The Belmont Stakes doesn’t just mark the conclusion of the Triple Crown but signals the end of the spring racing season. Boutique summer meets wait right around the corner. The grass racing season is in full swing. Three-year-olds begin facing older horses in stakes races . . . oh, wait, hold on, that only happens overseas. It’s a shame we Americans have so many age-restricted races that the 3-year-old set doesn’t meet older rivals until the fall, often not until the Breeders’ Cup. This year, the top of the sophomore crop already looks comparable to a squishy older-male division. We’ll have to wait and see. We’re also waiting for true summer racing to kick in. This weekend is very, very light. Dancin Renee Here’s hoping not too many New York-bred filly-and-mare sprint stakes top the Weekend GamePlan races, but here we are. Not sure this morning line will hold up, but if it does, I’d gladly take the 6-1 on Fierce Lady. Eloquent Speaker simply is too slow. Good Credence and Espresso Shot aren’t hapless at this six-furlong trip but almost certainly want to run farther. Ruvies In Time and Sadie Lady both want the lead, are drawn adjacently, and seem likely to duel. Sadie Lady looks much more likely to emerge somewhat intact from a prolonged pace scrum, but she’s a 5-year-old with 19 starts who exits the two fastest races of her career while her price tumbles; that is the antithesis of value. :: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Belmont Park Clocker Report Fierce Lady showed more native ability than any of her Dancin Renee rivals, as you can see from her strong 2-year-old form, but whether it was due to a trainer change, a strange COVID-19 year, or other factors, she struggled during 2020, going from a stakes filly to a horse who couldn’t clear her second New York-bred allowance condition. That’s what made her 2021 debut (another barn change) noteworthy: Finally, the filly, still just 4, looked more like the horse we saw at age 2. Instead of running to the front end and fading, she rated kindly between two speed horses, attacked them with a quick move in upper stretch, and finished willingly, under a hand ride. She did that from post 1, which she has again here, and from which she can pull a similar trip at what ought to be a fair price. Thor’s Echo Brickyard Ride’s a one-way speed horse. There’s no taking him back, no tactical consideration. Let him roll along, hope for the best. Another thing his form shows: Brickyard Ride doesn’t like another horse around him on the lead. If he can clear and race alone, he can run really fast, as evidenced by his big win earlier this year in the San Carlos. But last out, at odds of 1-5 in a Cal-bred allowance race, Brickyard Ride got hooked on a strong pace, and got cooked. My guess as to why he couldn’t outfoot his pace rival: The race came May 7, and Brickyard Ride had just run 19 days earlier. He’d faded to a well-beaten second that start, but Cezanne turned in a powerhouse performance to beat Brickyard Ride, who probably just ran back too quickly. :: Get Brad Free’s Betting Strategies for Saturday’s card at Santa Anita Now, he’s had five weeks and three interim works, lands in a short field where he can race solo on the front end, like he wants. Let him rip. Mint Julep Of course, Juliet Foxtrot easily could prove too much mare for this group, but she’s going off lower than her listed price, got the easiest of leads last time and won’t have that trip again, and had been intended for the Grade 1 Gamely in California before a minor setback kept her home. These factors don’t create a huge vulnerability, but Juliet Foxtrot might not be the stone-cold cinch most will see on the form. Hendy Woods, a lightly raced 4-year-old, is the filly with the ability, the upside, and the running style to post an upset. I liked her May 14 comeback run and combining the subsequent work pattern with her encouraging 2020 form, Hendy Woods should be set for a career best. The nine-furlong QE II probably just lies outside the filly’s preferred distance range, as did the Regret, where she had a poor draw. Hendy Woods has the tactical pace to sit in the flight right behind the leaders, and with luck – and some regression from Juliet Foxtrot – she can win the Mint Julep.