Triple Crown becomes tale of rest rather than racing

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter, who came up just shy of Grade 1 glory twice this spring in the Triple Crown, secured both his first top-level victory and a place at the top of the sophomore division with an emphatic 5 1/4-length victory under Joel Rosario in the 153rd renewal of the 10-furlong Grade 1, $1.25 million…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - For the first time since 2017, the Kentucky Derby winner will participate in the Travers Stakes. Rich Strike, who delivered the 80-1 Derby shocker, will be joined in the Travers field by another Classic winner in Preakness Stakes victor Early voting. Neither of the Triple Crown race winners, however, will be the favorite when the…

The Travers is a mile-and-a-quarter challenge over the dirt surface at Saratoga, sometimes known as "The Graveyard of Favorites," for the number of stars who have lost at The Spa. Temperatures Saturday are expected to be in the 70's with very little chance of rain. The race will be televised by Fox with post time slated for 5:44 pm ET. Because…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Epicenter has been installed as the morning-line favorite for the $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course as he prepares to face the rivals who beat him in the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes just over three weeks ago at Saratoga and runnerup to Rich Strike in…

Runner-up as the favorite in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Epicenter headlines a field of eight set for Saturday's 153rd edition of the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the son of Not This Time comes into the Mid-summer Derby off a good-looking victory over the track in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy last…

Trainer Chad Brown will look to continue his rocket start at the Saratoga Race Course summer meet when saddling Grade 1-winners Early Voting and Zandon for Saturday's 59th renewal of the Grade 2, $600000 Jim Dandy for 3-year-olds going nine furlongs on the main track. The Jim Dandy is the traditional local prep for the Grade 1, $1.25…

NEW YORK - Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike is the third betting choice on the morning line for the Belmont Stakes, with Triple Crown newcomer We the People installed as the favorite. Rich Strike opened at 7-2 odds and drew the fourth post position in a field of eight horses for the 1 1/2-mile third leg of the Triple Crown. We the People drew the…

NEW YORK (AP) - Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike is the third betting choice on the morning line for the Belmont Stakes, with Triple Crown newcomer We the People installed as the favorite. Rich Strike opened at 7-2 odds and drew the fourth post position in a field of eight horses for the 1 1/2-mile third leg of the Triple Crown. We the People drew…

NEW YORK (AP) - Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike is the third betting choice on the morning line for the Belmont Stakes, with Triple Crown newcomer We the People installed as the favorite. Rich Strike opened at 7-2 odds and drew the fourth post position in a field of eight horses for the 1 1/2-mile third leg of the Triple Crown. We the People drew…

We'll never know if Rich Strike could have won the Triple Crown. That's because the Kentucky Derby-winning colt didn't participate in the Preakness Stakes last month, ensuring that Justify (2018) would remain the most recent horse to win all three of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. However, Rich Strike could go 2-for-2 at Triple Crown…

We're just over two weeks out before the 154th running of Triple Crown's third leg. Belmont Stakes will take place on June 11, 2022, at the same historic place, Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The Preakness Stakes was run without the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Rich Strike. Rick Dawson, Rich Strike's owner, felt the colt needed a break after his…

May 23 (UPI) -- Triple Crown trail? This year, it's more like a Triple Crown maze, with lots of rest stops along the way. First, Rich Strike snuck into the Kentucky Derby field at the last possible moment, then snuck up the rail in the final furlong to win at 80-1 odds. A Triple Crown champ in the making? No. He quickly was ruled out of the second…

Early Voting won the 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday. However, the Chad C. Brown-trained horse might not be the favorite next month to win at the Belmont Stakes in Belmont, New York. Early Voting held off pushes from both Epicenter and Creative Minister to capture the victory in Baltimore. That…

BALTIMORE - There is a narrative awaiting oxygen in which the Preakness is just a very big horse race in the middle of May. In which it is not dependent on the bigger race that precedes it or tethered to the sometimes-bigger race that follows; and not described disparagingly in terms of which horses are not participating, rather than glowingly in…

Early Voting has been crowned the winner of the 2022 Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Early Voting had 5-1 odds to win the race after beginning in the fifth post position. Epicenter, the early favorite with 6-5 odds, came in second and Creative Minister finished third. Armagnac, the biggest longshot in the Preakness, held the…

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- With Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike skipping over Pimlico Race Course, the 147th Preakness Stakes does not have the usual buzz surrounding a potential 14th Triple Crown winner. But as the name suggests, there are only three of these horse races every year, and even if there isn't a horse with a chance to sweep the historic…

The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown but this year any chance of a thoroughbred winning all three events has been nixed. Rich Strike's handlers announced last week that the Kentucky Derby winner will not go forth with the Preakness Stakes, opting to give the colt some rest ahead of June's Belmont Stakes. Rick…

Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter was set Monday as the 6-5 morning line favorite for the Preakness Stakes, which will be run without Rich Strike. The surprise Derby winner at 80-1 is not in the field of nine for Saturday's $1.65 million race. Rich Strike's owner felt the two-week turnaround did not give the colt enough rest and plans to enter him…

BALTIMORE (AP) - Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter was set Monday as the 6-5 morning line favorite for the Preakness Stakes, which will be run without Rich Strike. The surprise Derby winner at 80-1 is not in the field of nine for Saturday's $1.65 million race. Rich Strike's owner felt the two-week turnaround did not give the colt enough rest and…

The Preakness Stakes will have a tough time living up to the excitement of the Kentucky Derby. Rich Strike won the first leg of the Triple Crown at 80-1 odds, becoming the longest shot to win the Kentucky Derby since Donerail at 91-1 in 1913. But Rich Strike won't be going for the Triple Crown, bypassing the Preakness in favor of the Belmont Stakes…

The vast majority of Kentucky Derby winners are subsequently favored to win the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown two Saturdays later, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore. Rick Strike won this year's Derby at 80/1 odds, the second-biggest upset in the history of the Run for the Roses. Rich Strike was not favored in Baltimore,…

There will be no Triple Crown champion this year after the owner of the Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike announced Thursday that his colt would skip the Preakness Stakes and run instead in the Belmont Stakes. The owner, Rick Dawson, said Rich Strike came out of the Derby in fine shape on Saturday. But he said that he and the trainer, Eric Reed,…

In 1919, Sir Barton became the first of 13 horses to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, capturing what would become known as the Triple Crown, horse racing's most cherished and elusive prize. Before the Kentucky Derby is run each spring, every trainer, owner, jockey and bettor dreams of a Triple…

Owner Rick Dawson announced Thursday that Rich Strike will skip the Preakness on May 21 at Pimlico and aim for a return in the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont on June 11. Dawson said the plan before the Kentucky Derby was to give Rich Strike "more recovery time and rest and run in the Belmont or another race and stay on course to run…