Saturday’s Race Recap from Belmont:
(All odds US)
Race replays for yesterday’s races from Belmont Park can be found here:
Belmont Park:
Race 8: 5th@ 3.40/1
Race 9: 7th@ 7.80/1
Our day at Belmont began with a little Love and Thunder in Race 8 but Shifty She stole the Noble Damsel on the front end winning gate-to-wire. In Race 9, Sifting Sands was mid-pack and made his move on the turn but wasn’t able to sustain his rally trying the added distance for the first time flattening out to finish 7th with his stablemate winning.
Saturday’s Race Recap from Keeneland:
(All odds US)
Race replays for yesterday’s races from Keeneland can be found here:
Keeneland:
Race 7: 3rd@ 1.70/1
Race 9: 11th@ 5.20/1
In Race 7 we hoped to be in the Pipeline to the winners circle (trademark rights to Howard G. for that line) but it wasn’t meant to be. He ran a bang-up race taking the lead in mid stretch but got caught by He’sMyHoneyBadger and Ram losing the race by a hard-fought neck. In the Lexus Raven Run Stakes, our selection - Zainalarab checked on the backstretch losing a few positions and never mustered a rally after that.
We didn’t love Saturday’s races so we stuck with 4 instead of our usual 6 or 7 and I’m glad we did as we had a tough day.
With rain in the forecast once again for Keeneland, we’ll focus our attention on racing from Belmont for Sunday. We expect fast and firm conditions beneath sunny skies. I like a few longshots on Belmont Sunday card. Here we go!
Sunday picks for Belmont Park:
Race 1: Wicked Happy - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 10/1)
Speed kills on the inner turf at Belmont and after a Friday and Saturday full of Chad Brown selections, here we’re taking our first stand against his odds-on favorites on today’s card. He’s got an entry that may end up winning this maiden claiming event on class alone but Wicked Happy is tied with one of his runners for this field’s top turf speed figure. Claimed out of her last start by connections she’s run well with already, Wicked Happy’s best race has already come on this surface and distance and looks to own the controlling speed here. Taking a shot to upset the heavy favorite with some low profile connections to begin our day.
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Race 6: Caribbean Gold - 1 pt win (Us Morning Line Odds: 8/1)
Back to the well with Mike Maker whom we noted is beginning to heat up winning at 25% here over the last two weeks. This runner broke his maiden two back with a wire to wire score and - if WillSingForWine doesn’t draw in to the body of this race (he’s on the also eligible list) our selection looks to be the controlling speed. If that happens, it’s entirely plausible that we get another gate-to-wire score (we connected when he broke his maiden). Top rider Jose Ortiz sticks around and 5 workouts since his most recent start should have him plenty legged up for this. Value at 8/1.
Race 10: Kisses For Val - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 20/1)
Let’s end the week with a BANG! 20/1 longshot Kisses For Val races here for low profile connections that can score with a longshot every now and again. This one will probably go off at close to double those odds but there are some reasons for optimism. First off, this runner receives Lasix for the first time. Many handicappers will see that he’s gotten tired in his most recent starts but Lasix can sometimes fix that. This one’s Tomlinson figure is tops in the field and sports a sneaky good workout in preparation for this - presumably with Lasix now added. This ownership group is this trainer’s bread and butter and their horses finish in the money 49% of the time over the last 5 years with 149 starts. Continued improvement expected.
Best of luck to everyone playing Sunday’s races from Belmont Park!