Friday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Weekend Rags finally gets back on turf

Belmont at the Big A | Race 8 | Post Time 4:42 p.m. (ET)

Christophe Clement sends out a pair of contenders in this statebred allowance/optional claimer, of which Strictly Taboo (No. 7) could go favored. This 4-year-old filly seeks her third consecutive victory as she looks to run right through her New York-bred conditions. It took her six attempts to win her maiden, but she got the job done convincingly two back and repeated that performance against a tougher allowance field last time. The waters get deeper yet again this time, but she has the right running style for a race that features plenty of pace.

Clement’s other runner Marco T. (No. 2) also likes to close from off the pace. I don’t care much about her most recent effort on dirt, and she also won her N1X allowance condition when last seen on turf. However, she was fortunate that day, working out a good trip in a race where the pace came apart. I won’t be surprised if she runs well, but I preferred her stablemate at any kind of similar price.

The Pace Projector is predicting a fast pace where any of three runners could be vying for early command. Even Patria (No. 5), who isn’t shown up front on the Projector could be more forward if she breaks well.

A contested pace would benefit Im Just Kiddin (No. 4) as she turns back in distance. She’s sprinted on turf sparingly through her career, but she’s run well in all three of those races. She narrowly lost at this level last September when making this same move, turning back from two-turn races at Saratoga. I think she fits well here, but I’m concerned she could get overbet with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.

My top pick is Weekend Rags (No. 9). She’s another who hasn’t gotten many chances to sprint on turf recently, but that’s because she’s made four of her last six starts on the dirt, getting rained off the grass on three of those occasions. She’s just a much better turf horse and is finally getting back into the right spot. She’s another who last competed at the N1X level on turf back in May, but I thought she was impressive in victory. She was racing wide chasing a pace that fell apart behind her, and did well to register a decisive victory over Fancypants Juliana, who has been in excellent form through the summer, winning twice at Saratoga. Weekend Rags ran poorly on dirt last time, but she was always out of position after getting bumped around early. She fits this race well and figures to be a fair price.