Race Selections: Grade III Dwyer, GII Belmont Sprint Championship
By Rick Francis —-
BELMONT PARK
Race 6) Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes 3yo 1 Mile Post Time 4:36 EDT
Seahenge (1), O’Brien/Castellano; makes 2nd U.S. start, first attempt in Pat Day Mile was a disastrous seventh; has lost three times to Mendelssohn.
Seven Trumpets (2), Romans/Albarado; game win last out in the Churchill slop; bullet works in prep for this.
Rugbyman(3), Motion/Ortiz, J; gets first blinkers after missing by a neck here in the Easy Goer; win threat.
Noble Indy (4), Pletcher/Velazquez; it’s been downhill since hi Louisiana Derby score, finishing well back in both the Derby and Belmont Stakes; blinkers back on and cutback help.
Fixedincome Larry (5), Englehart/Franco; exits his maiden win; big class-test.
Mendelssohn (6), O’Brien/Moore; first start since Derby fiasco, where post and mud did him in early; he’s a threat just on back class, but this maybe a tune-up for G1 Travers later this summer at Saratoga.
Firenze Fire (7), Servis/Ortiz, I; hasn’t fired in last three, and with a so-so worksheet to back him, only on bottoms on exotics.
Selections: 3, 6, 1, 2
Race 7) Grade 2 Belmont Sprint Championships 7 Furlongs Post Time 5:11 EDT
Limousine Liberal (1), Colebrook/Ortiz, J; 6-year-old has finished in the money in each of his last ten starts, including a game third here last month in the Met Mile.An obvious win threat and a must on all tickets.
Whitmore (2), Moquett/Santana; gelding is another who brings it each time out; closed hard here in the G2 True North only to miss by a neck. However this maybe the max distance for this 5-year-old.
Eye Luv Lulu (3), Servis/Ortiz, I; 7-year-old has put together a string of solid efforts placing in 3 of his last five starts and holding gamely to win here in April; another who is an exotics factor.
Shaft of Light (4), Navarro/Ferrer; stepped up nicely last out in the G3 Salvador Mile at Monmouth, getting caught late in the lane to finish second; he’s a 6-time winner at the distance.
Lewisfield (5), Runco/Bocachica; 4-year-old has hit the board in each of his nine career starts, this is a major class-test, but his speed figures put him squarely in the mix.
Favorable Outcome (6), Brown/Castellano; finished a very disappointing second last out as a short price fave against OC80’s. Trainer Brown with a beaten favorite next out hits at a whopping 29 percent.
Selections: 1, 2, 6, 4