By Joe Quillen
Thursday 6/6 – Saratoga Race 10 – Belmont Gold Cup Invitational Stakes
Do not adjust your computers or phones. We are at Saratoga for the next few days as Saratoga Race Course will be hosting the Belmont Stakes and the Belmont Stakes Festival while Belmont is being renovated. There will be four days of top notch racing as we close out the Triple Crown on Saturday, and the massive amount of stakes races this weekend.
Today, we will take a look at the Belmont Gold Cup Invitational Stakes, which is set for two miles on the inner turf course with a post time of 5:50 pm Eastern time. There is rain in the forecast in Saratoga Springs, so expect some sort of a softer turf course for this race.
It looks like we could have two scratches here. The 13 Costa Terra (5/2 morning line) is entered for the main track only, which means he will run only if this moves to the main track, but I doubt that happens.
The 14 Dai Vernon (9/5 ML) is also main track only, and also does not have a rider named. These two horses will probably be favored if this ends up on the main track, but I highly doubt this will be moved off the turf since this is a graded stakes race.
The 12 Siskany is the even money favorite here and there’s so much going in the favor of this six-year-old gelding. He won this race last year when it was run at Belmont. This year he has won twice at a mile and three quarters in Dubai. The trainer Charles Appleby is 5 for 16 in America so far this year. When be brings his horses here, the horses are usually very live, and this horse is the class of this field. The 12 hole might be bad in most cases, but he’s got four turns and two miles to work with here.
The 11 The Grey Wizard (8/1 ML) finished second in last year’s Belmont Gold Cup and should be back on track after finishing third in the Louisville at Churchill last time out. He’s got no speed and will be flying late.
The 9 Six Minus (15/1 ML) finished second in a mile and a half race at time out at Keeneland, and just missed in a two-mile race at Gulfstream on Christmas Eve. Granted, that race is not as strong as today’s race, but he does have experience at this marathon distance.
The 1 Limited Liability (8/1 ML) should be considered here as he has just missed in mile and a half races a few times last year. He should be able to run all day and could upset the field here.
But in the end here, I think 12 Siskany has way too much class here and repeats in the Belmont Gold Cup. I’ll call this 12-9-1-11 and my play is $20 to win on the 12. Good luck everyone!
Check out my show “Also Eligible” on Saturday mornings at 10 am Eastern/7 am Pacific as AJ Johnson and I discuss the big races, the latest news in horse racing and much more! This Saturday, we will discuss the final leg of this year’s Triple Crown as we have our first look at the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.