Sunday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Heard On Thestreet can continue steady improvement
Belmont at the Big A | Race 2 | Post Time 1:10 p.m. (ET)
A couple of horses who could take money in this $25k conditioned claimer exit the Sep. 14 race at this level won by Montebello. Magia Nera (#4) just missed by a head that day settling for second, but that’s a pretty familiar scenario for him. He’s finished in the runner-up position in 7 of his 19 career starts with just 2 victories. He had every chance to get there in his last start and just couldn’t withstand the late charge of the winner. He’s been in solid form recently and clearly took a step forward off the claim for David Jacobson. I just don’t totally trust him to seal the deal.
Neuschwanstein (#9) was only beaten a length by Magia Nera last time, but he didn’t have much of an excuse after getting away with some pretty soft fractions up front. I think he has to run better to beat this field, and it remains to be seen if he will hold that form after being claimed away from Wayne Potts.
I prefer a couple of runners dropping down out of a tougher $35k conditioned claimer on Sep. 20. Watasha (#2) was entered for the claiming waiver that day, and ran like a horse who needed a race off the layoff. He was a little slow away from the gate and moved up to chase the pace before fading late in a race the was dominated by a pair of deep closers. This horse has races from the latter half of 2023 that would make him awfully tough for this field to handle. Perhaps he’s just not that same horse anymore after spending so much time on the shelf, but he has a right to take a step forward second off the layoff.
My top pick is Heard On Thestreet (#7), who exits that same Sep. 20 affair. He got bumped around soon after the start and was initially towards the back of the pack before making an early backstretch move into contention. He continued to go forward pressing the pace to lead just past the quarter pole, essentially breaking the race open. He ultimately got swallowed up late by the two dropdown closers Debate and Two for Charging, but he held on well for third. This 3-year-old had been steadily improving since mid-summer, and I thought he took another step forward getting back into the Wayne Potts barn last time. He’s drawn well towards the outside here and should sit a good stalking trip in a race that doesn’t appear to feature that much pace.