God's Tipster's Saturday Belmont Park Picks for 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, with Wild Applause & Mother Goose Stakes
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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 1: 7th@ 5.40/1
Race 5: 6th@ 8.30/1
Race 8: 6th@ 8.60/1
Race 9: 8th@ 11.00/1
Our day began with Lola Lola veering in at the break, establishing a good position and then fading in the drive. In Race 5, Little Luca out-broke the field in the 5 furlong maiden sprint but had no punch when push came to shove and checked in 6th. In Race 8, Front Line Dancer raced far back early and was moving well late but could only manage 6th and in Race 9 Amble steadied and made a mild bid at the 1/8th pole.
We couldn’t hit water if we fell out of a boat this week.
Back to Belmont for a little Saturday Stakes action. I’m handicapping for fast and firm conditions but there is some unsettled weather expected in the area so we’ll have to keep our eye on the sky and hope we don’t get rained off the lawn.
As I mentioned last week, I’m traveling so I won’t have my usual weekly video for the next week or two.
Belmont Park:
Race 1: Recognize - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 4/1)
Two year old New York Bred maidens sprint five furlongs in this opening race of the day. Most of these haven’t run yet but Recognize is by new stallion, Bolt d’Oro and was purchased for $270k about a year ago. Her sire’s stud fee is only $20k so that’s quite a markup. Someone must’ve seen something they like. Bullet workout on June 1 at three furlongs show she’s got some early speed. An asset she’ll need it she’s going to out-sprint some of these early in this race that starts on the far turn. Sire Bolt d’Oro has won with a remarkable 6 of his first 12 debut runners.
Race 3: Lakota Spirit - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 6/1)
The Wild Applause is a stakes race at a mile on turf for three year old fillies. There are similar speed figures on a lot of these but we caught Lakota Spirit last time out at nearly 6/1 and plan to do it again. This one’s dam is a half to the great turf runner, Rushing Fall, who raced for these same connections. Last time out was her first turf start and she raced far back in a pace-less race and closed with a flourish for the win. Trainer Chad Brown wins these stakes races on turf for fillies on a regular basis and 6/1 would be quite an overlay.
Race 5: Fingal’s Cave - 2 pts win - BEST BET (US Morning Line Odds: 3/5)
Allowance runners go 7 furlongs on the main track and on paper this race looks like it’s Fingal’s Cave’s to win or lose. She ran a faster speed figure in her debut effort than any of her competition today has run in their combined 103 lifetime starts. She breaks from the rail with speed for a hot trainer and a top rider. This runner was no secret as she won for fun as the heavy favorite on debut while being eased up on in the lane and a similar effort would put her competition today far in the rear view mirror.
Race 8: Gerrymander - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 5/1)
The Grade 2 Mother Goose is our 1 1/16 feature race today for three year old fillies on the main track. Most of the attention will be on Juju’s Map who crushed older horses last time out in her return after a second place behind Echo Zulu in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies last year. It’s tough to knock her but she is coming back off Lasix today for this start. I’m going to give a shot to Gerrymander who’s a half to long-winded marathoner - Lone Rock, so distance should be no trouble. She’s already got a win at a mile here at Belmont where she fed Nest her final defeat before she went on a win streak before running second in the Kentucky Oaks and Belmont Stakes. Top notch connections at 5/1 odds make this one look like an overlay to me. She’s been working well in preparation for this.
Best of luck to everyone playing Saturday’s races from Belmont Park!