Two-Year-Olds in the Belmont Spotlight
- Who: Thoroughbreds – R Heat Lightning, Promise Me a Cat, Tap for Luck, Joyful Victory, Settle for Medal, Uncle Mo, Stay Thirsty
- What: Horse Racing Betting Tips – The Frizette, The Champagne
- Where: Belmont Park
- When: Saturday, October 9th
Two-year-olds will be front and center Saturday at Belmont Park. The fillies will go first (as they should) in the 63rd Running of The Frizette (Grade 1) - a race that appears wide open. One race later, the colts will line up in the 139th Running of The Champagne (Grade 1), with the Todd Pletcher-trained entry of Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty the overwhelming chalk (morning line 1-4). The trick there may be to find a horse to use underneath in the exacta. Let’s get to it.
In The Frizette, just one of nine contestants has run at “Big Sandy”. While Promise Me a Cat has the advantage of a win over the track in fast time, I’m not convinced that this filly wants to go a mile, being by D’wildcat out of a Pentelicus mare. Trainer Todd Pletcher has four horses entered in this affair, including Grade 1 Spinaway winner R Heat Lightning, but I’ll be looking in another direction.
Tony Dutrow ships debut-winner Joyful Victory in from Delaware Park. She’s the only member of the field to race at one mile or longer (her maiden victory came at a mile and 70 yards), and she has been training up a storm ever since. She fetched $400,000 earlier this year, so you know this daughter of Tapit has quality. She didn’t earn a huge Beyer Speed Figure first out (77), and the margin of victory was only a neck, but note it was more than seven lengths back to the third-place finisher in that field of 12. I’m expecting a move forward, and will bet her to win at odds of 4-1 or better.
The Champagne appears to be at the mercy of Uncle Mo, who won his debut by more than 14 lengths, earning a field-best Beyer of 102. Perhaps the only threat to Uncle Mo comes from his stablemate, Stay Thirsty (named presumedly after my hero, The Most Interesting Man in the World, of Dos Equis commercial fame). Rather than try to beat the entry, I’ll look for the best closer in this speed-laden field, and use him underneath in the exacta. Settle for Medal fills the bill. He broke his maiden second time out, closing fast vs. a nice group of youngsters at Saratoga. He had trouble at the start in his other two races, which perhaps accounts for the jockey switch to Jose Lezcano. I’ll bet the 1-3 exacta, and ‘settle’ for a payoff in the $12.00 range.
Those are my horse racing betting tips for the weekend. Best of luck and happy gambling!
