Jockey Club Gold Cup Preview & Pick 4 | Go Quality Road!

[Stevie Belmont]

The Vosburgh (GI) – Two of my favorite horses in the same race! Fabulous Strike heads a compact field of five quality sprinters. Simply put, he is the horse to beat. Fabulous Strike will not run in this years Breeders’ Cup Spring, so this race is thee race of the year for this horse. He is fast, and if the track is off, he should love it. Is he a single? I expect to see the very best Fabulous Strike, this is his Breeders’ Cup. I love Fabulous Strike, but I also love Go Go Shoot. I have been a huge fan of this horse even before his first start at the Meadowlands. He ran super that evening. I have followed this horse very closely, and here he is in the Vosburgh (GI). Go Go Shoot ran his eyeballs out last time in the Vanderbilt at Saratoga, giving Fabulous Strike all he could handle, right up until the end, but Fabulous Strike prevailed. I will use both of these horses. The one mistake might be leaving off the classy and reliable Kodiak Kowboy, who is a solid sprinter, but it seems 7 furlongs is better suited for him. Munnings is also entered, who has had a fine season up until now. He will be cutting back to 6 furlongs for this.
*
The Flower Bowl (GI) – This is the key race in this Pick 4 sequence, and offers the best chance for a horse to score at a decent price. You will need a horse that offers some value, in order to make this Pick 4 attractive. The classy Pure Clan makes her first start, since a 3rd place finish to Dynaforce in the Beverly D (GI). She is a proven commodity on a soft turf course. Dynaforce makes her first start since winning the Beverly D (GI). She is a classy girl who has also proven a soft turf is no issue. She won the Flower Bowl last year on a yielding turf course. Criticism will go to the lead, and try to take this group as far as she can. If she is left alone, she could be a huge danger. I think she prefers a firm course, but she is rested, and has class. Christophe Clement will run an entry of Caribbean Sunset and Beauty O’ Gwaun (Ire). Caribbean Sunset ran a strong second to Forever Together in the Diana at Saratoga, and must respected. Beauty O’ Gwaun (Ire) makes her first start in the United States and will add blinkers and lasix. Moneycantbuymelove (Ire) will make her first start in the UnitedStates as well, for trainer Michael Bell. She will also get lasix for the first time. She ran third in the Nassau Stakes (GI) at Goodwood in Britain in her last race at Britain. I will use her.
*
The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (GI) – This is the race where I will make a single. I am sure a lot of other people will make a single as well. Gio Ponti is on the top of his game right now, and has won four consecutive Grade I races. This will be his first try at a 1 ½ miles, but this one should be even better with the added distance. He will run either in the Breerders’ Cup Turf or in Classic. He looks good tomorrow. Presious Passion loves a firm course, probably will not get it, and with that will not use him. He could very well be scratched as well. Grand Couturier (GB) is the only horse in the field that could offer Gio Ponti his biggest challenge. The defending Turf Classic champion has run well on yielding courses, but faces a daunting task in defeating Gio Ponti. Grand Couturier (GB) has class. That is always something to keep in mind. Grand Couturier (GB) is not scheduled to run in this years Breeders’ Cup Turf.
*
The Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) – The biggest race of the day, offers to be one of the best as well. Summer Bird the Belmont Stake and Travers winner will be the expected post time favorite. He is a known commodity at the distance, and has been working very well. Macho Again will be making his first start since his gut busting second place finish to super filly Rachel Alexandra in the Woodward at Saratoga. Will he bounce back from that? He will be making his third start off the layoff, and has shown a wet track is no obstacle. He will make his usual late bid. Asiatic Boy (Arg) is a bit of an enigma. He will be making his 4th career start in the Gold Cup tomorrow, while adding blinkers for the first time. He had a nice 47 breeze on September 27. Since coming to the United States, he has not won a race yet, he has run well, but hung in the Stephen Foster (GI) and Suburban (GII). I still think he could be dangerous. He is still somewhat of a fresh horse, who is capable of running a race good enough to win here. He has never raced on an off track. There are reservations about this horse tomorrow. There is no horse in this race that is working better than Dry Martini. He has put together a string of very sharp workouts since his last race, the Whitney (GI) at Saratoga on August 8, 2009. A two-time winner at Belmont is three races and a winner at the distance. This horse will offer the most value in this race, and certainly should not be totally overlooked. And than there is Quality Road, my main man, and Kentucky Derby pick, that was not to be. He is back again to try a 1 ¼ quarters. Can he win this race? Absolutely. He will be making his second start at this demanding distance, and there are some that think he cannot get the distance. I say he can, but this race could very well tell us that. He has been flying a tad under the radar up until now. It’s been pretty quiet on the Quality Road front, but he could make a whole lot of noise tomorrow. Quality Road is still a huge and dangerous threat to give this bunch something to worry about. He will go right out, and brush off any early threat, such as Tizway. An off track is a big concern however, he did not move over it as well at Saratoga, and it is supposed to be wet tomorrow. One key element is the fact that Saratoga mud is not the same as Belmont mud. As a son of Elusive Quality, Smarty Jones dad, he has a chance to do the next best thing in getting Birdstone back, by beating Summer Bird. It would be even more fitting if he got him at the wire, however I expect Quality Road to be in front, and Summer Bird to stalk. I still have the utmost faith in Quality Road. Let’s do it!
*
Value Pick 4 – Will not go crazy here. Simple, economical and straight forward.
1,5 / 1,1A,4,5,7 / 1,1A / 3,6,7 $30

*

I have decided to leave out Asiatic Boy (Arg) and Macho Again for a couple reasons. They both would not be a shocker at all. However, in a sequence that could very well see a slew of favorites win, a $50 Pick 4 is just not smart. Macho Again could very well be the co-favorite as post time. You could always hedge if you get to the Gold Cup alive.
*
****Live updates from Belmont Park on Saturday via Twitter. You can check them out on Twitter or right here, by clicking the little tab in the upper left hand corner. Also will post some snap shots from “Super Saturday”****

*

****Get Serious will try to keep his winning ways alive in the Cliffhanger Stakes on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands. This will be the first Cliffhanger I will have misses in over 10 years. The Meadowlands will be running a day card tomorrow. The plans were to be at Belmont in the afternoon, and at the Meadowlands in the evening. Oh well, can’t be at both places at the sametime.****
*
No First Time Starter Alerts For Saturday



Latest NTRA Breeders’ Cup Entry on Behalf of The Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance


Good Luck!