Friday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Into Happiness drops to appropriate level
Belmont | Race 4 | Post Time 2:38 p.m. (ET)
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Chasing Daylight (#2) figures to go favored once again despite losing as the 4-5 public choice at a lower level last time. The filly showed some talent on debut last year when winning a statebred maiden special weight going this distance. However, she beat a pretty weak field that day, and was off for a long time aftewards. She was basically eased upon returning in April before failing to get the job done for a lower claiming tag last time. Perhaps she has another step forward in her, but I’m reluctant to take another short price. I also have little interest in La Aguililla (#3), who drops out of tougher starter allowance races for David Jacobson. This barn has been dangerous lately, but I’m skeptical that this 7-year-old mare will improve with added distance.
I want to go in a different direction, and I think a few of the runners drawn towards the outside are viable contenders. Juliana’s Rose (#5) makes sense as she drops in for a tag for the first time in her career. She ran a big race last December in the mud but hasn’t been able to get back to that form. Her last effort is a bit of a concern, but the class relief could make a difference.
Dashing Della (#4) figures to be a bigger price even as she gets a rider switch to Joel Rosario. She clearly didn’t handle the turf last time, but she had shown some ability in her prior starts. I didn’t think she got the right trip two back when she got keen making a middle move after a poor start. She can factor here with her best effort.
My top pick is Into Happiness (#6). She’s another making her first start for a tag after a series of allowance tries. Her most recent performance was obviously pretty poor, but she might not want to go nine furlongs, and that was a much tougher field than this. Her prior dirt races at the N1X level were not bad efforts, especially considering the form of today’s competition. She makes a lot of sense on speed figures and appears to be working well in her return from a brief layoff. Michelle Nevin is in the midst of a strong meet, and this filly drew well in the outside post position.