Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Typhoon Fury should get favorable pace setup in return to turf

Belmont at the Big A | Race 5 | Post Time 3:10 p.m. (ET)

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez has a chance to exert his influence in both the early and late stages of this starter turf sprint. In addition to sending out the late-running morning line favorite Devil in Disguise (#8), he also trains the speedy Java Buzz (#6), who will undoubtedly play out as the pacesetter as long as he breaks cleanly.

Devil in Disguise is obviously the stronger contender based on recent form. He just missed against a much tougher allowance field at Keeneland in April, and he then closed from mid-pack to victory when dropped down to this level at Saratoga last out. He was trained by George Weaver for both of those starts, and it is mildly concerning that his former connections decided to risk losing him for $50,000 last time given his strong form. This switch into Rudy Rodriguez's barn isn't exactly a positive one given his turf statistics. He has had no recent success on grass, going 2 for 172 (1%, $0.39 ROI) on this surface over the last 18 months. Rodriguez is also 0 for 25 first off the claim on turf over 5 years.

I actually would view Java Buzz as a slightly more appealing option since he will probably be a bigger price than his uncoupled stablemate. He's hard to trust, especially going as far as six furlongs, since he tends to hit a wall in the final furlong of his races. Yet he is coming off one of his best efforts in a while, hanging on for third against a field that was tougher than this one when last seen at Saratoga.

There are horses from other barns worth considering. Alexis Zorba (#5) owns a series of speed figures that make him highly competitive in this spot. The problem is that he rarely wins races, and it's hard to trust him to achieve two victories in a row after beating a softer claiming field last time. However, I was encouraged that he showed the ability to rate and pass horses for the first time in his career. Bruce Brown has had some success first off the claim in the last year.

My top pick is Typhoon Fury (#2), who is switching back to turf after a dirt experiment last time out. This horse began his career on dirt and trained well over it this summer, prompting his connections to give him a chance on the main track last time. He actually ran pretty well, chasing an honest pace before fading to third. Now he's returning to the surface over which he's proven himself. He did well to chase home the sharp On the Ledge when last seen at this level in June, improving on his seasonal debut. He's run some of the best races of his career going six furlongs over this Aqueduct turf course, and there appears to be plenty of speed in here to set up his late run.