Friday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Slight class relief should benefit Pioneering Spirit

Belmont at the Big A | Race 8 | Post Time 4:21 p.m. (ET)

It’s not exactly clear where the public will land in this wide-open allowance/optional claimer. I made Mondego (#8) the lukewarm morning-line favorite, since his early speed should appeal to some handicappers. He generally makes his own good trips, and he’s coming off a decent effort at this level where he just ran into a superior rival in Reckoning Force. Yet I would have liked to see him put up more of a fight when challenged in the lane, as he was even overhauled for third by today’s rival Daunt (#6). I actually slightly prefer that Robert Ribaudo trainee, who had appeared to be tailing off coming into that Aug. 17 effort. However, Daunt had gotten wide trips twice in a row over courses that were favoring horses that saved ground. His last race is probably a more accurate representation of his current form, and it makes him a contender.

Really Good (#4) beat both of them at this level on May 2, but he did take advantage of a favorable setup as those two rivals engaged each other on the front end. Really Good was ambitiously placed against stakes company in his next two starts trying distances that are a little too far for him. He didn’t even run that badly in the Belmont Gold Cup against a superior field over two miles, and he got an uncomfortable trip last time in a small field. He’s now dropping back down to a realistic level, and the return to 1 3/16 miles should suit him.

My top pick is Pioneering Spirit (#2). It’s obviously been a long time since this Linda Rice trainee has won a race, going winless this season after compiling a 6 for 12 record during a productive 2023 campaign. However, he’s been placed in some pretty ambitious spots this year, and he has run better than it looks a few times. That was certainly the case in a July 20 allowance when he had some early trouble and made a wide run at the end. He was hardly disgraced against vastly superior competition in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer, and then held his own against tougher than this in the Bernard Baruch. His last race might look disappointing, but he had no chance, chasing two wide at the back of the pack behind a glacial early pace. He figures to get a fair setup here, he’s drawn well inside, and he should appreciate some further class relief.