Unbeaten 1-2 favorite Almostgone Rocket was long gone in the stretch of Thursday’s Jersey Girl S., one of a trio of dirt stakes on opening day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga.

The four-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival opens Thursday at its temporary home of Saratoga, with the Belmont Gold Cup (G2) anchoring a quartet of stakes on the card.

One day after hosting an exciting renewal of the Belmont S. (G1), Belmont Park put on a quality Sunday card highlighted by a quartet of stakes.

Belmont Park has doubled its Sunday stakes offerings to a grand total of four, with the Wonder Again (G2) and Jersey Girl rescheduled to join the Tremont S. and Astoria S.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival opened Thursday with a trio of black-type events. While Con Lima rolled at 8.30-1 in the Wonder Again S. (G3), Change of Control went off at a much shorter 1.45-1 in the Intercontinental S. (G3), and Happy Soul aired as a prohibitive odds-on favorite in the Astoria S.

Wonder Again S., Intercontinental S. and Astoria S. highlight Thursday racing at Belmont Park for Belmont Stakes week!