Wednesday Racing Picks 09/25: Belmont Park
Two days after the first official day of autumn, Belmont kicks off its racing week with an 8-race card, highlighted by a $75,000 maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up over 6 ½ furlongs in race 4.
The 6-horse field is slated for an approximate post time of 2:35 p.m. ET.
#5, Free Enterprise, Javier Castellano, 1-5
This should be a cakewalk for Free Enterprise as he has had runner-up finishes in all three of his starts, two of them as the favorite. But the puzzling thing that sticks out is that he has blown stretch leads in all three starts, that’s a bit worrisome. Javier Castellano takes the reigns for his third straight start for trainer Chad Brown and looks to put this horse on the lead for good, as he has the most speed in an unimpressive field. If he loses today, I don’t know what to tell ya. The pick.
#4, Kid Bourbon, Luis Saez, 4-1
Making just his second career start, Kid Bourbon looks to feed off his debut, a third-place finish in a $50,000 maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park Feb. 23. That race earned him a 74 Beyer Figure, not bad in his first start, with Julien Leparoux aboard. Luis Saez gets the mount today, but the seven-month layoff is concerning. Runner-up.
#1, Somes Sound, Junior Alvarado, 8-1
Junior Alvarado is back aboard Somes Sound for his third straight and is looking to make any kind of noise after two lackluster finishes in his first two starts of his career. He finished 10th in a 12-horse field after moving to third at the half mile mark in a $90,000 maiden special weight at Saratoga on Aug. 3. In his last start, 28 days later, he finished 7th (while leaving from the rail) in a 9-horse $90,000 maiden special weight at Saratoga Aug. 31. Maybe a different venue helps with the addition of blinkers, but I doubt it. Improvement needed.
#6, Cobble Hill, Dylan Davis, 15-1
Cobble Hill will be making his fourth career start, searching for his first win under trainer Bruce Brown. Dylan Davis has the mount and is the third jockey change aboard Cobble Hill, with Luis Saez riding twice and Irad Ortiz, Jr. once in his last start. His only top three finish was a third in a $60,000 maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 2, 2018. With Ortiz, Jr. aboard, he finished fourth in an 11-horse field in a $52,000 maiden claiming race at Saratoga on August 15. Prefer others.
PICKS: 5-4-1-6
By Lou Monaco