Today, the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes will enter the history books. I have discussed it thoroughly on my last post. This post is dedicated to the undercard races, as well as the other racing action around the country. And I will also recap what happened last week.
I will begin with the Acorn Stakes.
ACORN STAKES (gr. I) ---- Belmont Park, Race 9, June 5th
8 Furlongs (Dirt)
The Acorn Stakes, which is the first leg of the Triple Tiara, the Triple Crown for fillies, drew a solid field of fourteen, much larger than I had anticipated. And when the morning line favorite is 4-1, you know that they are evenly matched.
As I have a lot to do before the Belmont Stakes is run, I don't have a ton of time to discuss each race, so instead I shall briefly discuss my picks. And I shall also mention that I talked J. R. into giving me his picks.
My top pick is Amen Hallelujah. In my opinion, this race suits her perfectly. The distance is one mile, which I believe is her best, and she has drawn an ideal post position. She has Ramon Dominguez as a rider and has her excuses in the Kentucky Oaks. She looks ready to run huge.
Tanda is another filly I like. She will be making her first start on dirt, which always seems to be a good thing, but has drawn a less than perfect post position. However, she is on a three race win streak that includes wins in the Railbird and Santa Paula Stakes, both grade III. Her jockey, Alex Solis, is a very good jockey, but I don't believe he has ridden at Belmont Park too often.
Streaker is a potential upset filly. She is undefeated in three starts, but this will be her first try in a stakes race. She has a win over this track, and beat Acting Happy in an allowance race on March 27th. Acting Happy went on to flatter Streaker by upsetting the grade II Black-Eyed Susan Stakes three weeks ago.
I would pick Crisp to win, excusing her poor showing in the Kentucky Oaks because she was unable to get to the lead, except that she drew gate thirteen. In my opinion, she has too much to overcome. And her jockey Calvin Borel does not know the track very well.
Finally, Buckleupbuttercup, Seeking the Title, and Tidal Pool are all contenders as well. Buckleupbuttercup could come through with a huge win if the track turns up sloppy, which it might. Seeking the Title didn't get a chance at making her run in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, as she tripped over a fallen Diva Delite and did not finish the race. She could run a huge race, and with Kent Desormeaux in the saddle, who knows what might happen.
As for Tidal Pool, she has been running very well lately, with thirds in the Kentucky Oaks and Black-Eyed Susan, but has yet to win a stakes race. However, she gets a jockey change this time around, with Rajiv Maragh replacing Calvin Borel. She is the 4-1 morning line favorite and could run huge, but will she be caught wide on the turn? We'll see.
Much Rejoicing is the final filly I will mention. She is undefeated in two starts, winning a maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park and an allowance race at Keeneland so far. 10-1 on the morning line, she has Alan Garcia in the saddle and might surprise a few people by hitting the board.
So here are my picks. . .
1 Amen Hallelujah
2 Tanda
3 Tidal Pool
4 Buckleupbuttercup
5 Streaker
6 Crisp
7 Indian Burn
8 Quiet Temper
9 Much Rejoicing
10 Seeking the Title
11 Champagne d'Oro
12 Dances with Ashley
13 Hot Trip
I feel that Amen Hallelujah is ready to run her best race and will win by a length or two, with Tanda rallying for second and Tidal Pool holding third over Buckleupbuttercup and Streaker.
Now I am sure that you are all curious as to J. R.'s picks. After picking Spangled Star to win the Belmont Stakes, he decided to be a little bit more conservative this time around. He has singled Streaker to defeat Indian Burn and Amen Hallelujah. Wow.
Here are all of his picks. . .
1 Streaker
2 Indian Burn
3 Amen Hallelujah
4 Seeking the Title
5 Buckleupbuttercup
6 Tanda
7 Tidal Pool
8 Much Rejoicing
9 Champagne d'Oro
10 Quiet Temper
11 Crisp
12 Dances with Ashley
13 Hot Trip
Once again, it's a handicapping contest, me against him. We're going to go at it all day and see who picks the most winners at Belmont Park. We'll take a look now at the Woody Stephens Stakes.
