Ok, gonna play a little devil's advocate here.
Sure, one could easily do a
s and ALLs ticket in the P6 for $130 with a
//ALL/ALL/ and have all the likely chalk/pace in the dirt races and every entry on the turf.
But let's take a look at the "
"s.
R6 7F Woody Stephen's for 3YOs: Yes, Jack Christopher looks amazing, and a deserving 1/2 ML fav. However, he has but 3 career races, and essentially has had everything go his way without much trouble at all.
I'm going to make a case for the
Wit in here. In his 3rd career race he was the 3/5 favorite in the G1 Hopeful at Saratoga, only to find his first real trouble stumblingly badly at the start, and just leaving way too much to do. Came back in the G1 Champagne against Jack C, and got whipped while caught inside on a bad trip in a 6 horse field.
They put him away for the year, and brought him back 7 months later in April where his typical late foot narrowly got the job done at the wire.
Can he take a huge step forward off that race and regain his early form and class, and can Pappacap really take it to Jack C a bit more than the Pat Day Mile or even Morello who also likely needs to be forwardly placed take it to Jack C a bit while he finally runs a C effort race?
R7 8.5 F&M G1 Ogden Phipps: Letruska is the class here, but this is a tough field of top end legit G1/G2 gals. Lets not forget Letruska got caught up in the flaming pace of the BC Distaff to fade to a weary 10th. She is also 6YO facing a
punch of 4YOs looking to stamp themselves in this division. This is the one that I don't think anybody would be surprised if Letruska gets beat.
R9 Met Mile: Flightline is a 4YO with 3 career races and has never raced East of San Diego. Big Sandy may not be to his liking, and Speaker's Corner is 2 for 2 at BEL with possibly his best career race here back in October. Aloha West is no slouch as the defending BC Sprint champ, and if things get way too feisty upfront, Happy Saver will be coming late. Either way, Flight has a decided pace edge even against these. Maybe the horse everybody is really looking to see run; and the Met has certainly delivered some of the best performances in recent racing history in year's past.
R11 Belmont Stakes: We the People 'looks' to have a decided pace edge in here, but taking a deeper look, his front-running numbers really aren't all that great. In fact,
Creative Minister and maybe even the
Skippylongstocking could give him some company on the front. Now throw in
Mo Donegal as the 'class' of the field with his two G2 wins on the NYRA circuit, and strong record at BEL, the Kentucky Derby champ in
Rich Strike and the quality filly in
Nest, and this field is pretty wide open. I don't think many will be singling this one, as this one looks like upwards of 6 horses could actually win.
