Saturday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Awesome Czech a notch above her Ticonderoga rivals

Belmont at the Big A | Race 9 | Post Time 4:24 p.m. (ET)

I'm not trying to beat Awesome Czech (#4), who might go off as the lukewarm favorite in a competitive edition of the Ticonderoga. She has faced her two main rivals in her two most recent starts, and beaten both them on each occasion. She won the Yaddo with a very good trip, but then beat those same foes again when they all stepped up against open company in the Athenia despite the fact that she got the worst trip. She was stuck wide around both turns, and still finished well to get up for third. This is slight class relief for her, and she has the versatility to work out a trip no matter how the pace develops.

The two mares she defeated the last couple of times are Spinning Colors (#1) and Moonage Daydream (#5). The former is the speed of the race, but she got uncontested leads in both the Yaddo and Athenia and couldn't hold off Awesome Czech either time. Spinning Colors does appear to be a horse that elevates her game at Saratoga, and I wonder if she'll continue to hold that form into the fall. Moonage Daydream probably didn't want to go 1 1/8 miles in the Athenia, but she did save ground on the turns and just flattened out late. She's an obvious contender, but I preferred others.

The one longshot I can upgrade is Can't Fool Me (#2). She obviously has to improve on her recent form to compete against these stakes foes, but she did run well to upset a second-level allowance field two back. She then tried that same level last time and was blocked for most of the stretch run. She's improved in recent starts and now makes her first start off the claim for a barn that can win with this move. She just needs some pace to develop ahead of her.