Litfin's preview: Halftime tidbits

Wednesday is the 19th day of racing at Belmont’s 38-day fall meet, and as we hit the halfway point, here are some odds ‘n ends:

* Winning favorites are right around their universal average, at 56 for 172 (33%), and there have been virtually the same number of races on turf as on dirt. Favorites are 32 for 87 (37%) on the main track, and 24 for 85 (28%) on turf. The weakest category for favorites has been in stakes, where they are 4 for 19 (21%).

* Jockey Joel Rosario has a 23-17 lead on his closest pursuer, Javier Castellano. Rosario leads all riders in overall win percentage (28%), and is also tops on dirt (31%) and on the grass (27%).

* Rajiv Maragh, who is sidelined after breaking his right arm in a Saturday spill, leads all riders with a $19.20 average mutuel. He has 15 wins at the meet.

* Jose Ortiz has the best record when on the favorite, at 5 for 9 (56%).

* His brother Irad has the worst record with the chalk, at 4 for 23 (17%).

* David Jacobson has a 13-12 lead on Chad Brown in the training race. For each trainer, the average winner has paid $6.70, which is lowest among all conditioners with at least three winners.

* In a measure of the difference between the two tracks, six trainers on the leader board have more starters at the meet than Todd Pletcher, who sent out 131 runners at Saratoga, but has run only 28 at Belmont.

INSIDE POSTS RULE IN DIRT SPRINTS

So far, it’s paid to lean toward horses with inside draws in sprints on the main track:

* At six furlongs, horses breaking from post 8 and farther out are 1 for 21.

* At 6 1/2 furlongs, horses from post 6 and farther out are 3 for 55.

* At seven furlongs, horses from post 1 are 5 for 7; the rest are 2 for 42.

THREE ALARM FIRE HEADS FEATURE

The nominal feature is race 8, a first-level allowance where Three Alarm Fire will be favored to stretch out successfully to 1 1/16 miles.

Three Alarm Fire, a 3-year-old gelding by Pyro, earned a 90 Beyer Figure finishing second at a mile here July 11, and showed it wasn’t a fluke by coming back to win the seven-furlong opener Travers Day with a 95.

His main opposition should come from Encryption, who had a difficult task chasing Mosler’s very slow fractions in a spot like this early at the meet, and The Brothers Rap, who tries open company after a decisive win over second-level New York-bred allowance horses.

HORSES TO WATCH

IMPERIA
Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin
Last race: Sept. 28, 9th
Finish: 1st by 1
Beyer: 82

This regally bred 2-year-old looks like a major U.S. contender in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf after adding Lasix to win the 1 1/16-mile Pilgrim in 1:41.36, more than two seconds faster than the Miss Grillo for fillies an hour earlier on the same course.