Belmont at the Big A | Race 6 | Post Time 3:51 p.m. (ET)   This competitive $50,000 conditioned claiming race drew a pretty wide-open field of 12 runners. I had trouble setting a morning line for this race since so many of the main players seem quite evenly matched. Perhaps Flying Liam (#10) will attract support after running well in his return from the layoff last time out. He had a right to need his first start in over four months, and he still ran well to be second, chasing outside of the controlling speed over a rail-biased track. I don't mind him stretching out in distance, since he's run well at a mile in the past. He's logical, but I thought others would offer better value.   House United (#9) is another who figures to take some money given his consistent string of Beyers above 80. However, I thought he took a subtle step backwards last time, failing to finish in a race where he should have been more competitive. Celestial Glaze (#2) exits the same race as Flying Liam, finishing just behind that foe after losing some position in the early stages. He did well to make up some ground into the slow pace, but I'm not as optimistic about him stretching out to a mile.   A horse that might slip through the cracks here is Makes Sense (#12). He's obviously coming out of a terrible performance, but he was overmatched against a pretty tough open allowance field. He got outrun early and was never really in the mix after that, eased late. He ran much better two back at a level similar to this one. He's sprinted in both starts since getting claimed by Bruce Brown, but he's clearly just as effective going longer, and I think drawing outside may allow him to get into a better rhythm. My top pick is Golden Plate (#5), who moves up in class after winning against N2L competition last time. He was returning from a layoff when making his first start off the claim for Linda Rice. She opted to protect him with the waiver that day, but he has to race for the claiming tag here since he's coming off a win. Rice actually entered him in a $30,000 claimer last week but elected to scratch out of that spot to run against this tougher field instead. That's usually a good sign for this barn. This gelding has plenty of back class, having competed well against tougher company last season. I liked the finish he put in last time despite getting a wide trip, and Rice typically has horses fitter second off a layoff. According to DRF Formulator, over the last five years, she is 7 for 20 (35%, $2.99 ROI) with last-out winners making their second start off a layoff of 90 to 180 days.