Hersh: Belmont Stakes Day pick four
I find the Manhattan, race 10, unwieldy and don’t really like anyone very well, and find race 13, the second-level, $62,500 optional-claiming dirt sprint, unwieldy and don’t really like anybody. So, without strong opinions anywhere in the sequence, the idea of putting together an expensive play seems unwise. In fact, I’m going caveman style here and merely narrowing things to the horses I like best – no backups – in those two tricky races.
RACE 10 – WAR DANCER (#4) turning back to 10 furlongs and just second-time Bill Mott is appealing at a decent price. BIG BLUE KITTEN’s (#5) comeback run suggested he might be better than ever at age 7. German shipper MAGIC ARTIST (#9) might well be good enough for these, and this 10-furlong trip is his distance.
RACE 11 – Can’t quite bring myself to make AMERICAN PHAROAH (#5) a “B,” so will equally weight him with MATERIALITY (#8) and FROSTED (#6).
RACE 12 – Live or die with two logical contenders, TAGHLEEB (#7) and MARKET OUTLOOK (#12). Not much pace here, and Market Outlook has enough speed to get a good position from a wide draw.
RACE 13 – Originally had three As, three Bs, and two Cs on the ticket – and still felt like I could easily swing and miss! Narrowed it down to five and, should I be lucky enough to get to this race, will not feel secure in that quintet.
Here’s the ticket, $45 per 50-cent increment.