fbpx
Log In

Three-year-olds are featured on the turf in the Belmont Derby on Saturday at Aqueduct

By NY Hot List staff | Friday, July 5, 2024

The Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational is the featured race on an 11-race card as part of the Belmont at the Big A meeting Saturday at Aqueduct. The Belmont Derby is the first race in the Turf Triple in New York for 3-year-olds that includes the Saratoga Derby and the Jockey Club Derby.

A select field of five, which includes the top three finishers from the Pennine Ridge (G2), accepted the invitation to run in the 1 3/16-mile stakes race on the outer turf course at Aqueduct. The Belmont Derby was originally known as the Jamaica Stakes. The newly formed Turf Triple series began in 2019.

Endlessly is the morning line favorite after last finishing ninth in the Kentucky Derby for trainer Michael McCarthy.

“He touted himself early on last summer that he was a horse bound for big things,” McCarthy said. “He showed up first time out winning very impressively and went on to annex that Del Mar Juvenile Turf and things just got progressively better from there.”

$750,000 Belmont Derby (G1) at Aqueduct, Saturday, Race 6, 3:08 pm ET.

(5) Endlessly returns to turf racing where he began his career in California winning three times including a pair of Grade 3 stakes races. This year he won twice on synthetic tracks on the Kentucky Derby trail prompting his owners to try the Run for the Roses. In the big race, he was last in the early going while running on the dirt for the first time and improved to finish ninth. McCarthy has felt that he is a superior horse on the grass. (1) Legend of Time is part of the stable that top European trainer Charlie Appleby put together to race in America. He was a winner four times internationally before having a troubled first start in the USA. He bounced back to win the Pennine Ridge (G3) beating two other horses from this field. (4) Trikari won a pair of stakes races this year in the Rushaway at Turfway Park and then the American Turf (G2) at Churchill Downs. Last time in the Penn Mile (G3) he had a troubled trip from start to finish, still got the lead, and lost by a neck. (2) White Palomino is lightly raced with only three starts that include a maiden win and then a head loss in the Pennine Ridge after setting the pace.

The rest of the NY Hot List picks and the Special Saturday Pick 3 are available free of charge at this website.