Belmont Notes - May 27

- A little preview of July at a hot and hazy Belmont on Saturday, with 7,138 on hand. Pletcher took the second with Communicator (Jump Start); the Toddster is now 7 for 27, gathering steam after a slow start at the meeting. This guy faded to 8th in his debut, but here came absolutely flying wide around the turn from out of the picture, and went on for Johnny V. This colt's second dam is a half-sister to the Derby winner Grindstone.

I loved Trippi's Storm in the third, and I watched with amusement as the 6-1 morning line shot got pounded on the nose in the win pool in the closing minutes; from 4-1, down to 5-2 before settling at 3-1. And though I had a winning exacta ticket with second place finisher Tiverton, I needed to hit the triple to make real money on the race, and was denied when Frankel's favored Lemon Law was edged for the third spot by 23-1 Big Bold Place. Ow. It was the first of two winners on the day for trainer Stan Hough, and of three winners for the resurgent Javier Castellano, who suffered through a poor meeting at Keeneland.

In the sixth, Count On Pal was another hottie; 12-1 in the morning line (a dubious line in retrospect), he was bet steadily throughout and went off at 4-1. After leading throughout with Raul Rojas, he was confronted by No Parole, who got pounded late at the windows himself returning off a long layoff for A. Dutrow. The two staged a fierce head-bobbing duel inside the sixteenth pole with Count On Pal getting the head bob.

An impressive return in the 7th by Frankel's First Defence. He'd run second to Zanjero in his last start last fall, a race in which Dominican ran 4th, and remember him? I guess he's a Polytrack specialist after all, eh? With a couple of speed horses scratched, First Defence went wire to wire in a dazzling 1:20.96; the chart reads: cruised away on his own courage turning for home and reported promptly under mild reminding.

Forget that thing I said Dubai taking something out of Honey Ryder. “I’ve always thought the shipping back from Dubai thing has always been overrated,” Pletcher said. Of course, he said the same about eight week layoffs before the Derby (though not afterwards).

And I was alive in the late Pick Four to Victory Assured, the second choice in the 9th. It was paying a decent $297 despite the two heavy favorites in the middle, but it was not to be, as he checked in third behind runners that went off at double digit odds. Ugh.

Taking the day off from racing today, and will rev up for the big Memorial Day card featuring the Met Mile, which may be the hardest race of all time.