Belmont Stakes Service Plays

Gasper Moschera

Play #3 (UptownCharlie Brown) to Win & Place.

Use#5 (Fly Down), #6 (Icebox) and #11 (First Dude) under him for your Exacta and Triple combination's.

JOHN PIESEN RACING

BELMONT PARK FULL CARD

Horses are in John's order of preference by program number with morning line odds. Play the top horse to win, and box all horses in exactas & trifectas unless otherwise noted. Play all horses in the other exotics as deep as your budget allows.

1st RACE
4 Seis de Mayo 6-5
7 I Got Swagger 9-2
6 Camptown Blues 5-1

2nd RACE
2 Tapaline 9-5
7 Gracilia 6-1
3 Aprilmayjune 6-1

3rd RACE
4 Avenging Spirit 3-1
7 Cheyenne Nation 5-2
6 Wonder Beyond 6-1

4th RACE
3 Trappe Shot 2-1 (Best Bet)
8 Tahitian Warrior 5-2
6 Zio Tony 4-1

5th RACE
6 Cherokee Speed 7-2
4 Yankee Empire 4-1
2 Manhattan Fox 3-1

6th RACE - WOODY STEPHENS STAKES
[start of the Pick-6]
5 D' Funnybone 2-1
1 Eightyfiveinafifty 9-5
3 Discreetly Mine 5-2

7th RACE - JUST A GAME STAKES
1A Speak Easy Gal 7-2
5 Proviso 8-5
4 Fantasia 5-1

8th RACE - TRUE NORTH HANDICAP
3 Bribon 3-1
2 Custom for Carlos 5-2
8 Checklist 5-1

9th RACE – ACORN STAKES
9 Buckleupbuttercup 10-1 (Best Longshot)
8 Much Rejoicing 10-1
6 Amen Hallelujah 9-2
13 Crisp 8-1

10th RACE - MANHATTAN HANDICAP
(Best Trifecta Box)
9 Just as Well 10-1
1 Gio Ponti 2-1
6 Court Vision 4-1
4 Winchester 15-1

11th RACE - BELMONT STAKES
(Best Superfecta Box)
3 Uptowncharlybrown 10-1
11 First Dude 7-2
6 Ice Box 3-1
5 Fly Down 9-2
Play #3 to Win
Play a 3-5-6-11 Exacta, Trifecta, and Superfecta box

12th RACE
7 Coronation Day 5-1
3 Remittance 3-1
6 Empty Handed 12-1

13th RACE
8 Quick Money 5-2
2 Mustang Island 7-2
9 L. C. Bulgari 5-1
11 Sir Dunstan 10-1

GOLDEN CONTENDER

On Saturday in the Belmont Stakes our selection is #11 First Dude. What we did in this race was use a few Belmont Stakes angles to give us a better indicator of what to expect in this mile and a half race. First Dude trained by D.Romans and ridden By R. Dominguez is coming off a solid 2nd place Preakness finish. He earned his career best Beyer speed figure in that race of 101. He has a front running style in a race that lacks speed. This could be very positive. If he can get some slow fractions he should have plenty left in the stretch. In the Belmont Stakes most of the time the previous winners ran one of the top Beyer numbers and ran first second or third in the Preakness or Peter Pan. While there are no starters from the Peter Pan, the best Preakness horse in here is First Dude. Play him to win. For Exotics Play first Dude in exacta and Triple boxes with Ice box and Fly Down.

Pace Advantage

Fly Down
First Dude
Game On Dude
Drosselmeyer

I see the Belmont Stakes as another wide open event, so naturally I'm going to be looking to beat the probable favorite in Ice Box. In fact, I didn't even list Ice Box among my top four selections. His running style is a little weak for this race given its history (although I suspect Zito & Co. will have him much closer to the pace this time around), and he hasn't run markedly faster than any of my other contenders, so I simply tossed him completely.

The only negative I see about my top choice Fly Down is the fact that he likely will go off at odds of less than his morning line (9/2). This is the kind of race I want to back a decent price, as I see the favorite as being vulnerable and this is a large field full of unremarkable, well matched runners . . . in other words, the race appears ripe for a big ol' upset. The problem is that I don't like any of the bombs enough to pull the trigger, so I settled on what I think is the most talented horse who won't be the favorite.

Fly Down likes to get himself within a few lengths of the lead at around the six furlong mark, which is perfect for the 12 furlong Belmont Stakes. I expect this horse to make the lead turning for home and allow his breeding to carry him to the finish line in front.

First Dude ran out of his skin when he just missed in the Preakness last time out. That effort was so good that he can afford to regress a bit and still have a big time impact on this race. He has a big pace edge and should get out to a clear, comfortable lead. He's very dangerous, but he will also be taking a lot of money . . . plus there is always the chance he might regress much further off the Preakness given it was such a monster effort.

Game On Dude came back to life at Lone Star last time out wearing blinkers for the first time. This horse should be a decent price and I believe he is a major threat to hit the board.

Drosselmeyer finished way back of my top choice in the Dwyer after an eventful trip at odds on. Not the fastest runner in the field, but consistent as they come and has a running style that should fit this race perfectly.