Five Scratches From Stakes on Belmont Stakes Day Card
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Belmont Stakes day 2019
There were five early scratches from the stakes on the Belmont Stakes Day card June 8 at Belmont Park, leaving the 10-stakes package with a total of 80 starters.
The scratches left the Belmont Park card with three stakes that had six or less starters. Fans were greeted by spectacular weather with temperatures through the day expected in the high 70s or low 80s. The main track is fast and the turf courses are firm.
The scratches are: Dream Maker in the $150,000 Easy Goer, leaving five horses; Got Stormy in the $700,000 Longines Just a Game Stakes (G1T); Undrafted and Gidu in the $400,000 Jaipur Invitational Stakes (G1T); and Epical in the $1 million Woodford Reserve Manhattan Stakes (G1T).
Of the eight grade 1 stakes on a star-studded card, three are part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge and will award a free spot in a designated Breeders' Cup race. The trio of "Win and You're In" races are the $700,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), the Jaipur for the BC Turf Sprint (G1T) and the $1.2 million Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) for the Big Ass Fans BC Dirt Mile (G1).
As for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, scheduled for a 6:37 p.m. post, Tacitus remains the favorite in the advance wagering at 5-2 with $1,075,409 in the win pool as of 11 a.m.
Preakness Stakes (G1) winner War of Will stood at 9-2 with Intrepid Heart 6-1. None of the horses in the field of 10 is higher than 14-1.
The rest of the odds are: Bourbon War 7-1, Sir Winston 8-1, Spinoff 10-1, Master Fencer 11-1, Tax 11-1, Everfast 12-1 and Joevia 14-1.