6/6: Belmont Park (1st-13th)
 

A different kind of Triple Crown season draws to a close today, having already produced a highly memorable and entertaining traverse of results and emotions. The 'heroes and villains' of this particularly peculiar campaign have exchanged hats more than once since Kentucky, but the overall winner in the final analysis may be the game of racing with several potentially sustainable equine and human stars having emerged.

Weather has been poor the last 48 hours and we will encounter a wet track to start the day at Belmont. With luck, the main track should improve as the afternoon wears on, but there has to be a great deal of moisture in it to start. The turf will be yielding at best. Good luck today, and I hope you have enjoyed 'At the Races' coverage of the 2009 Derby, Preakness and Belmont.


BELMONT PARK


PRE-SCRATCHES


1st: NYB-ALW/N1X, 3+, 6f (P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #1 Dixieland Star 2-1 2nd
Best Value: #10 Toque 10-1 3rd
Next Best: #5 Living Out a Dream 8-1 4th
Super Add: #7 Justin P 30-1 5th


2nd: OC/N1X, 3+, 7f (P4, P3, DD)

Most Likely: #3 Speight of Hand 7-2 2nd
Best Value: #5 Brother Nick 10-1 6th
Next Best: #7 Just Ben 3-1 WON


3rd: MSW, 3+, 1m (P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #2 Convocation 3-1 WON
Best Value: #12 Frenchonionsoup 10-1 7th
Next Best: #11 Wanted Alive 5-1 8th
Super Add: #8 Bimini 6-1 4th


4th: OC/N2X, 3+, 8.5f-IT (P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #2 Expansion 3-1 2nd
Best Value: #8 Blazing Dynamo 6-1 8th
Next Best: #3 Slam Dunk 5-1 6th
Super Add: #1 Spurred 9-2 5th

OFF THE TURF: 11-12-13-5


5th: ALW/N1X, 3+, 8.5f-T (P3, DD, Super)

Best Value: #5 Le Grand Cru 10-1 5th
Most Likely: #10 Sette E Mezzo 4-1 WON
Next Best: #8 My Man Lars 12-1 6th
Super Add: #9 Western Influence 10-1 9th

OFF THE TURF: 5-14-11-12


<$75 P4 Play:

2: 3-5-6-7
3: 2-12
4: 2-3-8 (OFF: 11-12-13)
5: 5-8-10 (OFF: 5-11-14)

4x2x3x3 = $72


6th: 31st True North H. (Gr. II), 3+, 6f (P6, P3, DD)

Most Likely: #6 Fabulous Strike 2-1 WON
Best Value: #5 Desert Key 6-1 6th
Next Best: #1 Benny the Bull 5-2 2nd


7th: 16th Just a Game (Gr. I), F&M-3+, 1m-T (G/S, P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #5 Forever Together 6-5 2nd
Best Value: #7 Diamondrella 8-1 WON
Next Best: #3 Captain's Lover 8-1 5th
Super Add: #1 Caribean Sunset 6-1 4th


8th: 25th Woody Stephens (Gr. II), 3yo, 7f (P4, P3, DD)

Most Likely: #2 THIS ONE'S FOR PHIL 7-2 5th
Best Value: #8 Hull 3-1 4th
Next Best: #1 Godolphin-Darley entry 2-1 2nd


9th: 79th Acorn (Gr. I), 3yo-F, 1m (P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #8 Justwhistledixie 8-5 2nd
Next Best: #7 Dream Play 6-1 9th
Best Value: #6 Livin Lovin 15-1 4th
Super Add: #2 Gabby's Golden Gal 15-1 WON


10th: 108th Manhattan H. (Gr. I), 3+, 10f-IT (P4, P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #5 Gio Ponti 7-2 WON
Best Value: #11 Lauro 15-1 7th
Next Best: #1 (POE) Court Vision 4-1 5th
Super Add: #9 Cosmonaut 6-1 4th


11th: 141st Belmont Stakes (Gr. I), 3yo, 12f (P3, DD, Super)

Most Likely: #7 Mine That Bird 2-1 3rd
Next Best: #2 Dunkirk 4-1 2nd
Best Value: #9 Miner's Escape 15-1 10th
Super Add: #1 Chocolate Candy 10-1 9th


<$200 P6 Play:

6: 5-6
7: 5
8: 2-8
9: 7-8
10: 1-5-11
11: 1-2-6-7

2x1x2x2x3x4 = 96 x $2 = $192


<$75 P4 Play:

8: 2-8
9: 6-7-8
10: 1-5-11
11: 1-2-6-7

2x3x3x4 = $72


12th: NYB-MSW, 3+, 6f (DD, Super)

OFF THE TURF

Most Likely: #13 SCR
Best Value: #15 Believe in Love 6-1 10th
Next Best: #14 African Knight 3-1 3rd
Super Add: #2 Monastir 8-1 2nd


13th: CLM/N2L, 3+, 6f (Super)

OFF THE TURF

Most Likely: #16 Lincoln Road 3-1 10th
Best Value: #2 Driven by Royal 8-1 2nd
Next Best: #4 SCR
Super Add: #14 Wanda's Double 4-1 WON


<$75 P4 Play:

10: 1-5-11
11: 1-2-6-7
12: (SCR-13)-14-15
13: 2-16

3x4x3x2 = $72


Good luck!
Steve

Steve,

Either you have a typo or you're using Charitable Man #6 instead of #9 Miner's Escape.

