Thistledown
Ohio Derby (race 8)

A NEW TREND
Trainer: Hector Palma
Last race: June 23, 4th
Finish: 6th by 3 1/2
Beyer: 71
This fast turf sprinter set the pace but faded again; 6 1/2 furlongs is too far. He will shorten up to five furlongs at Del Mar; threat to wire a similar California-bred N1X turf sprint.

Each week, TimeformUS Chief Figure Maker Craig Milkowski takes a look back at the weekend’s graded stakes and releases the TimeformUS Speed Figures for these races.

Stakes races for week ending June 25, 2017

Santa Anita

Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes
1/2         138
3/4         137
Fin          133
Top 3: Collected 134, Cat Burglar 118, Accelerate 113

PLEAD GUILTY
Trainer: Gail Cox
Last race: June 21, 5th
Finish: 5th by 8 1/2
Beyer: 56
After getting wiped out at the start, she made up significant ground from 16 lengths back to beat more than half the field in a combo route for Ontario-sired allowance types and $40,000 claimers.

Belmont | Race 7 | Post Time 4:46 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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Race 1:
Lightning Buzz (#3)
Contested a fast pace last time and put away his early rival before getting passed by closers late.
Should be fitter for his second start back from the layoff.
Has run races in the past that would make him competitive here.
7-2 on ML

Belmont | Race 2 | Post Time 2:04 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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Saturday’s card at Santa Anita features two Grade 3 stakes races on the main track: the Affirmed for 3-year-olds and the Precisionist for 3-year-olds and up. A midcard pick-three sequence begins with the Affirmed and concludes with the Precisionist; I’ll focus on that three-race stretch.

RACE 4 – AFFIRMED

Race 2:

Anna Liffey (#2)
Turned her head at the start and spotted the field almost 10 lengths last time.
Ran much better than it seems in her prior dirt start April 7 after getting shuffled back in traffic on the turn.
Will get overlooked in a field where the favorites appear to be vulnerable.
20-1 on ML
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Belmont | Race 2 | Post Time 3:41 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs 

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