Saturday’s TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Black Tide could prove difficult to catch

Belmont | Race 7 | Post Time 4:41 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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Annals of Time (#3) is clearly the horse to beat while racing for the first time since winning last year’s Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in impressive fashion. If he shows up with a halfway decent effort, he is probably going to win this race, but he may need a start off the long break. Given that he's going to be a very short price, I want to take a small shot against him with the only horse who I think has a reasonable chance to pull off the upset.

BLACK TIDE (#10) changes the complexion of any race in which he participates. There are plenty of speed horses in this field, but none of them as quick as Black Tide early in a race. He elevated his game to a new level last time in the West Point. Even after setting especially taxing early fractions, he fought back gamely in the stretch, finishing only a couple of lengths behind Get Jets and Offering Plan. The other runners who were chasing that pace finished far behind, and there's no doubt in my mind that Black Tide ran the best race. Now, he gets back to a mile, which is probably his best distance.

I’ll also use these two with Cerise’s Prince (#2), who may be hindered by the presence of Black Tide. However, he should appreciate the return to Belmont Park where he ran his best races. He had no chance last time when he was unwisely rated and forced into a wide stalking trip over a course that was favoring inside runners.

THE PLAY

Win: 10

Exacta Box: 2,3,10

Trifecta: 3,10 with 3,10 with 1,2,9,11