Good Luck today and Hopefully I'll see you at Belmont.

Covering Charitable Man in multis. Will cover Miner's Escape with saver win bet. G/L today and will look for you...

Per the NYRA website, conditions as of 7:26am:

Sunny, main track good, turf soft

2/7/9/6
 

Steve, much like the Preakness Stakes....we tabbed the same three horses :) I guess that's a good sign :D
I also have a $1 Brooklyn / Belmont double going with MINER'S ESCAPE, that looks REALLY GOOD! :$: Good luck today!

Skies have parted and and it's an absolutely beautiful day. Hope track continues to dry out.

Good luck today!

...............

Gorgeous Day in Upstate as well. Great Day to have an outdoor Belmont party! Good luck everyone!

An exciting day on all fronts! ;)

Also has the 13th race listed as the 10th race, I believe.

Anyway, in the Belmont, I'm liking Luv Gov.

I agree with most of Steve's picks, but I have to wonder, why is everyone on here so high on This One's For Phil?

Race 8
Pick 4
2,4
6,7,8
1,11,12
2,4,7,8
$72

Pick 6
6
3,6,8
2
6,7,8
1,11,12
2,4,7,8
$216

He is fast!

Races 12 and 13 off the turf

Hello Broadway might be just as fast and 7f fits him better than the 9f he raced last time out in the Peter Pan.

Not even remotely close.

Am I crazy for thinking that Raw Silk could take them a long way, very comfortably in the Just A Game?

It's time for everyone to come to grips with the fact that Hello Broadway is not a graded stakes caliber horse. I'll be very surprised if he wins today.

NT

I'll also be surprised if he wins but wouldn't be surprised if he jumps out to the front and that may not bode well for Phil.

:tro: :tro:

Beautiful day, heading out to Big Sandy in a few. Have a great day everyone.

no

Modern Look has speed, and the Team Valor import judging by the comments looks like she likes to be upfront, plus Diamondrella stretching out will probably be closer to the pace than normal, so it really depends on how the riders react. Of course, Forever Together could just mow 'em all down like she usually does even if the pace is glacial.

I would have done better picking horses with a dart board today, what a f@#king nightmare today was.

I played a late four today, even had Summer Bird in the Belmont, but didn't have Gabby's Golden Gal in the Acorn. 3 of 4. Usually don't get annoyed by this, but tonight, I'm annoyed by it.

Hope everyone enjoyed the terrific day of racing despite my being of very little help. The challenging day turned into a bit of a struggle and chase scenario thanks to Desormeaux and Pennington being allowed to get away with murder in the 4th. Alan Garcia should be embarrassed by his performance on Expansion, and indeed apologized to McLaughlin afterwards who was plenty disgusted. That killed my early P4 and set an early negative tone.

One of the bright spots that kept the day from being dreadful, was catching a nice P3 hooking Sette E Mezzo (Likely)-Fabulous Strike (Likely)-Diamondrella (Value) together for $287 ($2). That provided some encouragement which proved short-lived when This One's for Phil failed to rally from down inside and Munnings, in whom I had zero interest, ran huge.

Nice priced 'Super Add' Gabby's Golden Girl was on a few of my multi tickets, but not one with either Munnings or Summer Bird on the other ends. Arrgh. Gio Ponti was obvious of course, but the only other cashing on the day was a "Thank God" $6 W-PL-SH saver on Summer Bird for $120, and a $1 Belmont Exacta ticket ($60) I nearly threw away by accident.

Lost $250 on the day, which was very frustrating given how many great prices were available in so many areas. Hope you did well! It was a perfect day at Belmont with just enough people to make it festive but not so many that it was a pain. Saw a number of DTers and Dee Teers, and everyone seems particularly excited to get to Saratoga.

More later today about young Tim Ice and his great moment and the ups and downs of racing.

Look forward to hearing him on your show next week. He sems like a really great guy and was happy to see his horse win yesterday.

only occasionally do horses make me take notice like munnings did post race. horse looked AWESOME down the stretch.

Sucks. I hate being so close but no cigar. Especially since that would have been nice with Summer Bird hitting.