Mo Donegal

Jerry Crawford Joins the TDN Writers' Room

Donegal Racing CEO Jerry Crawford joined the TDN Writers' Room to discuss the experience of sharing Mo Donegal's Belmont victory with the colt's enthusiastic ownership group.

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Following Triple Crown Finale, Saratoga Dates for Belmont Runners

GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GI Kentucky Derby Rich Strike (Keen Ice), sixth in Saturday's Belmont, will now be pointed towards the Aug. 27 GI Runhappy Travers S., connections confirmed Sunday morning. "I haven't really talked to the ownership group about it too much, but both of our Travers winners went through the Jim Dandy," Mo Donegal's trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday. "So to me, if he has a prep between now and the Travers, that would make the most sense." The GII Jim Dandy will...

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Belmont Day Generates $98 Million In All-Sources Handle

Edited Press Release Saturday's Belmont S. Day card, highlighted by Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo)'s victory in the 154th running of the $1.5 million GI Belmont S. presented by NYRA Bets, generated all-sources handle of $98,766,906. On-track handle for the 13-race program, which included eight top-level races among nine total stakes, was $9,530,303. All-sources handle for the Belmont S. presented by NYRA Bets alone was $50,248,624. The three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which featured 17 stakes and 33 races in total from Thursday through Saturday, June 9-11, generated all-sources handle of...

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King Of Queens: Repole Gets a 1-2 Belmont Stakes Finish with Mo Donegal and Nest

ELMONT, NY - The kid from Queens got his GI Belmont Stakes. Carrying the royal blue-and-orange, New York Mets-inspired silks of Middle Village native Mike Repole, Donegal Racing and Repole Stable's Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) delivered an authoritative, three-length victory as the 5-2 favorite before an announced crowd of 46,103 in Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes. It was the fourth victory in the third leg of the Triple Crown for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. The filly Nest (Curlin), also campaigned in partnership by the co-founder of Glaceau and trained...

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Prat in a New York State of Mind for Belmont Stakes Day

ELMONT, NY - There will be a capped crowd of 50,000 on hand for Saturday's blockbuster GI Belmont Stakes program. Nobody will have a better seat in the house all day than jockey Flavien Prat. The 29-year-old Frenchman will be aboard 2-1 morning-line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' We the People (Constitution) in the final leg of the Triple Crown. He will also pilot unbeaten sensation and fellow 'Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) in the prestigious GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. Both will exit from post one. WinStar Farm, Bobby Flay,...

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T. D. Thornton's Belmont Predictions, Sponsored by Fasig-Tipton

This week's TDN Triple Crown feature examines the GI Belmont S. entrants listed in "likeliest winner" order. 1) Mo Donegal (c, Uncle Mo--Callingmissbrown, by Pulpit) O-Donegal Racing & Repole Stable. B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY). T-Todd Pletcher. Sales History: $250,000 yrl '20 KEESEP. You could argue that Mo Donegal lost the GI Kentucky Derby at the post draw after getting stuck with the dreaded rail gate. But his fifth-place effort, beaten 5 3/4 lengths in a stretch finish that featured the 1-2-3 horses all running full-tilt to the...

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Belmont Stakes 154: Where Did They Come From?

1) WE THE PEOPLE, c, Constitution--Letchworth, by Tiznow Owner: WinStar Farm, Bobby Flay, CMNWLTH, Siena Farm Breeder: Henley Farms (KY) Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset Sales History: $110,000 Keeneland November weanling, $220,000 Keeneland September yearling, $230,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-year-old Pedigree Notes: Trying to become the second Belmont winner in three years for WinStar's star fourth-crop sire (Tiz the Law in 2020), We the People is the second foal to race out of Letchworth, a $40,000 Keeneland January purchase by Henley Farms at Keeneland January in 2019. Letchworth is a daughter of Harmony...

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This Side Up: Passport to Victory

Heritage, as a substitute for internationally adequate prize money, is literally priceless to the nation that cradled the Thoroughbred. Nowhere is this more apparent than at Royal Ascot, where prestige and pageant will next week again draw not just global attention but also global participation. As a result, this most definitively English of occasions has in recent years become ever more cosmopolitan. It's a pretty precarious arrangement for British racing, in that the economic model harnessed to its cultural assets-namely, an export market for yearlings and horses-in-training-threatens ultimately to erode...

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Rail-Drawn We the People Favored for Belmont Stakes; Derby Winner Rich Strike Third Choice

ELMONT, NY -- With GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) exiting from post four, a field of eight was drawn Tuesday morning for Saturday's 154th GI Belmont Stakes. The historic, come-from-behind 80-1 Derby upsetter heads to the final leg of the Triple Crown fresh after breaking the norm and skipping the GI Preakness S. He has been installed as the third choice on the morning line at odds of 7-2. The $30,000 claim-to-fame will attempt to be the first non-Triple Crown winner to capture both the Kentucky Derby...

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Top Contenders Put in Final Belmont Breezes

Several major contenders for next week's $1.5-million GI Belmont S. completed their final serious preparations Saturday morning. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher seeks his fourth Belmont trophy, and sent out his pair of representatives, GII Wood Memorial S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GI Longines Kentucky Oaks runner-up Nest (Curlin), to an in-company half in :49.90 (68/129) over the Belmont training track. Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Jose Ortiz, respectively, piloted the pair, who Pletcher caught breaking off in :24.80 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:14 and seven furlongs...

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Belmont Pair Are Latest 'A' Lysters

Wayne Lyster always knew it to be miracle enough, for a farm this size, simply to get both into the starting gate. The Derby-Oaks double hadn't been accomplished since the heyday of Calumet, 70 years previously, and at Ashview, they foal out no more than a couple of dozen mares every spring. As such, Lyster can justly take pride in the fact that both Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Nest (Curlin) finished their races so well, for fifth and second, respectively, that they are now converging instead on the GI...

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The Week in Review: The Met Mile Belongs on Memorial Day

A New York racing tradition began in 1971, the first time that Memorial Day was officially celebrated each year on the last Monday in May. A crowd of 61,147 showed up that Monday at Belmont Park to watch Tunex win the $121,600 Metropolitan Mile for trainer Allen Jerkens and owner Hobeau Farm. For the next 42 years, New York racing fans circled Memorial Day on their calendars, knowing that it would be one of the biggest days of the year, thanks to the GI Metropolitan H. In 1976 and 1977,...

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