The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival just keeps getting better, with Day Three offering up six stakes on a blockbuster Friday card at Saratoga.
We have four Grade 1 races on the card starting with the ninth race, the $500,000 Ogden Phipps which is a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). It’s a competitive match up between Leslie’s Rose, Raging Sea and Candied.
The $500,000 Acorn drew a field of seven three-year-old fillies who will go 1 1/8 miles on the main track. The Brad Cox trained Good Cheer is the 1-2 short priced favorite on the morning line.
The $750,000 New York will be contested at 1 3/16 miles on the turf and drew a field of eight led by Modesty (G3) winner She Feels Pretty who is the 3-5 morning line favorite.
The $500,000 Just A Game closes out the G1 action for Friday at Saratoga with analysis and selections below.
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Iron Bets players can take advantage of great Daily Promos throughout the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. On Friday we have $20 Money Back Specials on the $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup and the $500,000 Just A Game. You will receive a refund of up to $20 if your pick does not win and runs second or third. (Six horses must run in race to qualify).
Let’s take a look at Friday’s $20 Money Back Special races:
Saratoga Race 10 The Saratoga Gold Cup (G2) Post time 5:08 ET
9 Tawny Port 12-1
1 Flatten the Curve 3-1
3 Limited Liability 2-1
4 La Mehana 15-1
Tawny Port
This race is wide open so we might as well look for a price and we should get it with Tawny Port. The six-year-old is riding a 10-race losing streak but did come out on the wrong ends of photos in four of those outings. Four back at Monmouth Park last July he was beaten just a nose and a head in the United Nations (G2) at 1 3/8 miles in a solid effort. Last out off a 5 ½ month break he was eager early, prompting the early pace and weakening to finish sixth in the pan American (G3) at Gulfstream Park at 1 ½ miles. The winner was Far Bridge who came back to win the Man O’ War (G2) in his next start while the runner up Corruption was a smart winner versus Alw-2 optional claimers at Churchill Downs on May 10. He reunites with Prat who was aboard for his U.N. trip and his good third in the Sycamore (G3) last fall at Keeneland. Looks like decent value if we catch most of the 12-1 morning line.
Flatten the Curve
This French bred has a win at two milts and invades Grewe barn that is 0 for 3 in the U.S dating back five years. He started Donjan in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Turf where he was 10th and Sisahan in the 2021 Turf who checked in seventh. This gelding was a head winner in a field of nine in Germany in group 2 company. The field he beat does not look like it as that deep although the fourth-place finisher Lordano did win a Group 2 next out on June 1 at Baden Baden. He is a proven marathoner and has handled ground with some give to it if we do get some showers as the forecast calls for.
Wagering
WIN: Tawny Port to win at 6-1 or better.
EXACTA: 9 / 1,3,4,5 and 1,9 / 1,3,9
Saratoga Race 13 The Just A Game (G1) Post time 7:04 ET
9 Choisya 4-1
8 Excellent Truth 5-2
7 A Lilac Rolla 6-1
5 Kehoe Beach 9-2
Choisya
Choisya made her U.S. debut a winning one taking the Jenny Wiley (G10 at Keeneland over good ground. She is in the best form of her career, winning her last two starts across the pond. Two back she won the Balanchine (G2) at Meydan over Cinderella’s Dream, who won the Dahlia Stakes (G2) at Newmarlet next out. Three back our top pick won the Cape Verdi (G2) over the next out winner Romantic Style who won the listed Dubai Sprint in her next outing. The mile here suits here and she looks capable of moving forward in her second start state side against a solid group.
Excellent Truth
This mare is one of three in here sent out by the Chad Brown barn that has won this race in seven of the last eight years including the last three in a row. She did not have the best of trips in the Jenny Wiley in a runner up finish to our top pick. She made a good move into the stretch and got shut off and steady trying to split rivals, finishing up well to come up a half length shy. She was making her U.S. debut and her first start for Brown. She won 4 of 11 overseas and two back ran second in the Prix Rothchild (G1). The winner of that race was Mqse de Sevigne who came back to win the Prix Jean Romanet (G1) in her next start. She makes her second start off the bench and a clean trip makes her a major threat here but at a likely light price.
Wagering
WIN: Choisya to win at 3-1 or better.
EXACTA: 9 / 5,7,8 and 8,9 / 7,8,9
