Friday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Rough Draft should get better trip in return to New York
Belmont at the Big A | Race 6 | Post Time 3:39 p.m. (ET)
It’s pretty obvious that Danzigwiththestars (#7) is the horse to beat based on the company he’s been keeping in his recent starts. He’s entered for the optional-claiming price of $45k this time, but he won this corresponding New York-bred allowance condition all the way back in 2022. Since then he’s competed exclusively against open company in the allowance ranks, actually winning one of those races last fall in his first start off the trainer switch to Rick Dutrow. He returned from a layoff last time in a pretty tough spot, stepping up against open N2X foes, and he just wasn’t good enough. Yet he was also done no favors by the trip he got, since he was parked outside in the three to four path throughout. Now he’s getting realistic class relief as he drops back down. He’s a deserving favorite, but you will likely have to swallow a pretty short price with Irad Ortiz Jr. retaining the mount.
A few of his main rivals exit a race at this level from May 24, but I don’t really want anyone from that spot. It was a merry-go-round affair won by the early leader, so I’m not inclined to take Born Dancer (#9) or Bar Fourteen (#4), who were just tracking that moderate pace. Sell Something (#2) has an excuse for his poor finish, since he was extremely wide around the turns, but it’s not as if his prior form points him out as a serious contender here.
The lone 3-year-old in this field is Cable Ready (#8), who scored a major upset in his turf debut at 19-1 two starts ago. His connections got a little too ambitious trying the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge off that score, but he was hardly disgraced and checked in fourth after stalking the pace. He has to run a little better than either of those performances to get the job done here, but he does still have more upside than most in here, and he’s getting a rider upgrade to Dylan Davis.
My top pick is Rough Draft (#3), who returns to New York after spending the winter in Florida. He raced competitively at this level when in the barn of David Duggan last season before changing hands a few times. He didn’t run well for Brittany Russell when she had him for a brief period earlier this year, but he took a big step forward off the claim for Fernando Abreu two back. He got a good trip in that race, but still was game to beat a classy horse in Border Town. He wasn’t as effective at the same level last time, but I think that can be attributed to his trip. He got an awkward ride, moving up into a precarious spot on the backstretch before getting shuffled back, and then getting caught in more traffic before steadying at the quarter pole. He’s now had some time off and returns in this appropriate spot.