Belmont Capping 5/7

[sekrah]

Let\'s hope I have better luck than last night with those nickle claimers at Mountaineer.

Belmont 1st Race - CLM25kNW2L, F&M, 1 mile dirt

#5 LADY ALICE and #7 CUPIDS GALLOP are 6-8 points too slow for this race and are easy tossouts.

The Contenders are..

#1 GOLDEN MANNA - Heavily raced 4 yo.  Set a top of 12 in April of her 3 yo campaign at 6 furlongs, paired up two weeks later in May and given a 2 1/2 month layoff but couldn\'t improve on it in 8 races at the end of last year.  Opened up this year with three pairs and then set a new top of 10 in early March at 1 Mile.  Followed up with 3 races of a 13, 14, and 16 at shorter distances.  If she pairs her 10 here she can compete with a good trip.  Any experts know the likelyhood of her running a 10 here?

#2 VALID YANKEE - 3yo.  18 was her best in 5 sprints up in Finger Lakes, she gets a trainer switch to Badgett and moved to Aqueduct and raced a 16 at 6 furlongs on January 21st, given a 6 weeks rest and ran a 12.   Now on a 9 weeks rest and receiving first time lasix.  Likelyhood of her improving on that 12?  I\'m not sure but first race at 1 mile?  Trainer is 4 for 20 in first time routes, 8 for 20 for hitting the board.

#3 VICTORY FOR M\'LADY - 4yo.  Set a pair of tops of 8 at Emerald Downs last September at this distance.  Couldn\'t get going in  her next 3 races with 16, 15, and a 15 in January.  Got a trainer switch to Dick Schosberg and moved back to sprints where she paired her 8 on March 7th, then reacted to an 11 on March 30th.  Now with 5 weeks off and stretching back out to a mile, seems likely (to me anyway) of running a big race here and atleast pairing her 8.

#4 DANCE LESSON - 3 yo, 4th career start, coming in with an improving line of 23, 20, 12 and 4 weeks rest.  Seems too much to ask to move ahead another 3-4 points, but a pair could get her into the exotics.

#6 RAP TALE - Todd Pletcher 3 yo with an outstanding looking graph. Worked nicely to an 11 top in 4 two-year old races.  Paired up at Laurel right out of the gate this year off rest, did react to an 18 three weeks later (where she was taken up).. immediately came back and cruised to an easy MSW win with a new top of 8.  3 1/2 weeks later reacted back to an 11 and now comes into this one with 7 weeks rest.  Velasquez gets the mount (28% with Pletcher) and Rap Tale also grabs 5 pounds on most of the field (except for the 2 horse).



6 looks like the winner

[sekrah]

6-3-1  

Despite short odds I went after the chalk pretty hard on top.  Going to make a couple bucks here.  Good start to the day