La Mehana (yellow cap) captured the Grade 3 Waya for conditioner Christophe Clement. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
Saturday at Belmont At The Big A
NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Saturday’s card at Belmont at the Big A will be bolstered by a Pick 6 carryover of $24,846 after the multi-race wager went unsolved on Friday’s eight-race program.
The $1 Pick 6 returned $2,078 to bettors who selected 5-of-6 winners correctly.
Friday’s sequence kicked off in Race 3 with the Rick Dutrow, Jr.-trained Sandy Sweet Tooth [No. 7, $4.20*] prevailing in a photo finish under Irad Ortiz, Jr. to capture a six-furlong state-bred allowance sprint.
Tongue Twister [No. 2, $20], with Romero Maragh up for trainer Ray Handal, upset an optional-claiming turf route in Race 4 one race before Mentee [No. 7, $10.20] made his turf debut a winning one for Hall of Fame connections Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez in the Grade 3 Futurity in Race 5.
In Race 6, a six-furlong allowance sprint, Golden Degree [No. 4, $11.40] scored with Jose Lezcano in the irons for trainer Linda Rice one race before Kendrick Carmouche engineered a rail-skimming rally aboard La Mehana [No. 3, $21.20] in Race 7 to capture the Grade 3 Waya for conditioner Christophe Clement.
With the carryover already confirmed for the Race 8 finale, a six-furlong outer turf allowance for state-breds, Heymackit’sjack [No. 4, $12.60] closed out the card with Ortiz, Jr. at the helm for trainer Jamie Begg.
Saturday’s Pick 6 sequence will kick off in Race 7 at 3:17 p.m. Eastern with the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette, which offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The lucrative 12-race card includes the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne in Race 8, offering a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and is supported by additional graded events in the Grade 3, $500,000 Jockey Club Derby Invitational in Race 5 and the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint in Race 6. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
