Runner-up to Siskany in last year’s Belmont Gold Cup (G2), The Grey Wizard took top honors in Thursday’s renewal 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.

Sunday’s Bowling Green (G2) at Saratoga took a gut-wrenching turn when odds-on favorite Rebel’s Romance clipped heels in midpack, and jockey Richard Mullen was catapulted onto the turf course.

Having raced just once since his Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) conquest, Godolphin shipper Rebel’s Romance hopes to use Sunday’s Bowling Green (G2) at Saratoga as a springboard to a big second half.

Collared late by Broome in the Dubai Gold Cup (G2) on World Cup night, Godolphin’s Siskany had no such rival to deny him in Friday’s $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup (G2).

Michael House’s Prince Abama had yet to race beyond 1 1/8 miles, but trainer Phil D’Amato believed that the Irish import would handle the climb to 1 1/2 miles in Friday’s Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) at Del Mar.

The $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup (G2), the Black Friday feature at Del Mar, has lured an eclectic cast of seven with no clear stand-out.