Belmont at the Big A, Race 2 – Friday, June 21, 2024
By The 2YO EdgeMan
BAQ2:062124 – 6f on the Turf. Nine juvenile fillies are set to battle over ¾ of a mile on the lawn. Only three of these gals have ever run before, each only have competed one time, with the Morning Line favorite – #5 – being the lone young lady with experience on the lawn. Mark Casse has two in the field, along with one each from Clement, Morley, Weaver, Dutrow, and Motion. Looking at sires, the ones that I’ve made note of are Collected, Not This Time, and Practical Joke. In addition, there are three Freshman sires represented – Authentic (Spendthrift Farm), Volatile, and Global Campaign. Honestly, this race does not get me very fired up; hence, let me share a bit about two of these, and then I’ll call out which one I like best…
#5 – Good Long Cry (5/2) – The Morning Line favorite is by a sire who I’m not familiar with (maybe I should be?) who stands in Maryland for an advertised price of $2,500 – this is his third crop to race. His mom did break her maiden going long on the grass at Saratoga as a 2YO (83 EBSF) and won a total of 10 races and over $200K in 37 runs. Today’s runner is the filly that has competed on the grass down at Gulfstream Park where she ran close to the pace, but seemed to tire. Trainer George Weaver has to be respected, but I can’t play this favorite in here.
#8 – Laughing Lady (4/1) – Conditioner Tony Dutrow has had some success at this meet in limited starts and this filly is by Practical Joke. This First-Time starter’s mama is by Empire Maker, but she never found the Winner’s Circle in five attempts. She’s been working well on the dirt training track at BEL and has put in eight drills (the last seven have all been at a half mile). If this contest was on the dirt, I’d likely point to this one, but her sire only 8.5% (five of 59) on the lawn with 2YOs in MSW events with a purse of $30,000
Pick – #1 Moon Gate – I’m going to go with Christophe Clement’s FTS charge at 5/1 – he’s very solid in the spring with babies at the MSW level in NY. This filly flashed some potential in a training session on 5/15/14 when she fired a small bullet at 4f, completing it in 47.87 seconds from the gate (1/9). Her sire – Authentic – has only had one runner try the turf, but that one had no success. Mom did win in her first start at age two, but it was not until December of that year at Laurel Park (76 EBSF). In the sales ring, she hammered for $200K as a yearling last year in November at Saratoga (49/92).
