What a day to be a horse racing fanatic. Racing all over the country covered most of the Horse Racing channel today as races from Churchill, Belmont, Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Woodbine, Laurel, and Golden Gate all racing today, without fans unfortunately.
Churchill
Kicking off the stakes races for the day was the Aristides Stakes for $100k. In this 6 furlong sprint Steve Asmussen trained Volatile came within .02 from breaking a 13 year old track record set by Indian Chant in 2007. Ricardo Santana had the mount on this 4 year old colt and was able to beat all challengers by well over 8 lengths.
The second stakes race on the card at CD was the Dogwood Stakes (Gr. III). In here Four Graces for Whitham Thoroughbreds and Ian Wilkes wired the field and held off post time favorite Edgeway.
After Volatile's fast Stakes victory, keep an eye out for this one going forward, possibly higher stakes competitions and a natural sprinter in the making.
Next stakes competition at Chruchill will be ran June 13 and its the Louisville Stakes 12 furlongs on the turf.
Belmont What a great card for Belmont on Saturday. We had some early success with pick 3s in races 1-3 as we cashed the first pick 3 for $652, with a long shot pick hitting for us. To the stakes action and the first race was the Fort Marcy Grade 2, with Instilled Regard for Chad Brown getting the easy victory here, catching Somelikeithotbrown in the stretch and putting plenty of distance between himself and any contenders. Social Paranoia our top pick never really was able to engage and get going and finished a disappointing 6th. The Westchester Stakes Gr. III had the ability to be a competitive race, but Code of Honor made the win look rather easy defeating Endorsed and Forewarned down the stretch. The Intercontinental Stakes GR. III had the return of Newspaperofrecord for Chad Brown and Irad Ortiz on the mount. Making her 2020 debut she wired the field in her first start of the year. An incredible and what looked easy for her in this win. Also Chad Brown trained all 4 horse that finished 1,2,3,4 so basically a Chad Brown race for her to win. Lastly the biggest race on the card, the Runhappy Carter Handicap Gr I. What a statement race it was for Vekoma. Prior to this race Belmont got a steady down pour of rain making the track conditions sloppy. I thought for sure it would allow the race to be wide open but Vekoma was able to hand the slop and put away Network Effect and American Anthem. Look for Vekoma to head to the Met Mile and now a future contender in the Breeders Cup race. Next week June 13 the running of the Ogden Phipps Grade I 8.5 furlongs on the dirt.
Santa Anita
We ended the day with Santa Anita which was small fields and all chalk besides 1 race where a 90-1 hit. However the now heavy favorite and likely winner of the Kentucky Oaks, Swiss Skydiver got an easy win for Kenneth McPeek and Peter Callahan as her competition couldn't hold a candle to her today.
The other upset of the day was AP Indy getting revenge on Authentic in the Santa Anita Derby. AP Indy had been beaten by Authentic in their last race, but Mike Smith set up AP Indy perfectly to swing to the outside in the final turn and pass Authentic easily in the stretch. Authentic ran a perfect race AP Indy was just better today and may finally have Authentic's number.
Wrapping up the day was another short field of 6 horses in the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup. This race was all Improbable as no other race really gave him a run. He took the look at the 1 mile pole and no one else could catch him. HIgher Power (2nd) and Tenfold (3rd) tired in the stretch but Improbables lead was too much
Next week June 13 Angel's Flight 6.5 furlongs dirt and Thor's Echo 6 furlongs dirt.
Hopefully you hit big this weekend and have enough bankroll to continue next week. Look for our weekly picks Thursday-Sunday, and check out our YouTube videos for our selections and long shots for next weeks stakes races as well. If you would like subscribe to the website and stay up to date with the blogs and horse picks for faster viewing.
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