A field of 11 will line up on Saturday in the Bed o' Roses at Belmont Park (Photo credit: © Cheryl Quigley | Dreamstime.com)
A wide-open field of 11 fillies and mares will line up on Saturday at Belmont Park in the feature, the $150,000 Bed o’ Roses (G3), which will be contested at seven furlongs on the main track.
The morning line favorite at 7-2 is the Eddie Kenneally trained Street Girl, who is coming off a runner up finish in the Humana Distaff (G2) at Churchill Downs where she was beaten 4 ½ lengths by the Bob Baffert trained Midnight Lucky.
Vagrancy Handicap (G3) winner Merry Meadow (4-1) also figures to take some betting action. The Mark Hennig trainee has done some of her best running over the Belmont Park main track and should get a good pace set-up.
There are several fillies that look capable of outrunning their odds including the Bill Mott trained Calistoga (12-1) and Hot Stones (8-1), a Bruce Levine state-bred.
The co-feature on Saturday’s card at Belmont Park is the $100,000 Wild Applause for three-year-old fillies who will go one mile on turf.
The race drew eight including a pair of runners that will be making their U.S. debuts. Nisharora (3-1) was last seen in Italy running second in the Premio Vittorio Crespi and makes her U.S. debut for Richard Mettee off works at Fair Hill.
My Jolie (12-1) will also be sent out by Mettee. She was last seen checking in sixth in the Prix Cleopatra (G3) at Saint-Cloud in France on May 14.
The Chad Brown trained Sweet Acclaim is the 2-1 morning line favorite off a good effort in a runner up finish in the Wait a While going seven furlongs over the turf. She ran a good second in the Appalachian (G2) at Keeneland two back in her U.S. debut.
Let’s head out to Belmont Park for Saturday’s featured race of the day:
Belmont Park Race 9 The Bed o’ Roses (G3) Post time 5:28 ET
7 Calistoga 12-1
8 Merry Meadow 4-1
5 Hot Stones 8-1
10 Street Girl 7-2
Calistoga looks primed for a top effort here for the Bill Mott barn. The filly caught a sloppy track last out off a two-month break and beat Alw-2 optional claimers in a sharp effort. The filly showed a ton of promise last year, breaking her maiden at Gulfstream Park earning a solid figure and then beating Alw-1 optional claimers in her first start against winners last March in gate to wire fashion.
She was the beaten favorite in last year’s Eight Belles (G3) at Churchill Downs where she was outrun early and came with a wide rally to finish fourth, beaten 1 ½ lengths. After coming back off a nine-month layoff it took a couple of trips for Mott to get her cranked and she looks very capable of moving forward off her last start. Worth a good look if she goes off near her 12-1 morning line.
Merry Meadow tracked the early pace and finished strongly to win the Vagrancy Handicap (G3) last out over three foes. She was making her first start off nearly a three-month break for the Mark Hennig barn. She has now landed in the exacta in six of her seven trips over the Belmont Park main track.
The filly owns a solid pace profile throughout and she should get a god trip sitting not too far off what could be a lively early pace.
Hot Stones cuts back from a mile where the filly broke outward and lost her footing coming out of the gate, tracked the early pace but could not get past the talented La Verdad in the state-bred Critical Eye. La Verdad was winning for the eighth time in 10 career starts. The fourth place finisher in that race was Tahoe Tigress, who came back to beat state-bred Alw-2 optional claimers in her next outing here on Thursday.
Trainer Bruce Levine adds blinkers here and she has three wins at six furlongs so the cut back in distance should not pose a problem. The state-bred filly is stepping up into graded stakes company for the first time here, but comes into the race off a career best.
Wagering:
WIN: #7 to win at 6-1 or better.
EXACTA: 7,8 / 5,7,8,10
TRIFECTA: 7,8 / 5,7,8,10 / 5,7,8,10,11
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