Belmont at the Big A | Race 6 | Post Time 3:40 p.m. (ET) The four key players in the John Hettinger all competed in the Yaddo Stakes in late August at Saratoga. Moonage Daydream (#7) got the job done in a 13-1 upset that day, but she took advantage of favorable circumstances. The speed on paper didn’t materialize, and she worked out a good trip stalking an overmatched leader before getting the jump on her main rivals. She was getting leg weary in the late stages, but had built an insurmountable lead. That was probably the day to have her when she was underestimated, and now she has to get an extra sixteenth of a mile with a bigger target on her back. The beaten favorite in the Yaddo was Silver Skillet (#3), who finished off the board at even-money odds. She was bumped coming out of the gate and was out of position right from the start. She tried to advance down the backstretch, doing so while going pretty wide, before coming up empty late. She had previously been far more effective when setting the pace in her two prior stakes victories, but she had also gotten perfect trips on those occasions. She figures to get a more aggressive ride here, but she still has to prove that she can negotiate this added ground. Marvelous Maude (#2) was charging fastest of all through the late stages of the Yaddo. While she got a pretty good trip early in the race, she did have to swing four wide on the second turn to launch her rally and did well to sustain her momentum. She’s steadily been rounding back into form this year for Chad Brown, and distance is not a major concern for her. She just barely lost this race in 2022 against a tougher field than she meets this time. My top pick is Whatlovelookslike (#6), who only finished a neck behind Marvelous Maude in the Yaddo. She had a right to need that race in her first start since November of last year, but she still ran pretty well off the lengthy layoff. She bumped with Silver Skillet coming out of the gate and might have taken the worst of that exchange, as she also made contact with the runner inside of her and was pushed out of position. From there she tried to advance onto the backstretch, pulling between rivals. She ultimately found a clear path on the turn, but had to chase three wide before staying on gamely through the stretch. I like that she never threw in the towel that day even when things didn’t go as planned. She possesses much more tactical speed than she had a chance to display on that occasion, and she’s proven over longer distances, having won going as far as 11 furlongs on turf. Todd Pletcher is 13 for 47 (28%, $2.30 ROI) with 4-year-old and older runners second off a 180- to 360-day layoff in turf routes over five years.