Rain in the New York-area has led to wet conditions at Belmont Park ahead of the 2012 Fall Championship Day card. First post is scheduled for 12:50pm Eastern time, with the graded stakes portion of the Belmont card set to begin at 2:58pm with the Grade 1 Beldame Stakes.
Track conditions could play a major role in the outcome of today's graded stakes races. Jockey Club Gold Cup favorite Ron the Greek has performed well over wet surfaces in the past, while some of the contenders for the turf races have a strong preference for a soft or firm going.
Initial track/turf conditions are listed below (via NYRA.com).
Main Track: GOOD
Turf Course: YIELDING (Race 1 & 4 Off The Turf)
Both the Inner Turf Course and the Widener Turf Course have the rail set at 0 feet.
The early scratches and changes have yet to be released by Belmont, but when they are you can find them via the link below, along with the entries for the entire Saturday card.
The changes are now live. A few notes:
- As noted above: race 1 and 4 are off the turf and race 4 took the brunt of the abuse as nine horses scratched, eight due to the surface change. Five horses have scratched out of the first race.
- 5-Disposablepleasure and 7-Acting Happy are out of the Beldame, leaving the field with only four horses.
- 1-Isn't He Perfect and 8-Pacific Ocean are out of the Kelso.