SATURDAY AT BEL AND KEE

I wish I had time to horse by horse the big ones properly but I am running out of time! In lieu of that, I am just going to do quick blurbs for the big races at Keeneland and Belmont. Apologies in advance for the lack of analysis but something is better than nothing, right? I am knee deep writing Breeders’ Cup contender profiles and also had a deadline this week for the BC issue of The Horseplayer Magazine. That’s my excuse. I also maybe bounced a bit from the extended coverage of Super Saturday. OK, here we go:

KEE 5, 3:27 ET, WOODFORD (G3)

I might play around with a couple of California horses who might be overpriced (on the ML), MAGOO and STREAKIN’ MOHICAN. COUNTRY DAY is a third I’ll mention who could trip out well. DESPITE THE ODDS worth a chance at a big price for great connections.

KEE 6, 4:01 ET, TCA (G2)

MUSICAL ROMANCE looks like she might be a Flow move up (the Plod Boys don’t make figs for Presque Isle. . .yet). She’s well drawn and makes sense in a race where I can see the logical Switch being overbet. But I won’t toss that one, either. As I like to say, A-U-S (always use Sadler).

BEL 7, 4:13 ET, JAMAICA (G1)

#1 CASINO HOST looks fresh and dangerous for Chad Brown. He strikes me as aq very good colt who has been largely unlucky not to have accomplished more this season. The 2-1 of the ML feels a hair short but not by much. Worth a bet for me at 5/2 or higher. The 10s of the ML on Western Aristocrat would surely be too big. He’s a potential saver at anything over 6s. No knocks on BRILLIANT SPEED, but they could get overexuberant in betting him. It also might be notable that he’s spotting the field 5 pounds. SKY BLAZER was a bankroll play at SAR. He ran well and is a flow move-up out of there. I’m not certain he’s quite fast enough to win but tri players will want to include.

KEE 7, 4:37 ET, FIRST LADY (G1)

Also a really competitive one. The three I like best are DAVERON, NEVER RETREAT, and the O’Brien invader, TOGETHER.

BEL 8, 4:45 ET, FRIZETTE (G1)

I’ve been looking forward to this particular rematch since the maiden race on August 14th at SAR. I’m picking STOPSHOPPINGMARIA to reverse form with My Miss Aurelia. SPARE CHANGE could be an interesting longshot to pick up the pieces, or even win, if the speeds go too fast at this new distance.

KEE 8, 5:13 ET, Breeders’ Futurity (G1)

TAKE CHARGE INDY is my selection. He looks fast enough, and is a Flow move up off the early move into a fast pace last time. I rank SHARED PROPERTY, who beat him last time, behind him, but not far behind.

BEL 9, 5:18 ET, CHAMPAGNE (G1)

Wow, what a competitive race. I would ideally like to be alive to several of these. Two colts who strike me as very talented and, crucially, are NOT Flow downgrades out of their last races are TAKES THE GOLD and RIGHT TO VOTE. UNION RAGS helped us out in SAR and I make him the most likely winner, but I can’t get excited about a short number.

KEE 9, 5:45, SHADWELL TURF MILE (G1)

DANCE AND DANCE rates a long look for trainer Ed Vaughn. He had a horror trip in the Woodbine Mile, breaking in the air and lacking room to run at a critical stage. ZOFFANY has some nice bits of form to run back to and probably hated the soft last time. He seems likely to adapt well to our racing as he’s a small horse with a turn of foot. GIO PONTI should go well but I’m guessing he’ll be too short to bet, except as a saver.