Belmont: DRF Plus handicapping report for June 18, 2014
Belmont: DRF Plus handicapping report for June 18, 2014
DRF StaffJun 17, 2014
Belmont: DRF Plus handicapping report for June 18, 2014
Trip Notes for June 14-15: Stephen Foster, Shoemaker Mile, Pegasus and more by Michael Hammersly.
The main track was faster than normal Saturday at Santa Anita, where Joe Talamo rode Iotapa and Obviously to impressive Grade 1 victories. A quick recap is below.
Compared to a day earlier, the Sunday card at Santa Anita is relatively quiet. A standout at a short price figures to win the stakes, and a frontrunner figures to win the only dirt route.
Roughly six weeks after he won the Grade 2 Alysheba at 6-1 odds, Moonshine Mullin pulled off another upset in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Saturday night at Churchill Downs, this time scoring at 10-1 odds.
As with Friday’s card, some turf racing was lost to the rain as races 2, 8, and 10 were switched to the main track. The early part of the card was decimated by scratches – only 20 horses contested the first four races.
What looks to be a promising 2-year-old maiden race goes in the fourth Sunday at Churchill Downs, with the race attracting first-timers trained by Steve Asmussen, Mark Casse, and Ian Wilkes, plus Heart’s Song, who ran second in her only prior start for trainer Bill Connelly.
If you consider yourself a turf specialist, then Sunday’s card is for you. Six of the nine races are slated for the sod, including five of the last six, which constitutes the pick six.
Trainer Ralph Biamonte captured the $125,400 Bold Ruckus Stakes for the second time with Flashy Margaritta, who is a half-brother to the Biamonte-trained Citius, the 2011 Bold Ruckus winner.