JC / Railbird

Belmont Archive

BEL R10 10/14/07

Gutting out a nose victory in today’s fifth at Gulfstream, Tazarine became the fifth filly out of the 10th at Belmont on October 14 to win or stakes-place in her next couple starts. Melissa Jo, winner of that maiden special, finished third in her next start, the G2 Demoiselle, and will start next in Saturday’s Old Hat Stakes at Gulfstream; place horse Pulpitina won next out, as did Music Note and Carolyn’s Cat, who went on to finish second in Sunday’s Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct. Tazarine finished third that day at Belmont, then second in her next race at Aqueduct on November 23, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Armonk, who won her next out at Aqueduct on December 30. Of the four remaining non-winners from October 14, two warrant watching: After the Storm, who finished eighth and hasn’t returned to race since, although she has been working steadily at Hollywood, and Serious Vow, who made her debut that day. Running next on November 1 at Aqueduct, Serious Vow finished third in the MSW won so impressively by Music Note, and then finished fourth in her next start on December 9 after she was forced to check in the stretch and squeezed between rivals.

Posted in Belmont on January 7, 2008

Saturday Evening Notes

– Thanks to Teresa at Brooklyn Backstretch for alerting me to the appearance of Sargent Seattle in the Sunday Belmont entries. The Stanley Hough-trained Vindication baby broke his maiden debuting at Saratoga opening day, finishing 6 1/2 lengths ahead of runner-up Bold Trust (who came back to run second in a Monmouth MSW a month later). His final time of 1:03.47 for the 5 1/2 furlongs was good for a Beyer of 93. Scratched from the August 16 Saratoga Special because of a fever, Sargent Seattle resurfaces in the Grand Slam Stakes where he’ll face only four others, including Barclay Tagg’s Rollers, who worked four furlongs in a quick :46.60 over the Belmont main track on Tuesday.
10/21 Results: Sargent Seattle finished fourth as the 3-5 favorite after dueling with Rollers for the lead in a first quarter of :21.96. Rollers lasted a little longer, hanging on for second, 6 3/4 lengths behind Smoke’n Coal, a Smoke Glacken colt trained by Tom Albertrani making his second start. Kept clear of the duel by Ramon Dominquez (who was contending with a slipped saddle), he drew away easily in the stretch to run the last eighth in :12.67. No excuse for Rollers; Sargent Seattle looked like he needed the race.
– Giant Moon and longshot Coastal Drive beat out undefeated 3-10 favorite Big Truck in a three-way photo in today’s third. “I was surprised about the whole thing, but you never know,” said Tagg of Big Truck’s finish. “He got beat. I didn’t think it would be this soon” (DRF). Only last month, Tagg was saying Big Truck might be “the best one” of his juveniles, a strong statement considering the trainer also has the well-bred G2 Futurity winner Tale of Ekati in his barn.

Posted in Belmont on October 20, 2007

Bolsheviks Storm Belmont

This could only have been more amusing if it had happened on October 24: Leningrad and Stalingrad finished one-two in the fifth at Belmont on Wednesday in what announcer Tom Durkin called a “Russian geography” exacta. (Never mind that Leningrad is once again Saint Petersburg and Stalingrad now Volgograd.) Leningrad paid $35.60 to win, the exacta paid $134 (chart).
10/19 Addendum: Russian Sage, Mushka … the Russian theme continues at Belmont (LATG).

Posted in Belmont on October 18, 2007

A Generous Payout

Yesterday’s prices for the winners of each race in the tough Belmont pick six sequence: $9.90, $14.60, $8.20, $7.00, $19.00, $8.00. Short prices, mostly, yet not a favorite in the bunch. Payout on the pick six, a very generous $191,700 apiece to the holders of the two winning tickets.

Posted in Belmont on October 15, 2007