JC / Railbird

Belmont Archive

This Is Not

… something it should be possible to write about the G1 Suburban Handicap:

Grade 1 travesty, indeed.
At least the Suburban drew a field big enough for trifecta wagering, unlike the G1 Mother Goose, which attracted only four starters. Despite the tiny field size, though, this is the race of more interest to me — Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell is easily the best 3-year-old running right now and I am very curious to see how Music Note, who I’ve mentioned here a few times before, does in her first stakes start. It’s worth logging into Cal Racing to check out the replay of her May 22 allowance win at Belmont — while the comment line “4 wide, hand ride,” does capture the essentials of her run, the note doesn’t fully convey the easy dominance she displayed, and not for the first time. The A.P. Indy filly won her maiden (in her second start, after debuting in a super key race) very assuredly and also under a hand ride over the Aqueduct inner last November, before disappearing to Dubai for the winter.

Posted in Belmont on June 26, 2008

Early Double

Transit of Venus is 3-1 on the morning line in the first at Belmont this afternoon, making his second start for trainer Gary Contessa after finishing third at the same level on Met Mile day. This was a bad beat for me: I played Transit of Venus at 5-1 in the fifth and had to watch in frustration as the 5-year-old gelding was checked in the stretch, then trapped behind a wall as the field neared the sixteenth. When rider Rajiv Maragh found a hole in the final yards, Transit’ burst through, actually getting a neck in front of ultimate winner Dancing Tin Man — two jumps after the wire. The best, but too late, so disappointing. Transit of Venus is returning among a similar bunch and has a decent work between starts, having breezed five furlongs in 1:01 on June 14, and figures to stay close to the whatever pace there might be in this affair. Also of note is Nkosi Reigns, 7-2 dropping in for a tag for the first time in his career. The 7-year-old gelding trained by Kiaran McLaughlin seems to prefer an unmolested lead to do his best, but does show an ability to rate and win in his past and could end up sitting off Provincetown, who tired in his last, the first off a layoff, or morning line favorite Bon Marie, who makes his third start in four weeks at the $35,000 level for trainer Rick Dutrow.
In the second, it’s hard to get past Sammarco with the eye-catching 102 Beyer he boasts after running second to Mucho Macho (returning in the eighth at Belmont today) on May 17, his first start in more than a year. Morning line says 6-5, but don’t be surprised if post-time odds are more like 4-5. Golden Weekend gets blinkers after a decent showing in a maiden special run over Belmont’s speed-favoring Belmont Stakes day track. That race, the day’s second, was won by Sixthirteen, who made his way to the inside rail and barely outlasted place horse Tiz It after posting fractions of :21.96 and :44.80 in the first half. I’m going to look toward 5-1 first-time starter Lincoln Road for a mild upset here. The 3-year-old colt is by one of my favorite underrated debut sires, Montbrook, and shows excellent recent gate works, including one on June 13, when he went five furlongs in 1:01, the fastest of 21 at the distance that day.
[Results: Well, I’m not going to crow over picking a $5.70 winner or an $11.60 double, but it was delightful to watch the first race unfold pretty much as I imagined it would and catch Transit of Venus this time around, along with the $105 trifecta. As Brooklyn Backstretch alludes to in her comment, my racing luck has not been so fantastic lately, and Saturday’s first was a much needed confidence boost, even if it didn’t exactly lead to a brag-worthy score.]

Posted in Belmont on June 21, 2008

Desormeaux Speaks

Not to the press — “I gave my interview after the race, and I really have nothing more to say,” said the jockey (NYT) — but with trainer Rick Dutrow and the stewards. Dutrow said he and the rider are “back on target” (Blood-Horse) after meeting this morning at Aqueduct to discuss the Belmont. As for the stewards, Demormeaux spoke with them for about 20 minutes early this afternoon. It is uncertain what action, if any, the officials might — or should — take.

Posted in Belmont, Triple Crown on June 11, 2008