second, while Mischevious Alex, Echo Town, and Shoplifted all maintained relatively close order up the backstretch.

Mischevious Alex moved up to second around the far turn, and Shoplifted made a three-wide move from the rear of the field to threaten as well. Meanwhile, Echo Town moved up the rail to put himself in contention heading into the lane.

Saez shook the reins at No Parole and despite never changing leads, the colt pulled away toward the wire for an easy victory. Echo Town kept grinding at the rail to get up for second, while Shoplifted held third over Mischevious Alex. Favorite Meru finished last.

Bred in Louisiana by Coteau Grove Farms, No Parole is out of the stakes-winning Bluegrass Cat mare Plus One. Moss paid $75,000 for the colt as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale, and in his first start in December of his juvenile season, No Parole won by 14 1/4 lengths. His second start was similar, winning a first-level allowance at the Fair Grounds by 13 1/4 lengths.

Amoss shipped the colt to Delta Downs to run in the Louisiana-bred Premier Night Prince Stakes over a mile, and he won by 6 1/2 lengths at the finish. After his eighth-place effort in the Rebel, No Parole won an allowance at Oaklawn by 2 3/4 lengths.

Overall, No Parole's record stands at five wins from six starts, with earnings of $300,000.

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Vincent Viola: ‘The Belmont Is Absolutely The Race That I Covet The Most’

As a horse racing enthusiast, owner, and a native New Yorker, Vincent Viola holds the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes in the highest of regards. When asked by friends and family which race he most wants to win, he said he holds the American Classic at Belmont Park in the same regard as the Kentucky Derby.

Viola was able to cross the “Run for the Roses” off the checklist when Always Dreaming took him and numerous other owners, including wife Teresa Viola and fellow Brooklynite Anthony Bonomo, on a memorable ride in winning the 2017 Kentucky Derby. Two years later, the successful businessman again found himself heading to the winner's circle on one of the racing's biggest days when Vino Rosso, whom he co-owned with Repole Stable, captured the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita en route to earning the Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Male.

But when Dr Post goes into the starting gate for Saturday's 152nd edition of the Belmont Stakes, he'll be attempting to give his owner a victory in the race that he holds the nearest and dearest to his heart.

“The Belmont is absolutely the race that I covet the most,” Viola said. “The race has a fantastic tradition. It's a different race this year given the circumstances at hand, but it still carries the history and memories of fantastic editions in the past. I've always put the Belmont right up there with the Kentucky Derby.”

Owned by Viola's St. Elias Stable, which is a nod to his father's middle name, Dr Post will be a second Belmont Stakes contender for Viola, who launched the electronic market making company Virtu Financial in 2008, five years before becoming owner of the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers.

Frequent visits to Belmont Park and Aqueduct as a child with his father piqued Viola's interest in the sport of kings.

“I went to the racetrack as a young man with my dad regularly,” Viola recalled. “My dad taught me how to calculate odds, watch odds and figure out the impact of money in the mutuel pools, so from a mathematics and handicapping standpoint he taught me a lot about the game. I've been a real fan of the sport, but I never imagined that I would own a horse or help manage horses at this level. I would say it was a childhood romance. It's a heart and soul sport, I just wish more people would be blessed with opportunity to be introduced to it.”

Viola got his first taste of being a part of the Belmont Stakes when Vino Rosso ran fourth to Triple Crown-winner Justify in 2018.

Though light on experience, Dr Post gives his connections reason to believe a celebration could be imminent as he enters this year's Belmont Stakes – his graded stakes debut – having demonstrated noticeable progression in each of his three career starts.

Highly regarded early on, the dark bay son of Quality Road was fourth as the favorite on debut at Belmont Park in July, where he finished behind subsequent stakes winners Green Light Go and Another Miracle.

“We were very excited about Dr Post's maiden opportunity. He didn't run to his form and was training a lot better than he ran that day,” Viola said. “He may have hung a little bit but when we did work on him. We saw he was a little banged up. He's always been mature, easy to train, very professional. He's almost so talented that he measures up to the challenge at hand and taking our time with him proved to be the right thing to do.”

Since returning off the bench, the lightly raced Dr Post has rewarded that patience by scoring two victories this year at Gulfstream Park. After breaking his maiden on March 29 following a nearly nine-month layoff, he handled his first two-turn test with aplomb, capturing the Unbridled Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on April 25.

