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Thursday’s Race Recap from Belmont Park:
(All odds US)
Race replays for yesterday’s races from Belmont Park can be found here:
Belmont Park:
Race 3: 6th@ 6.60/1
Race 4: 6th@ 27.25/1
Race 5: 1st@ 6.90/1 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Our Thursday began in Race 3. They kept this race on a yielding turf course while they moved two other races on today’s card to the main track because of all the rain we had last night. No Salt was our selection in Race 3 because this horse has won on every type of ground and surface but the class of this field was a little too much for him as he never mounted a serious rally checking in sixth. In Race 4, we took a shot with the debuting Flash Kiss whom owners paid 50x the stud fee for but he looked like he needed the race. Not really urged much throughout the race and checked in sixth. Before Race 5 the skies opened up over Belmont and track conditions quickly changed from fast to muddy/sloppy. Our selection, Unlock uncorked some serious pace right from the start rattling off a 21.4 opening quarter enroute to a SMASHING win at nearly 7/1 odds here in the U.S. Hopefully a few members connected at the 8/1 morning line or better.
We’ll head back to Belmont Park for Friday’s races. Once again we’re expecting overnight rain showers so I’ll handicap with that in mind. Let’s get to it.
Friday at Belmont Park:
Race 7: Dominican Pioneer - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 8/1)
FUN allowance race here for three year olds featuring a few who made appearances on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Our 6/5 morning line favorite is Highly Respected who’s stretching his speed to a mile for the first time. He’s also moving from Aqueduct to Belmont and maybe he’s best but at 6/5 odds he doesn’t look overwhelmingly better than some of these on paper. Galt is our second choice on the morning line. He’s a full brother to champion, Songbird but only has one win in six starts to show for it. Bill Mott has been working him with purpose and I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up with a much improved effort today. My choice is Dominican Pioneer who won his debut nicely at Keeneland a little over a month ago. Jockey John Velazquez has won with 48% of Wesley Ward runners (from a sample of 21) and rides this one today. Ward has very good numbers with sprint to routers on dirt (29% wins). I really liked the way he leveled out at the end of his first start and was drawing clear in the end after battling early. Added distance shouldn’t be an issue with Pioneer of the Nile on top and this one’s dam has two Breeder’s Cup Classic winners in the bloodlines (AP Indy & Skywalker).
Best of luck to everyone playing Friday’s races from Belmont Park!