Loading ...Jun 11 2022
Saturday June 11 Precap: Belmont Stakes and 7 more Grade 1 races today
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Saturday June 11, 2022. Belmont Park is having it’s biggest day of the year, offering 7 Grade 1 races and a G2, highlighted by of course, the fabled Belmont Stakes: Test of Champions. Let’s go over that and a couple more races to get you primed. Yesterday the Grid gave us some great long shots.
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Racing began at 11:20am ET, and the first 2 races were off to a good start with a couple nice long shot winners. Both of which were NOT top EP but they went gate to wire. In fact, the running order in both races barely changed as far as the top 4.
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In race 3, there was a surprise scratch of favorite Echo Zulu in the Acorn G1, then the new 1-5 favorite went gate to wire. And again, there was barely any change in the running order in the 4 filly field. So keep that in mind as we tackle the rest of the races.
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Race 4 was the first turf race and was not surprisingly won by a filly trained by Chad Brown, who had 60% of the 5 filly field. Jose Ortiz was up for the win from behind, but there’s no seeming track bias on the turf since they did set an impressive pace up front.
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The weather in Elmont is good right now but there is a chance of rain in the area, which has so far dodged a few rain clouds. Thus the main track will likely to continue favoring whoever goes out first. The turf track is unseen as of yet.
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There are a lot of short fields today until we get to the r8 Jaipur G1 on turf, which looks really wide open and interesting. There are plenty of options there, with the top speed True Valour at 12-1ML, in a race where there really isn’t much early speed at all for a field of 13, but the fav is one of them.
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But today’s spotlight races are r10 the Manhattan G1 on turf, and the Belmont G1 in r11. Take a look at the Grid snapshot for these 2 races so you can see what we’re talking about.
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R10 5:38ET 10f t Manhttn-G1 4 UP
I’m on record supporting Gufo in his 2 races this year, except that I knew that last time out in the ManOWar, there was almost no semblance of speed and he would have a hard time. He still wound up 2nd even with a dawdling pace. In this one there are a few frontrunners so he’s the one to beat.
The best long shot to watch for and bet on is Channel Maker at 8-1ML, who although a frontrunner, has made quite a career out of long distance turf outings. Santin also looks like a prime contender even if his odds aren’t great either as the 2nd ML choice.
Rockemperor at 10-1 is also very interesting, but coming off a horrid performance in his only race this year for Chad Brown. But last he was just as good as Gufo, and in fact finished ahead of him in the BC Turf, which is the biggest turf race of the year of course.
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R11 6:44ET 12f D Belmont-G1 3 YO
It’s 12f but remember the Test of Champions doesn’t really favor late runners or early runners, but usually mid-pace types who have the stamina to keep up. This one has barely any early speed in it, and if the earlier races are any indication, that could mean good news for the ML favorite.
We The People at 2-1 is coming off a Peter Pan win here at Belmont and destroyed the field on the front end. Unfortunately for those trying to beat him, there is almost no pace competition on paper.
Nest at 8-1 hasn’t lost many, and last out lost only to the great filly Secret Oath in the Kentucky Oaks. She has some early speed but has never been on the lead before stretch time.
Skippylongstalking 20-1 seems to have been forgotten about after a subpar Preakness, but was last seen before that taking 2nd in the Wood G1 in NY, retaining the 2nd best PF in the field.
Mo Donegal 5-2 has the best PF, again for the Wood win, which appears legit because he was 5th in the Kentucky Derby and not far behind.
Which brings us full circle to Rich Strike, who at 7-2 won’t be sneaking up on anyone this time like he did as the 80-1 Kentucky Derby champion last month.
Creative Minister at 6-1ML is also interesting, and I actually won a contest for picking the exact order trifecta in the Preakness, including him at 3rd. I’ll try to repeat that in today’s race somehow.
As you can see, this one is wide open, but Todd has 2 entries with 2 Ortiz brothers riding them, and a good record in this race. In fact, he’s even won it with a filly, which makes Nest and Mo my top picks.
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The first 12f dirt race of the day is in the books, and won by a Todd trainee from slightly off the pace with Luis Saez up on Fearless, so that’s a good sign that the track isn’t favoring only speed.
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