“If you watch his maiden win, he was really perfectly mature in the race,” Viola said. “If you watch the Unbridled Stakes, which was a decent field, he did not have an easy time and he displayed a tenacity and a real champion's heart that I hope carries him forward. People are down on the quality of the field this year, but I think these are some good horses. It's a well-stocked race. I'd love to run against [Grade 1 winners] Maxfield and Charlatan for sure, but it wasn't meant to be.”

Dr Post is named after Viola's family doctor, for whom his father was a patient, and has become close to Viola's family over the years.

“He really was a saving grace in my father's life. He had heart disease and he kept him healthy for 20 years. He became my doctor and he's really become more than just a doctor for me,” Viola said.

Dr Post , listed at 5-1 on the morning line, will attempt to make Viola's dream a reality when breaking from post 9 under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

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Weekend Lineup: Belmont Stakes Kicks Off American Triple Crown

For the first time in history, the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes will serve as the first leg of the American Triple Crown when the classic takes place on June 20. The Belmont Stakes, which will be contested at 1 1/8-miles instead of its typical 12 furlongs, is one of six graded stakes and four Grade 1s on Belmont Park's Saturday card and will offer 150-60-30-15 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

NBC will broadcast the 152nd Belmont Stakes with coverage of it stakes-laden card beginning at 2:45 p.m. ET. NBC will also broadcast the Royal Ascot meet on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

For the first time since it began in 2016, America's Day at the Races will air Saturday's Belmont Stakes Day coverage, with several major races preceding the Belmont Stakes to be shown on the networks of FOX Sports starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. FOX Sports will offer 4 ½-hours of live coverage, which will sandwich NBC's live broadcast of Belmont Stakes Day from 2:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

HRRN's Belmont Stakes broadcast will air from 4:30-6 p.m. ET, and will be preceded by a 30-minute broadcast of the Acorn on the Belmont undercard beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

Saturday June 20

12:25 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex, who captured the Grade 3 Gotham last out on March 7 for trainer John Servis, headlines the seven-furlong Woody Stephens. The Into Mischief bay, bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, arrives at Saturday's test for sophomores on a three-race streak that includes scores in the Parx Juvenile in November and the Grade 3 Swale in February at Gulfstream Park ahead of his Gotham glory. Undefeated since the addition of blinkers for his Parx Juvenile score, Mischevious Alex boasts a record of 7-4-1-1 with purse earnings of $344,230.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA2-EQB.html

1:42 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader headlines the Pennine Ridge over the Widener turf. Owned by Terry Finley's West Point Thoroughbreds in partnership with William T. Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, Decorated Invader took Gulfstream Park's Cutler Bay on March 28 in his most recent start. The son of Declaration of War hit the gate at the break and was 15 lengths off the pace before making a five-wide move at the top of the stretch to garner a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory for trainer Christophe Clement.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA4-EQB.html

3:01 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

Robert and Lawana Low's graded stakes winner Sweet Melania will attempt to keep her consistent record intact when she returns off a seven-and-a-half month layoff in Saturday's Wonder Again at Belmont Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Sweet Melania, a chestnut daughter of American Pharoah, graduated in July at third asking in a 1 1/16-mile turf tilt at Saratoga Race Course. She followed up a month later at the Spa with a strong effort in the P.G. Johnson when second, by a neck, to Crystalle ahead of a front-running 5 1/2-length score in the Grade 2 Jessamine on October 9 at Keeneland. She completed a lengthy 2-year-old campaign in November with a prominent third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA6-EQB.html

4:02 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

A recent winner of two consecutive graded stakes, trainer Jonathan Wong's rapidly improving Keeper Ofthe Stars will square off with Neil Drysdale's classy comebacker Toinette as they head a field of seven fillies and mares in Saturday's Wilshire Stakes at one mile over the Santa Anita turf. A half length winner of the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at one mile on turf February 22, this 4-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute came back to score the biggest win of her career on May 25, taking the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes by 1 ¼ lengths.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062020USA2-EQB.html

4:15 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

Tracy Farmer's Grade 1-winner Perfect Alibi has been ready to debut her 3-year-old form for the better part of the last few months. On Saturday, Belmont Stakes Day, the daughter of Sky Mesa will finally get the chance to take some tangible steps forward in her progress when she headlines a field of seven sophomore fillies in the Acorn Stakes. When Perfect Alibi heads to post in the Acorn – which has produced such divisional champions as Abel Tasman (2017) and Monomoy Girl (2018) in recent seasons – it will mark the first competitive outing for the dark bay filly since her fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park on November 1.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA8-EQB.html

