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Race 1: 2,1,4 *Off Turf – 7,4,6
Tempers Way just missed in a similar spot last time out and today gets Saez back in the irons. She will be a short price, but very tough to exclude her when the rest of the field has been less then stellar in the past. On small tickets I would use Tempers Way as a single on the early Pick 5.
Handle With Care is adding blinkers today and gets Junior back in the irons for her 3rd start of the year. She has never been consistent, but her good efforts make her competitive against this field. If you don’t like the favorite in here, you should get a fair price on Handle With Care.
Fika would’ve been my top pick if it was not for Jockey Cancel. Man, he just is not a strong jockey and I will need to let him keep beating me, but so far this meet he is only winning at a 7% clip so on likely the second choice I will let this one beat me too. If she drifts up past 5-1 though I will use her as Joe Sharp’s numbers in spots like this are too good not to use at a price.
Race 2: 7,4,2 *Off Turf – 6,8,1
Fast Getaway gets Jose Ortiz in the irons and going 7f I prefer him over Lezcano riding. Fast Getaway has a stalking running style which Jose is great at and with being on the outside should get a clean trip.
Elektronic is the other Linda Rice horse in here and is coming in with 2 straight wins and has improved in each career start. He is another one who has a stalking style but with most likely being on the inside of Fast Getaway I am trying to beat him, but will include on my Pick 4’s and 5s.
Ghost Giant is making his 2019 debut today and while his last 2 efforts of 2018 were poor he had excuses and I like him today at a price. If you take away dirt start here at Belmont 2 back and his last effort at Gulfstream Park, his turf races make him very competitive against this field. He gets Many Franco back in the irons who was on him 3 races back where he won here at Belmont at 7f.
Race 3: 4,3
Ari’s Naughty Luca is taking a slight drop today and if he runs back to her race back on April 28th here at Belmont then she will be a runaway winner. He got caught that day late, but with the jockey change to Jose Ortiz and going out first off the claim for Linda Rice I don’t think anyone catches He if she is left alone up front early.
Unbridled Mesa is the only other horse in here who I like and the only horse I can see beating Ari’s Naughty Luca. He has a closing kick but closing into lone speed is always tough. If the pace collapses I can see Unbridled Mesa picking up the pieces.
Race 4: 6,1,7 *Off Turf – 2,3,4
Mobridge is back in Danny Gargan’s barn where he posted a 1-2-0 record in 5 starts including a win at this distance here at Belmont back in October. Not only does he get back in Gargan’s barn but he also gets a jockey change to Irad Ortiz who on off the pace type horses like Mobridge I think might be the best turf jockey right now in North America.
Tiz a Chance is 0-3 so far in 2019 but his last race showed promise. He is getting a jockey upgrade today to Saez and should be the inside speed. He does have 2 wins at this distance in his career and does have 2 wins at Belmont.
Big Thicket is trying turf for only the 2nd time in his career but his lone turf start was against much tougher than this and he did come inn 3rd. Obviously that was 12 starts ago so hard to say that he can run back to that 3rd place effort against that field, but as likely the 4th choice I think he is worth a shot using especially underneath.
Race 5: 6,5,3
It would be a miracle if we got 9-2 on Another Miracle today. Sired by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah already will make this one heavily bet, but on top of that his workouts have been solid. He is coming in off a bullet workout on June 7th and his last workout on June 12 while not a bullet was a solid 3f in :36.
Three Technique for Jeremiah Englehart is coming in off 2 bullet workouts at Saratoga and gets Jose on him for his debut. His breeding to me suggests that this is probably a prep to get a race under him before moving to the turf and is he out of a Harlan’s Holiday mare.
Took Charge I think could surprise this field today at a price. His pedigree in my opinion means he will have a lot of early speed and with this race only being 5f it would not shock me if Junior takes this one gate to wire at a price.
Race 6: 4,6,1 *Off Turf -2,1,5
Doswell is stretching out today to 1 mile and one of my favorite angles to play is Chad Brown + Jose Ortiz going at least 1 mile on the turf. Not to mention that Doswell has just missed in both career starts and today stretching out should get there.
Tiberius Mercurius has run well in all 3 career starts and today should get another solid trip. While I am not a fan of the jockey change as Davis is now his 4th jockey in 4 career starts, he has improved in each start and an improvement again today would make him very dangerous against this bunch.
I love the pedigree on Perceived, but I am not a huge fan of first-time starters breaking from the rail. This one does get Irad and is trained by Chad Brown and was a 200K purchase back in 2017. He is coming I off 2 bullet works as well.
Race 7: 2,6,1
Dr. Lloyd had an awkward start last time out and got pulled over and vanned off, but if you look at his prior 2 career races, I think this one makes a lot of sense here. 2 races back he went gate to wire in his maiden breaking effort and for this field earned a very solid speed figure of a 69 which was an improvement off his debut effort. Lezcano has been the hottest jockey all meet winning at nearly a 30% clip, so I am taking a shot here with Dr. Lloyd.
If Rally Cap runs back to his last effort here at Belmont on May 12th then the rest are running for 2nd, but that was in the slop. If the track is sloppy Rally Cap would be my top pick, but with no rain in the forecast for today his efforts over dry tracks have not been nearly as good and I think that makes him a beatable favorite.
Shock Therapy just never seems to be good enough but runs the same race pretty much every time. I am not sure that the cutback in distance today will do him any favors, but he does get a jockey upgrade to Rosario and at ML 10-1 is worth a shot in my opinion.
Race 8: 8 *Off Turf – 6,4,2
Pollara (Ire) will be the heavy favorite today but I think she is a single in the late Pick 4. She is making her 4-year-old debut today after running in a G1 and a G3 last year and while she didn’t win she ran well. Chad is excellent with getting these horses ready off the bench and with Irad in the iron’s today I think if she even just runs back to her effort in November it will be good enough to win here today.
Race 9: 8,4,2 *Off Turf-1,4,12
Fetching broke her maiden first time out from the rail which I think is a very tough thing to do first time out. She won impressively after stalking the pace and today stretching out I think she improves off that effort. She gets Manny back in the irons today and Mark Casse is having a solid meet for his limited number of starters.
Paved With Gold is TAP’s only starter of the day and is also coming in off a win last time out. I am not a huge fan of the cutback, but with this one having tactical speed I can live with it. She gets Irad back in the irons today and I would use this one on all your tickets.
Dynamite Kitten has finished in the money in 4 of her 8 career starts and has the tactical speed to be dangerous in here. Her last race with Junior in the irons she finished 2nd by less then a length at this distance. Kimmel has not won a race yet this meet but is 50% in the money which is impressive.