United Nations and Queen’s Plate Headline Weekend Stakes Action
- Who: Thoroughbreds – Acclamation, Winchester, Take the Points, Big Red Mike, Hotep
- What: Horse Racing Betting Tips – The United Nations, The Queen’s Plate
- Where: Monmouth Park, Woodbine
- When: Saturday, July 3rd
Saturday’s United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park is loaded with quality, and should offer great value to the betting public. Likewise Sunday’s Queen’s Plate at Woodbine, where a pair of hard-knocking fillies will take on the boys. Let’s see if we can ferret out a couple of overlays.
In The United Nations, there’s an abundance of quality speed, with Get Serious, Acclamation and Straight Story all exiting back-to-back, front-running scores. Acclamation’s recent accomplishments are especially noteworthy due to the tougher competition he faced in the Grade 2 Jim Murray Handicap and the Grade 1 Charlie Whittingham Handicap, both at Hollywood Park. Also, those wins came at 1¼ and 1½ miles, more in line with the United Nations’ 1 3/8th-mile distance. Get Serious and Straight Story might be more effective going shorter. Winchester should appreciate a battle up front, as he’ll be flying late. Three-time Grade 1 winner Take the Points gets in relatively light at 118 pounds, and could enjoy a perfect stalking trip. He worked sharply on June 27th, and appears set for a top effort. The pick at odds of 3-1 or better.
There are no standouts in Sunday’s Queen’s Plate, with Hotep the lukewarm morning-line favorite at 3-1. He couldn’t make up any ground on the victorious Exhi last out in his prep for this event, but the fractions were relatively slow, so the loss can be forgiven. There’s not much speed in The Queen’s Plate, so jockey Patrick Husbands may have to keep him a bit closer to the pace than usual. Speaking of speed, the underrated Big Red Mike, winner of The Plate Trial at nearly 9-1, should find himself on or near a modest pace. He demonstrated his grit last out, and should do so again in the big dance. His quick 5-furlong breeze on June 25th indicates he retains his sharp form. The fillies Roan Inish and Moment of Majesty compare favorably on the Beyer scale to their male counterparts, and a victory by either would come as no
great surprise. Nevertheless, I’ll bet on Big Red Mike to win at odds of 6-1 or better.Those are my horse racing betting tips for the weekend. Best of luck and happy gambling!
