Palace Wins True North Stakes and Kicks off Big Stakes at Belmont Park

Palace Wins True North Stakes and Kicks off Big Stakes at Belmont Park: Kicking off the first stakes race of the 2014 Belmont Stakes weekend, Palace and jockey Jose Ortiz bring home the win for trainer Linda Rice and owner Antonino Miuccio in the G2 six-furlong $250,000 True North Stakes at Belmont Park on Friday, June 6, 2014.

Palace paid out a whopping $20.60 in the 2014 True North Stakes. The five-year-old finished the dirt race in 1:08.29. Palace prevailed late in the game in the seven-horse True North Stakes field but rallied at the end crossing the finish line first by 3/4 of a length.

Linda Rice, trainer of Palace stated, “He was a little off form in the winter after the Gravesend, and frankly, he just didn’t care for the inner track so I took him to Maryland for the General George. He bled through the Lasix and ran really a subpar effort for him, so I turned him out for 60 days, and he came back great.”

Linda Rice added, “He was barely fit enough to run, but he trained very well coming into the race. The race looked like it had a lot of speed and it set up well for him, and he really likes Belmont.”

Jockey Jose Ortiz was grateful to Linda Rice for the win on Palace saying, “I knew there was a lot of pace in the race, and I knew he had a chance to win because he can close, and that’s what happened. He broke very sharp and was in perfect position. When I asked him to go, he went. A good horse, a lot of class. Linda did a tremendous job with him.”

Related Links:
Belmont Stakes 2014 Posts, Stakes Schedule, Odds

True North Stakes 2014 Results & Payouts:
7 Palace and Jose L. Ortiz $20.60 to Win, $8.50 to Place, $4.80 to Show
8 Bakken and Javier Castellano $4.00 to Place, $3.10 to Show
6 Salutos Amigos and Irad Ortiz, Jr. $3.50 to Show
Also ran: 1 – Eastwood , 3 – Dads Caps , 2 – Marriedtothemusic , 4 – Integrity
Scratched horses: Royal Currier (Trainer) , Well Spelled (Trainer)