Belmont Stakes at LAD
June 6, 2009 by Jarrod Horak
Filed under Handicapping, Horses, Triple Crown
We have a 10-race card on tap at Louisiana Downs on June 6th, and a big crowd is expected to come out and root for hometown hero Calvin Borel in the Belmont Stakes. Before I look at the Belmont and Saturday card at LAD, let’s recap the last two racedays…
June 4th
Fast main track and off the turf. Five wire jobs on the day.
Big day on the analysis front. Tabbed 6 tops on the 9-race card.
Bourque, Riquelme, and PVal each booted home a pair.
Apprentice rider Anna Roberts won her 2nd race of the meet with trainer Jorge Lara. She sent my best bet Black Giraffe straight to the front, and she never looked back in sharp extended sprint wire job. Lara was leading trainer here last year, and Roberts might have a productive meet if able to keep it going for this outfit.
June 5th
A bounce was expected after the 6-bagger, and a ho-hum pair of tops got the job done on Friday.
Edge to stalkers on the main. An off the pace type won the turf sprint, and the flat mile turfer was won in wire-to-wire fashion.
PVal continued his fine riding with a pair of winners. Alfonso Balderas was off to a slow start, and he made up for it by saddling a pair of turf winners.
Decent straight maiden event in the 7th. Churchill shipper Jump This (Tim Ice) was a sharp winner over Burt’s A Stitch , and the top two were well clear of the rest in 1:11.85. The runner-up is trained by the red-hot Michelle Lovell, and he showed much improved tactical speed in 2nd career outing. Won’t be a maiden much longer.
June 6th
Race 2: Cream Level (6-1) likes the local oval and hails from a profitable outfit. Could sit the right stalking trip at playable odds.
Race 8: Time of the Night (5-2) is my best bet. He does his best work at this 7f distance and should move forward 2nd off a layoff under Francisco Torres.
Belmont Stakes : Looking for a big effort from Chocolate Candy (10-1). He is one of 3 graded winners. Fresh colt attracts Gomez and has strong distance pedigree. Might stalk and pounce his way to a surprise victory!
We have live streaming video on the LAD website. Check out my paddock reports 15 minutes prior to each live race.
Image: Newscom
