Hersh: How I'll play Belmont Park on Sunday, May 26, 2019

It was a struggle finding an opinion on this card, but eventually I got to one in the nightcap, race 9. This a a New York-bred maiden special weight sprint over 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt, and I’m keying SEVEN IS HEAVEN (#9).

Seven is Heaven is a second-time starter for trainer Linda Rice, and his debut running line caught my eye as a standard-issue tough-trip-from-rail event for a first-time starter. Watching that replay, he had more trouble than the short comment in the chart enumerates and ran even better than the past performance hints.

Seven is Heaven wasn’t in terrible early position despite a ho-hum break, but a horse came over on him down the backstretch, forcing the rider to steady back to last. Seven is Heaven geared up for a run at the three-furlong pole but lost some momentum when things got tight along the inside. He raced through traffic for most of the homestretch, had the fastest finish in a moderate-paced race dominated by a front-runner, and was not beaten much for second while galloping up to the front past the wire.

Rice-trained horses often come into races with spotty work patterns like this, and I’ll guess he’s plenty ready. First-time blinkers has been a vastly positive move for this outfit, the stretch-out from 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 furlongs seems like a plus, and $100K, his published purchase price, is a pretty penny for a horse with this pedigree.

:: MEMORIAL DAY SALE: Save 50% on Formulator PPs, DRF Plus access, and handicapping reports

The Chad Brown-trained first-timer CYBER CURRENCY (#7) could be favored here and does look live. I’ll use him and SIX PERCENT (#6), who debuted on a sloppy track in an open maiden race at Fair Grounds and now is first-time Brad Cox, in the second hole in a trifecta. I’ll play those two horses on top of Seven is Heaven in the exacta, play Seven is Heaven to win at 3-1 or higher, and take one exacta with Seven is Heaven over MISTER BOBBY (#3), another first-timer who looks like he might be able to run.

Trifecta:
($1) 9 with 6,7 with 3,4,5,6,7,8,10 ($12)
($1) 9 with 7 with all ($4.50)

Exacta:
$4 6 with 9
$8 7 with 9
$3 9 with 3

Win
$20 on 9

Total outlay: $51.50