Casino Drive Scratched Off The 2008 Belmont Stakes

2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park

The 2008 Breeders' Cup, thoroughbred racing's most prestigious event, consisting of 14 Breeders' Cup races and $25.5 million in purses, will be held on October 24-25, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

With filly Zenyatta remaining undefeated as the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Day concludes, see the October 24 Breeders' Cup results & Payouts. Breeders' Cup Day Saturday will be highlighted by the Breeders' Cup Classic where Horse of the Year Curlin will defend his title against Casino Drive of Japan, Raven's Pass of Europe and other horse racing stars.

Posted on Saturday, June 7th, 2008

Casino Drive Race Horse, Scratched From The 2008 Belmont Stakes Belmont Stakes hopeful Casino Drive has been scratched from the 2008 Belmont Stakes (post time 6:25 pm) on Saturday, June 7, at Belmont Park due to a bruised left hind hoof, according to the Schenectady Gazette.

Considered the main threat to foil Big Brown’s bid at winning the Triple Crown in the final leg, Casino Drive seemed to be healthy during Saturday morning’s workout. But according to the report, the race horse appeared to be favoring the hoof after returning to the stables.

“This morning we check and he is OK,” Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Japanese owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto, told the Gazette. “We send him to the main track and he had cantering, and he came back to the yard OK, no problem. Then, (again) he just (started) carrying his hind (leg). We checked again and it became warm.”

The 3-year-old Japanese-bred Casino Drive was listed as “questionable” after skipping his morning workout on Friday after trainer Kazuo Fujisawa noticed the colt wasn’t walking normally.

Casino Drive was listed at 7-2 on the morning line in the Belmont Stakes and was supposed to be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado.

In his last start, Casino Drive won the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park on May 10. Casino Drive comes from championship stock as he is the half-brother of the last two Belmont Stakes winners, filly Rags to Riches (2007) and Jazil (2006).

Now that Casino Drive is scratched off the Belmont Stakes, will Big Brown be the 2008 Belmont Stakes winner and become the 12th Triple Crown victor? Place your bets at BetUS Racebook and get 100% match-up bonus up to $500! This offer is available until Belmont Stakes Day.

Belmont Stakes post time is 6:25 pm EDT.

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"Casino Drive Scratched Off The 2008 Belmont Stakes" was posted on Saturday, June 7th, 2008 at 10:56 am and is filed under Belmont Park, Belmont Stakes, Horse Racing Industry, Horses, Race Tracks News, Stakes Races, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.