Monday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Come Full Circle gets on surface he's bred to handle
Belmont at the Big A | Race 5 | Post Time 3:06 p.m. (ET)
Annexperience (#7) figures to take money as one of the only runners in this field with solid turf form. He debuted on this surface last summer at Saratoga, making a nice late run up the rail to get into second. I didn't love the field he was facing that day, and he did get a strong pace ahead of him. Yet his 91 TimeformUS Speed Figure makes him competitive here, and he still has upside with routine improvement now that he's a year older.
Identity Crisis (#8) may also take money in his career debut, especially since he's campaigned by MyRacehorse. Tom Morley isn't known for first-out success, but this gelding sports some quick workouts for the unveiling. He has more dirt sprint pedigree on his dam's side, but he is by 13% turf sprint sire Blame. I just thought some others would offer better value.
There are a few horses trying this surface for the first time who figure to like it. No Problem (#10) was meant for turf when he debuted here last month, and ran a decent race behind the talented Leon Blue despite never threatening. I don't mind progeny of Improbable getting on turf, and there's enough grass in his pedigree to suggest he should like it.
I also think Roofer (#9) is pretty interesting coming out of that same race. Honest Mischief hasn't had too many progeny try the turf, but he's had some success with those limited starters. His dam never won on turf, but she did seem to prefer that surface. This horse possesses dangerous early speed, and could take these a long way on the front end. My only knock is that he could take money off a good dirt effort last time.
My top pick is Come Full Circle (#12), who was entered for dirt on debut, likely just looking to get some experience. He didn't take any money in a tougher spot than this, won by the California shipper Train the Trainer. He lost by a dozen lengths to that foe, but he was hardly disgraced, racing wide on the turn and staying on with some interest through the lane. The fact that he ran competitively at all on dirt is a good sign, since his pedigree is overwhelmingly turf-oriented. His sire Slumber has been strictly a grass influence, and his dam did all of her best running on turf. He also won't be as short a price as horses with this kind of profile tend to be given the lower profile connections.