Not the greatest day of racing at the Spa, but there are certainly opportunities.

RACE 6

• 1 Alexndeed. This five start maiden started in MSW earlier this year and dropped to MC by the time he got to Belmont. His two maiden claimers showed significant improvement and although he takes a very slight rise in claiming price today, he is competitive in this field. He has shown speed before so the 1 post should pose no problem.
• 3 Smoke Police is a first time starter for Chad Brown who is 22% with a positive ROI with a large sampling of first timers. I don’t think the workout pattern is particularly strong so I will watch the board before including him in the pick-4.
• 5 Bird Now drops into a maiden claimer for the first time. He has a race over the surface and improving numbers, but he doesn’t look as fast as some of the others. A lesser pick for me in here.
• 7 Perfect Danger has a good last race in his first try with maiden claimers. He is fast and other than a tendency to lose stregth in the deep stretch looks like the controlling speed. If he is anywhere near his 12-1 ML he is a must use.

RACE 7

• 2 Thisdanseistaken is a turf sprint specialist but has been racing at lower levels. She is a pressing sort so she’ll have to stay close enough to kick by the 4 at the end, but she has an excellent record in turf sprints.
• 3 Chelsea Road has had success at 5.5F, is 2 for 3 on the turf and 1 for 1 at SAR.
• 4 Be My Love is a 5F specialist and is the fastest horse in the race. She  has two negatives – she’s been off since March and she’s been at lower class levels. It wouldn’t be a shock if she wired the field but she is no sure thing.

RACE 8

• 2 Sweet Acclaim has been knocking at the door since her trip to the U.S. She seems well suited for the mile distance, is graded stakes placed, and made a very nice closing run into a fairly slow early pace in the Lake George. Chad Brown switches to Joel Rosario today and that shouldn’t limit Sweet Acclaim’s chances.
• 3 Walk Close has done nothing wrong in three starts for Christophe Clement, plus she’s already beaten a couple of these. Will probably be the favorite and deservedly so.
• 5 Zinzay threw in a clunker in the Appalachian and may actually be better suited to sprints. She has a win over the SAR turf and runs well fresh. If she runs her best she could be part of the finish.
• 9 Hillhouse High fits with this group. She’s been first or second 5 of 6 starts on the turf inlcuding two nice runs at SAR. She looks well suited to the mile and has plenty of room for improvement.
• 11 Final Redemption has drawn into the race and must be given a look. The Graham Motion trainee ripped a field at 6F on the yielding Belmont turf and the step up shows a lot of confidence in her ability. She’ll have to work hard from the outside post, but has a lot of upside.

RACE 9

• 3 Bolt From the Blue has two mile turf starts and obviously needs a shorter distance and perhaps a cheaper class. He’s probably a little underlayed at 6-1 ML but I don’t think he’ll be used heavily in the picks.
• 6 Giant Slayer is one of the numerous drop down horses. He is lightly raced and did show a nice turn of foot in his last. Could win with just a little improvement.
• 7 Eternal Bull started out inauspiciously but has two useful races in a row, one of the SAR turf. The trainer/jockey combination has done well this year and Mike Hushion does well with this sort of drop down. He’s dropping into a maiden claimer and looks very strong in this spot.