Belmont at the Big A | Race 7 | Post Time 4:05 p.m. (ET)   This allowance, which serves as Thursday's feature, could have been carded as a stakes race, since some in here have stakes credentials. That group is led by Cugino (#2), who was always right on the cusp of breaking through at the graded stakes level last year. Some poor trips and tough competition prevented him from achieving that goal, but he still has run well in nearly all of his turf starts. He was unlucky to lose the Grade 3 Transylvania after a wide trip, and he then caught the progressive future Grade 1 winner Deterministic when finishing second in the Hill Prince later in the season. He now returns from a freshening for his 4-year-old debut and will be tough to handle if he can build on last year's form. There appears to be plenty of speed signed on with Big Everest (#1) and Strong Quality (#4) both performing best when they're able to secure a clear early lead. Even Exact Estimate (#6) has produced some of his best form when able to control on the front end, so there could be some competition for early supremacy here, as the Pace Projector would suggest.   That should suit a couple of mid-Atlantic shippers. Forever Souper (#5) comes off a narrow defeat when third in the Cliff Hanger last time at Monmouth. However, he may have inherited the lead too soon that day after a frontrunner prematurely threw in the towel. The race came apart late, but he still battled on gamely in a solid performance. His effort two back is also better than it looks, since he was wide around both turns at Laurel. He's capable on his best day and figures to be a better price than in all of his recent starts.   My top pick is Dataman (#7), who returns to turf following a synthetic experiment at Woodbine last time. Not only did he appear to detest the surface, but he also didn't get his preferred trip. Manny Franco was a little too aggressive coming out of the gate and got Dataman too keyed up heading into the clubhouse turn, forcing him to steady in traffic. He's much better when his riders get him to relax off the pace and produce a late finishing kick. That was the case two back at Laurel, when he won off a layoff in impressive fashion. He ran plenty of races last season that suggest he's among the most talented runners in this field, and he's just targeted the wrong surfaces or distances in many of his recent starts.