WOODY STEPHENS STAKES (gr. II) ---- Belmont Park, Race 6, June 5th
7 Furlongs (Dirt)
Named for the great trainer Woody Stephens, who won the Belmont Stakes five times in a row back in the eighties, the Woody Stephens Stakes has drawn only five entries, but every one of them deserves to be here.
But I feel that it comes down to two horse: Eightfiveinafifty and D' Funnybone. Both are proven at this distance, and D' Funnybone destroyed the grade II Futurity Stakes at this distance at this track last year.
Discreetly Mine, who is expected to give them a run for their money, ran second in the Futurity. He has more than proven himself at this track, running second in the grade I Champagne Stakes as well, but I do question his ability to stay with the top two favorites. He just hasn't shown that kind of raw speed.
Thank U Philippe, at 6-1 on the morning line, seems to be a seven furlong specialist and could upset the big two if they falter. And even Remand at 10-1 could earn a piece of it. He is coming off of a third place finish in the nine furlong Dwyer Stakes. Prior to that, he had finished third to Eightfiveinafifty and Hurricane Ike in the Bay Shore Stakes.
Here are my picks for this race. . .
1 D' Funnybone
2 Remand
3 Eightfiveinafifty
4 Discreetly Mine
5 Thank U Philippe
. . . and here are J. R.'s picks.
1 Remand
2 Discreetly Mine
3 Eightyfiveinafifty
4 Thank U Philippe
5 D' Funnybone
I feel that D' Funnybone is the best horse in the race and perhaps more rateable than Eightfiveinafifty. Of course, it is possible that the two of them could hook up early, setting the race up for a closer, but I think D' Funnybone will hang on to win.
However, J. R. doesn't think so. He believes that the two favorites will hook up and dual each other into submission, allowing Remand to sneak in for the victory. It's possible that it could happen, but I just don't think so.
Now I shall briefly discuss the Hollywood Oaks.
HOLLYWOOD OAKS (gr. II) ---- Hollywood Park, Race 8, June 6th
8.5 Furlongs (Dirt)
The Hollywood Oaks, a grade II race for three year old fillies, is short on entries but not on talent. Headlined by the Kentucky Oaks winner Blind Luck, the race should be a good one.
Obviously, Blind Luck is the best filly in the race, but can she be upset? She will be giving away four to ten pounds, and there are a couple of fillies here who could slow the pace down enough to hold off her late charge.
The first filly I will mention is Switch. She gets into the race with only 113 pounds, ten less than Blind Luck. She comes into the race off of a closing second in the grade III Railbird Stakes, beaten a half length by Tanda, who is running in the Acorn Stakes today. She has talent and might be able to get a clear lead and hold off Blind Luck.
Then there is Camille C. Carrying 119 pounds, she comes into the race off of a sharp win in the Melair Stakes back in late April. Prior to that, she had finished fourth to City to City, Andina, and In the Slips after setting the pace in the grade II Providencia Stakes. With a bit of luck, she could run well.
Antares World and Vision in Gold complete the field. The former comes off of a nice win in the Golden Poppy Stakes, the latter off of a fifth place finish in the Railbird Stakes.
My picks are these. . .
1 Blind Luck
2 Switch
3 Camille C
4 Antares World
5 Vision in Gold
I feel that Blind Luck is much the best and can overcome anything. Yes, ten pounds is a lot to give away, but I think that she can handle it. I have always liked Switch and she looks to be a clear second here.
J. R. has different thoughts. He thinks that Blind Luck has way too much to overcome and will end up second behind Switch.
"Switch is carrying ten pounds less than Blind Luck, and I think that she can slow the pace down and hold on." he said.
So his picks look like this. . .
1 Switch
2 Blind Luck
3 Camille C
4 Antaras World
5 Vision in Gold.
Very similar to my picks, just reversing the top two. We'll see what happens.
RACE RECAPS
Before I conclude this post and begin my preparations for the Belmont Stakes, I would like to recap last week's races and see how my picks did.
In the Dogwood Stakes, I was fairly confident that Fuzzy Britches would upset Ailalea. I had many reasons for thinking this, one of them being that Ailalea would bounce off of her Kentucky Oaks effort.
Ailalea did not bounce.
