Notes - July 4

- I was watching some of the early races on TVG on Saturday, and saw four 2-5 shots go down in flames in just two races! Well, kinda. The first at Monmouth and the third at Belmont were baby maiden races, and in each of them, a coupled entry of first-time starters were bet down to that prohibitive price. I've mentioned this before, about how you'll sometimes see an entry of first-timers from a hot trainer get drastically overbet. Two for the price of one may work at a department store, but at times the concept gets overdone at the mutuels, and bargains abound elsewhere.

Kelly Breen sent out the entry at Monmouth. Poised by Design (Montbrook) and Venus Rosewater (Grand Slam) were both moderate sales-priced fillies with some nice works; how do you even know which one they're betting? Perhaps Poised by Design, a half-sister to stakes winners Play Bingo and Quick'N'Smart, the latter the dam of the current stakes winner Smart Enough. Or maybe the other one, since she ran second with her stablemate checking in 6th. Winner Bold Smart ($19.20) is trained by Timothy Hills, who eight minutes later would take the first at Belmont with Another Month ($21.20). Wow, how about that for a daily double?

Todd Pletcher had the 2-5 entry in the third at Belmont, a six furlong affair on the grass for fillies. Moroccan Affair is a daughter of Storm Cat, out of a Mt Livermore mare who is a half-sister to graded winners Bernstein and Caress; and Caress is the dam of Sky Mesa. Return to Paradise is by El Prado, out of a Seeking the Gold mare. She's a half to several winners including the current stakes campaigner Capac. The best the Toddster could do was third, behind first-timer Dicey DJ (Milwaukee Brew). Winning trainer Linda Rice hadn't won at Belmont in a month, but she's always dangerous with these turf sprinters.

Any Given Saturday showed the talent that I had hoped he would on a certain given Saturday now long past. Nobiz Like Shobiz once again seemed distracted during the stretch run, and you can't blame this one on the crowd noise, with 8,415 on hand at the cavernous track on a cool and drizzly day. He just seems like a big goofy guy who'd rather be tossing around a football than trying to run down rivals on the racetrack.

And I guess High Finance likes Belmont! Throw out his Belmont Stakes, and he's three for three with a combined winning margin of nearly 16 lengths. He seems a likely candidate for that new BC mile race, and that will be a BIG day for West Point Thoroughbreds.