Belmont Park handicapping roundup: Week of Oct. 12

Big Sandy can be big trouble

The mammoth-sized dirt track at Belmont Park has peculiarities that spell trouble for horses in certain situations. That was the case in two important Grade 1 stakes recently, when Cross Traffic and Sweet Reason suffered from horrific starts in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Frizette.

Ever since the Suburban Handicap was shortened to 1 1/8 miles in 2010, the Gold Cup is the only stakes on Belmont’s main track that remains at America’s “classic” distance of 1 1/4 miles. Unlike Saratoga, where the Travers and Alabama begin their 1 1/4-mile run with an ample straightaway run down the homestretch, the Gold Cup begins on the clubhouse turn, a section of real estate that is A) banked, and B) used for actual racing only in the Belmont Stakes and Brooklyn Handicap several months earlier.

The Gold Cup’s top two finishers, Ron the Greek and Palace Malice, broke cleanly. Everyone else received a trouble comment. Flat Out “stumbled.” Vitoria Olimpica “bobbled.” Last Gunfighter “lost footing.” Alpha “bobbled.” Cross Traffic “stumbled badly.” Orb “bobbled.”

Possible fixes include lengthening the chute (expensive and unlikely); adding a second wire, as several other tracks have done to accommodate awkward distances; or changing the distance of the race.

One-mile races out of the chute present a different dilemma because they begin in a no-man’s land where the clubhouse turn, chute, and backstretch converge. Horses breaking from the “rail” do not actually have a rail on their left, and their natural inclination is to duck inward to open space. Along with countless others before her, that is what happened to Sweet Reason, who swerved in from the 1 hole and spotted the rest of the field several lengths as the odds-on choice in the Frizette, a race she lost by just over a length.

The moral, obviously, is tread lightly with horses from the rail in one-mile races, all the more so at miserly odds.

Grade 1 in name only

Based on recent results, there are no superstars hiding among 3-year-old grass horses based in the United States.

On closing weekend at Saratoga, Five Iron shipped down from Woodbine to lead the Grade 3 Saranac from start to finish unchallenged.
Last weekend, another Canadian invader, Up With the Birds ($10.20), rallied from the back of the pack to win the Grade 1 Jamaica Handicap as the second choice.

Up With the Birds is a nice horse – now 6-2-1 from nine starts with more than $1 million in the bank – but his previous high-water mark in terms of Beyer Speed Figures on grass was a 90, and he received a mere 93 for his half-length score over Admiral Kitten (he of the 88 Beyer for winning the Grade 1 Secretariat).

“After he won the Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine, the owners all got together,” said Malcolm Pierce, who trains Up With the Birds. “This is a big step up from running against Canadian-breds [to] a Grade 1 in New York, but we said, ‘What the heck? Let’s give it a try.’ ”

Indeed, why not? Truth be told, the U.S. “marquee” races for 3-year-old turf horses – male and female – are the softest Grade 1 races in captivity, and no one should confuse the winners of races like the Jamaica, Garden City, or Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (my, that’s a mouthful) with the genuine article, which can be found overseas.

Rice on a roll

When Linda Rice’s just-claimed filly Trail Walker ($8.20) prevailed in a photo finish Wednesday, she extended the trainer’s torrid streak to 8-3-6 from 19 starters since Sept. 28, a run that vaulted her into third place in the trainers’ standings at the fall meet with 12 winners, behind Todd Pletcher (17) and Chad Brown (14).

Trail Walker was only the second winner on the main track this fall for Rice, who tied for the top spot at Belmont’s 2011 spring-summer meet with 25 victories.