4:53 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

An eclectic field of eight turf sprinters has lined up for Jaipur Stakes, which features a pair from the barn of Christophe Clement, a quartet of West Coast invaders and the star-crossed Hidden Scroll. Chief among the motley crew assembled for the Jaipur is the elder statesman Pure Sensation, who goes out for Clement and owner Patricia Generazio as he makes his 9-year-old debut off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint to close out 2019. No stranger to this race, the gray Zensational gelding won the Jaipur in 2016, finished fourth in 2017 and third in 2018. Though he missed the Jaipur last year, he still put together a productive campaign which included wins in a pair of Grade 3 events at Parx Racing and an ungraded stake at Penn National.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA9-EQB.html

5:01 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2

Gaining Ground Racing's three-time stakes winner Factor This will lead a field of 11 older horses that entered Saturday's 31st running of the Wise Dan Stakes on the turf. Factor This, a previous $62,500 claim in 2018, has won five races with trainer Brad Cox, including back-to-back stakes victories in the Grade 3 Fair Grounds and Grade 2 Muniz Memorial. The 5-year-old son of The Factor has been working consistently over the turf course at Churchill Downs with his pilot Shaun Bridgmohan aboard.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD062020USA9-EQB.html

5:42 p.m.—$1,000,000 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

A history-making Saturday will see the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park serve as the Triple Crown's first leg for the first time in history. Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law headlines the 10-horse field, and will look to become the first NY-bred in 138 years to win the American Classic. The Barclay Tagg trainee is the race's only multiple graded stakes winner and has already registered a pair of Grade 1 triumphs, starting with his only previous Belmont Park appearance when he followed a debut win by posting a four-length victory in the Champagne in October. Tiz the Law, the No. 1-ranked horse on the NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll, has continued to train forwardly at Belmont, including a half-mile breeze in :50.42 seconds over Big Sandy on Sunday in his last work before the start of Triple Crown season.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA10-EQB.html

7:32 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN

Fresh off a huge allowance score going six furlongs, trainer Mark Glatt's talented Collusion Illusion will stretch out a half-furlong and make his second start off an extended vacation as he heads Saturday's Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita. The Barrera, named for the late Hall of Fame trainer, has attracted a field of five sophomores going 6 ½ furlongs. Bob Baffert's speedy Ragtime Blues, a winner of his last two starts, will get the first time services of Mike Smith and also figures prominently in what will be his fourth career start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062020USA9-EQB.html

Sunday June 21

4:09 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Sovereign Award-winning Summer Sunday, owned by Anne and William Scott, makes her five-year-old debut in the Whimsical Stakes. A seven-time winner from 11 starts, Summer Sunday takes on nine rivals, including graded stakes champion Jean Elizabeth, in the six-furlong Whimsical. Trained by Stuart Simon, Summer Sunday won three of six 2019 starts, including the Grade 2 Royal North Stakes, en route to Sovereign honors as Canada's champion female sprinter.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO062120CAN7-EQB.html

6 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN

A pair of long fused veterans, California-bred Ward 'n Jerry and Kentucky-bred Red King, third in last year's running, head a field of eight 3-year-olds and up on the turf in the San Juan Capistrano. The 81st renewal of the San Juan, Santa Anita's traditional closing day feature, will again include a hillside start at the top the Camino Real Turf Course. A homebred 7-year-old gelding by the late Lucky Pulpit, Ward 'n Jerry rates top billing in a wide open affair in which just one of the runners have ever run this far. Although he was most recently a non-threatening fifth in the Crystal Water Stakes at one mile on turf June 6, he took the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes by an impressive 1 ¼ lengths two starts back on March 21.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062120USA6-EQB.html

8 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

In a field replete with classy veterans returning off extended vacations, Richard Mandella's fast-improving Border Town seeks his third consecutive win in Sunday's American Stakes. Trainer Mark Glatt will be well represented by multiple graded stakes winner Sharp Samurai, who has been idle since August 18, and Phil D'Amato will send out a pair of classy comebackers, multiple Grade 1-winner Bowies Hero, idle since November 2, and graded stakes winning Cleopatra's Strike, who's been idle 4 ½ months.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062120USA10-EQB.html

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