Wednesday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Triple Dog Dare stretches out off an eventful debut run

Belmont Park | Race 4 | Post Time 2:34 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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Impact Player's connections sure are making it difficult for him to win a race. It's hard for me to fathom why they wouldn't just run him in a dirt sprint, but they apparently are eager to find out if he can stretch his speed out to a mile. He's a deserving favorite, but this actually came up as a pretty deep race, and he could have his hands full here.

The favorite’s main rival appears to be Gravitating, who finished well to be second in his debut last month over this surface. Anthony Dutrow has good numbers with second-time starting maidens stretching out, and he's been enjoying a fantastic Belmont meet after a slower start to the year.

I'll use him, but my top pick is TRIPLE DOG DARE (#6).

This expensive son of Paynter is coming out of a much tougher maiden race than the one Gravitating is exiting, and he had significant trouble. He was green coming out of the gate and ducked in, costing himself about five lengths of position in the first few strides. From there, he dropped well off the pace before launching a belated rally to get up for fifth. Considering that the winner drew off to win by over 11 lengths and looks like a graded-stakes type, Triple Dog Dare actually did well to get within five lengths of the runner-up. He seems like the kind of runner that will stretch out in distance, and I expect to see a more professional effort this time.

THE PLAY

Win: 6

Exacta Key Box: 6 with 1,2,4,7

Trifecta: 6 with 1,2,4 with ALL