In the early stages, Helen Belen went to the front as expected, followed closely by Visavis on her outside and Ailalea in the three path. Fuzzy Britches was sitting about six lengths off the lead.
Though the fractions were very sharp, Calvin Borel moved Ailalea up on the outside and took the lead just past the quarter pole. His filly quickly opened up a two length lead approaching the eighth pole. Fuzzy Britches came running late on the outside, but tired as the wire approached. Tap Tap Tapping, at 31-1, came from the clouds with a very sharp late rally but Ailalea had just enough to hold her off by a length. Fuzzy Britches finished third.
So here are the results. . .
1 Ailalea
2 Tap Tap Tapping
3 Fuzzy Britches
4 Vertical Vision
5 Visavis
6 Helen Belen
7 Age of Humor
8 Bell's Shoes
. . . and here were my picks.
1 Fuzzy Britches
2 Ailalea
3 Age of Humor
4 Visavis
5 Vertical Vision
6 Helen Belen
7 Bell's Shoes
8 Tap Tap Tapping
Not too good, although my top two picks finished in the top three.
In the Marine Stakes at Woodbine, I did better.
The favorite for the mile and a sixteenth event was Exhi, and he was my pick. Hotep was expected to challenge him, and I liked him too.
In the early going, Essence Hit Man led the way, followed by Exhi. Hotep was back in fourth.
With three furlongs to go, Exhi was tired of being second. He blew past Essence Hit Man and took the lead, drawing off to win by four and a half lengths. Hotep rallied for second, with Essence Hit Man third. Those were my three picks.
Third choice Bear's Hard Ten finished last.
However, in the USA Stakes at Lone Star Park, the favorite did not win. In the mile and a sixteenth turf event, Coyote Legend, one of my favorite horses, was the even money choice. Looks Purrrfect was 3-1, Golden Euro 4-1. Of course, Coyote Legend had never raced on turf before, but I felt that he would handle it okay.
In the early going, Coyote Legend looked good. Golden Euro was setting the early pace, turning out fractions of :24 1/5 and :49 1/5. Coyote Legend was sitting second.
They continued like this for much of the race, and when Bobby Walker Jr. asked Coyote Legend for his run, I expected an explosion. Instead, Coyote Legend threw in the towel and faded.
Golden Euro held off Shoot It's War to win by a neck. B'wanagoldmine finished third, followed by Looks Purrrfect, Perfect Lou, Coyote Legend, Nuggets Please and Nate's Mineshaft. Although Coyote Legend finished sixth, he was only beaten four and three quarter lengths.
And then there was the Metropolitan Handicap. Could Quality Road continue his dominance of the older male division with another grade I win?
In the early going, Quality Road hooked up with Le Grand Cru. Together, those two dueled through solid fractions of :22 2/5 and :45 flat. They were tracked by Tizway and Warrior's Reward. Musket Man, the second choice, was as far back as seventh.
With just over a quarter of a mile to go, Warrior's Sword made his bid. With a powerful move, he got to within a length of Quality Road and looked like he would go right ahead and pass him.
But then he turned up empty. Quality Road still led through three quarters of a mile in a blistering 1:08 2/5.
And then Musket Man launched his bid.
Once again, the threat of an upset arose. Musket Man was powering home on the outside and looked like he would go right ahead and win.
But Quality Road dug in and refused to let him pass.
Down to the finish they came and Quality Road won by a length and a half. Musket Man was a very game second, with Tizway finishing third. The final time: 1:33 flat. Equaling the second fastest Met Mile of all time. Not bad.
And finally, in the grade I Gamely Stakes at Hollywood Park, Tuscan Evening continued her dominance of the turf mares division by holding off 2008 Eclipse champion Forever Together by a half length to secure her first grade I win.
After tracking the early pace set by Cat by the Tale, Tuscan Evening took over the lead in the stretch. But Forever Together was closing fast and Tuscan Evening needed every last bit of stamina to hold her off. Cat by the Tale finished third, followed by Well Monied, General Concensus, Gotta Have Her and Princess Haya.
And so that concludes this post. Now I am off to prepare for the Belmont Stakes.
Enjoy the races!
-Keelerman
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