Bolo could very well control Saturday’s Belmont Derb with his early speed. The Belmont Oaks will be a real test for Lady Eli, a filly with rare ability and a Euro burst of speed in the stretch.
Back Seat Roll will attempt to remain unbeaten at two turns on Saturday when she takes on highweight Funnyoushouldask in the $45,000 Russell and Helen Foutz Distaff Handicap at SunRay Park in Farmington, N.M.
The $50,000-added Juan Gonzalez Memorial at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet matches five wire-to-wire maiden winners and a first-time starter. That could lead bettors to do a lot of head scratching when the 5 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies is run Saturday.
Ernie Semersky and partner Dory Newell’s Conquest Stables has ascended to prominence after just three years in operation, and the stable will have its first Queen’s Plate starter Sunday at Woodbine.
The 6-year-old Kharafa has done most of his best work in stakes restricted to New York-breds, winning three turf routes and finishing second in two other added-money events since 2013. His most recent performance and his ability to stalk what should be a hot and contested pace make him dangerous in Saturday’s $75,000 Elkwood Stakes at Monmouth Park.
I like Tommy Macho, who is 2 for 2 at the Belmont Park meet and should be a reasonably good price in Saturday’s Dwyer Stakes.
Nite Delite (#2, ML 5-2) returns in Thursday’s eighth race at Los Alamitos, a six-furlong maiden special weight race. It will be her first start since finishing fifth by four lengths in a maiden special weight race May 23 at Santa Anita. The first-, third-, and sixth-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts.
In the Eastern part of the country the focus on 3-year-olds not named American Pharoah will be on Texas Red in the Dwyer at Belmont, but out West, all eyes will turn to the $350,000 Los Alamitos Derby and the appearance of Fox Hill Farm’s Kentuckian, impressive winner of the seven-furlong Lazaro Barrera Stakes last time out.
Calgary Cat, Canada’s reigning champion sprinter, will try to rebound off a rare subpar showing on Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Achievement Stakes.
Mr. Bowling took firm control of the older handicap division with a convincing 1 1/4-length win over Modern in the $50,000 Lieutenant Governor’s at Hastings on Wednesday. He paid $4.60 as the second choice behind Modern in the 1 1/16-mile race.
