This is the third post in my series showcasing photos I took during the second Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga while shooting for the Saratoga Special. In this post I will show photos from the paddock, where the horses get saddled for the race. Click here to see all the posts.
Jockey Dylan Davis heads into the paddock on the first day of the festival. Davis had a great showing, topped off by two grade 1 wins in a single day on Friday.
Grade II Intercontinental Stakes winner Pipsy is walked around the paddock prior to being saddled for the race.
Trainer Will Walden walks his horse Pipsy out to the track with José Ortiz onboard for the Intercontinental. The four-year-old filly’s victory gave the trainer his third graded stakes win overall, and the second with Pipsy.
Grade III Poker Stakes winner Donegal Momentum is walked around the paddock prior to being saddled for the race.
Jockey John Velázquez walks into the paddock before a race. The Hall of Famer also had a great showing, taking three grade 1 races over the course of the festival.
Grade I Ogden Phipps Stakes winner Dorth Vader heads out to the track for her race.
MG1SW Raging Sea heads out to the track for the Ogden Phipps, where she finished third.
Grade I Acorn Stakes winner La Cara enters the paddock for her race.
Kentucky Oaks alum Bless the Broken is walked around the paddock prior to the Acorn, where she finished fourth.
Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer heads out to the track for the Acorn, where she finished a surprising fifth, ending her perfect 7-for-7 record.
GSW Look Forward is walked out to the track for the Acorn, where she finished second.
Grace I New York Stakes winner She Feels Pretty is led out to the track for her race. The Cherie DeVaux trainee recently finished second by a head to Excellent Truth in the Grade I Diana Stakes.
Grade I Just A Game Stakes winner Dynamic Pricing is led out to the track for her race.
Grade III True North Stakes winner Book’em Danno is led into the paddock by co-owner Mark Rubenstein.
Grade 1 winner Nutella Fella, who upset the Hopeful Stakes in 2023, is walked around the paddock prior to the True North, where he finished fourth.
Travers winner Fierceness is walked around the paddock prior to the Grade I Metropolitan Handicap, where he finished second.
MG1SW White Abarrio is walked around the paddock prior to the Met Mile, where he finished fourth.
Met Mile winner Raging Torrent is walked around the paddock prior to the race.
Team Raging Torrent watches their horse from the saddling shed. Trainer Doug O’Neill is second from right.
Pennine Ridge Stakes winner A.P. Kid is led into the paddock. Sadly, the Todd Pletcher trainee was injured during a work shortly after his stakes win and had to be euthanized.
Retired baseball player Jayson Werth talks to media in the paddock.
Mi Bago is saddled for the Pennine Ridge, where he finished second.
Grade II Pat Day Mile Stakes winner Macho Music is walked around the paddock prior to the Grade I Woody Stephens Stakes, where he finished seventh.
Woody Stephens winner Patch Adams is walked around the paddock prior to his race.
Trainer Chad Brown (right) watches his horse Chancer McPatrick in the paddock prior to the Woody Stephens. The three-year-old son of McKinzie, who won two grade 1s as a two-year-old, finished seventh.
MGSP Baeza enters the paddock for the Belmont, where he replicated his Kentucky Derby effort by again placing third.
Media attention is focused on Preakness winner Journalism as he enters the paddock for the Belmont, where he too replicated his Kentucky Derby effort by finishing second.
Baexa is walked around the paddock as trainer John Shirreffs watches from behind.
New York governor Kathy Hochul shakes hands with celebrity chef Bobby Flay in the paddock before the Belmont. Flay is part owner of stakes winner Crudo, who finished eighth in the race.
Trainer Bill Mott watches Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty from the saddling shed before the race.
GSW Rodriguez is walked around the paddock prior to the Belmont, where he finished fourth.
Journalism is walked around the paddock prior to the race.
Aron Wellman, president and founder of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, co-owner of Journalism, watches his horse from the saddling shed.
Sovereignty is walked around the paddock as fans look on.
Grade I Jaipur Stakes winner Ag Bullet heads to the track with John Velázquez onboard. The Jaipur, along with the Grade I Manhattan Stakes, were rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday of the festival due to rain.
Manhattan Stakes winner Deterministic is led into the paddock before the race.
MG1SW is led into the paddock for the Manhattan, where he finished third.
MG1SW Carson’s run is walked around the paddock before the Manhattan, where he finished seventh. Last summer, the Miguel Clément trainee won the Grade I Saratoga Derby (for Miguel’s father Christophe, who recently passed away).
Kentucky Derby alum Endlessly, whose three starts since the Run for the Roses have been on the turf, heads out to the track for the Manhattan, where he finished fifth.
MGSW Integration heads out to the track for the Manhattan, where he finished second by a head.
MG1SW Spirit of St. Louis, the first multiple grade 1 winner of 2025, heads out to the track for the Manhattan, where he finished a surprising sixth.
To see more of my equine photography be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook. All photos in this post © Samantha Decker and may not be reused without permission.
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One thought on “Looking Back at the Belmont: The Paddock”
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Wonderful!!