David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston Forever Young (left) gets in a six-furlong drill over the Churchill track Wednesday. He wears a specially fitted hood in training and races to deal with his dislike of kickback.

Barbara D. Livingston Mike Repole with Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness. He has had two other morning-line favorites for the Derby, Uncle Mo in 2011 and last year with Forte, only to have them scratch prior to the race.

Trainer Jeff Engler sat outside the stall of his 3-year-old Mugatu checking his phone for a text or a call or a social media post that would tell him his horse could run in the Kentucky Derby. It never came.

BALTIMORE – D. Wayne Lukas still remembers coming through the Pimlico stable gate the morning after Codex defeated the Kentucky Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk in the 1980 Preakness and being handed a bag of mail from the security guard.

Despite his narrow victory at 18-1 in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, Mystik Dan was likely going to play the underdog role again in Saturday’s 149th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. That all changed Wednesday morning, when news broke that Muth, who had beaten Mystik Dan seven weeks ago in the Arkansas Derby but was not permitted to run in the Kentucky Derby, had to scratch from the Preakness due to illness.

ELMONT, N.Y. – White Abarrio, the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, worked a strong half-mile Wednesday morning at Belmont that left his connections feeling quite confident heading into the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 8.

Twelve of the 24 Belmont Stakes run since 2000 have been won by horses who ran in but did not win the Kentucky Derby, skipped the Preakness, and came in relatively fresh for the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Dornoch looks to restore somewhat of a tarnished image when he starts as a probable longshot in a field of 10 in Saturday’s $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.

Debra A. Roma Xavier Perez urges Maryland shipper Studlydoright to a 1 3/4-length victory in the Tremont Stakes, the first of 23 stakes on the flat during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Cinderella’s Dream heads a trio of European-based 3-year-old fillies who are seeking North American Grade 1 glory in Saturday’s $500,000 Belmont Oaks at Aqueduct.