Mo Donegal wins 2022 Belmont Stakes

Mo Donegal won the 154th Belmont Stakes at Bel Mont Park. Irad Ortiz Jr. rode him. Todd Pletcher's other trainee Nest finished second and Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike finished 6th. This is the fourth Bel Monks Stake win for P Fletcher.

This weekend's racing features the Champagne Stakes and the Miss Grillo Stake. Todd Pletcher has won the champagne six times and Chad Brown has been the winning trainer 8 times in the 14 runnings of the race since 2008. Four 2-year-old fillies have won Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf since the 2008 edition. They were Maram (2008), Lady Eli (2014), New Money Honey (2016), and Newspaperofrecord (2018). The filly were trained by Chad. Brown. The colts have been trained in this way by War Pass, Uncle Mo and Shanghai Bobby.

Mo Donegal wins 2022 Belmont Stakes. Todd Pletcher has won the Champagne Stake a record-setting six times since 2004. Chad Brown has been the winning trainer 8 times in the 14 runnings of the Miss Grillo since 2008.

The Champagne Stakes is one of the two "Win and You're In" races for the 2022 Breeders' Cup. Brad Cox is the trainer of Verifying, who won at Saratoga. Steve Asmussen is closing in on 10,000 career wins. Chad Brown has won the Champ champagne in 3 of last 6 years. Blazing Sevens is a son of Good Magic, the 2017 Breeder's Cup Juvenile winner. Todd Pletcher will not enter Forte in the race, because he plans to enter him in BreedERS' Futurity next Saturday at Keeneland.

2021 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox is likely to start Verifying. Steve Asmussen will send out Gulfport, a very impressive son of Uncle Mo. Chad Brown has won the Champagne in 3 of the last 6 runnings. Blazing Sevens is a son from Good Magic, the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner. Forte, trained by Todd Pletcher, will not enter in the race. He will enter the horse in Breeder”s Futurity next Saturday at Keeneland.

Chad Brown is likely to enter Free Look in the Miss Grillo Stakes. Be Your Best and Pleasant Passage are also to watch. The horses are lightly-raced 2-year-olds. They are running for something other than purse money. They will win their way into two Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday. Mo Donegal won the 2022 Belmont Stake.

Gulfstream Park announced the schedule for the 2022-23 Championship Meet. The Pegasus World Cup Invitational is on Jan. 28. Gulfstream’s Championship meet runs from Dec. 26 through April 2. It features 60 stakes races worth a combined $13.6 million. The Kentucky Derby prep race, the $1 million Florida Derby, will be run on April 1. Other top 3-year-old preps at Gulf Stream in early 2023 include the Mucho Macho Man on January 1, Holy Bull on Feb. 4 and Fountain of Youth on March 4.