The second Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga has wrapped up, and in this post and the next four, I will share some favorite photos that I took. Once again, I was shooting for The Saratoga Special, which was an enjoyable and rewarding experience. In this post, I will share morning photos of the runners in races during the five-day festival, noting how they fared in their respective races.
There’s nothing quite like watching the horses exercise in the morning at the Oklahoma Track. Can you spot Sovereignty? He’s the one on the left.
Todd Pletcher-trained Noble Confessor, graded stakes placed but still a maiden, ran fourth in a downgraded off the turf Pennine Ridge Stakes on Belmont day.
There he is in all his glory, Sovereignty! The Kentucky Derby winner trained up to the Belmont at Saratoga, and it must have done him good, because he won.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott opted not to run Sovereignty in the Preakness Stakes in favor of having him rested up for the Belmont. The choice was not popular with racing fans hoping to see another Triple Crown, but in the end, the colt showed everyone he’s the best three-year-old in the country, Preakness or not.
Travers winner Fierceness was a favorite going into the Grade I Met Mile on Belmont day, but had to settle for second, as west coast shipper Raging Torrent pulled off the upset.
White Abarrio, who just surpassed $7 million in earnings, ran fourth in the Met Mile.
Stakes winner T Kraft finished fifth in the Grade I Woody Stephens Stakes on Belmont day in his graded stakes debut.
Gate to Wire finished sixth in the Woody Stephens.
Preakness winner Journalism shipped to Saratoga from Pimlico to train for the Belmont. While he didn’t win, finishing first or second in all three Triple Crown races, as he did, is still commendable.
Journalism co-owner Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trainer Michael McCarthy were in town to see the colt breeze in preparation for the Belmont.
Heart of Honor, making only his second start in the U.S., finished sixth in the Belmont.
Multiple graded stakes winner Scylla finished second to Ways and Means in the Grade II Bed o’ Roses Stakes on Belmont Friday.
Multiple Grade I winner Raging Sea ran third in the Grade I Ogden Phipps Stakes.
Kentucky Derby third place finisher Baeza settled into the barn of D. Wayne Lukas (who, unfortunately, will not be stabled at the Spa this summer) as trainer John Shirreffs watched over the Belmont contender, who eventually finished third once again.
Madaket Road, Citizen Bull, and Rodriguez formed the Bob Baffert contingent at Belmont. The former two finished second and fourth, respectively, in the Woody Stephens, and the latter finished fourth in the Belmont.
Multiple Grade I winner Spirit of St. Louis finished sixth in the Grade I Manhattan Stakes.
Multiple Grade I winner Chancer McPatrick finished seventh in the Woody Stephens.
Stakes winner Crudo finished eighth (last) in the Belmont.
Graded stakes winner Scottish Lassie finished third in the Grade I Acorn Stakes.
Graded stakes winner Hill Road finished fifth in the Belmont.
Members of the media gathered in front of Sovereignty’s stall the day after the big race to hear Bill Mott’s thoughts on the race and watch the legendary Erma Scott feed him carrots.
Grade I Ogden Phipps winner Dorth Vader was getting some love on Sunday morning as well at the barn of trainer George Weaver.
In the end, the trifecta in the Derby was the trifecta in the Belmont. It would be cool to see these three horses face off again!
I recently made a video of some slow motion footage I took in between all the still photos. Email subscribers, click here to watch the video.
To see more of my equine photography be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook. All photos, illustrations, and videos in this post © Samantha Decker and may not be reused without permission.
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Magical!