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Horse Racing

At the Gate – Wednesday

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
3 minute read
We enter the final week of the Belmont Park meeting which ends on Sunday and after a four day break we are off to Saratoga.

Chad Brown is safely in front in the trainer standings with 33 winners from 149 starters, with Rudy Rodriguez second with 19 winners from his 135 starters at the meeting.

The trainer getting all the buzz is third. Jason Servis has won 18 races from just 38 starters, winning at a 47% clip. An odd statistic is the fact he has just one runner up finish among his starters.

Last summer at Saratoga Todd Pletcher edged Chad Brown for the Spa training title 40-39 with Linda rice a distant third with 16 winners. In 2016 it was Brown over Pletcher 40-31

Irad Ortiz Jr. looks well on his way to the jockey title with 56 winners from his 262 mounts. His brother Jose is second with 47 winners from 237 mounts. Manny Franco is third with 39 winners followed by Javier Castellano with 34.

Jose beat his brother by a 58-53 marginj to win the Spa jockey title in 2017. In 2016 it was Jose over Irad 65-57.

There are no more graded stakes at the Belmont Park meeting but we will have some good action to look forward to on Saturday. Among the major stakes are the $500,000 Indiana Derby (G3) at Thistledown and the $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby (G3).

To purchase my Belmont Park Report for Wednesday click here .

Here is the opening race from Belmont Park to get the day off to a good start:

BEL Race 1 Clm $12,500 (1:30 ET)
#2 Curiousncuriouser 9-5
#3 Patriotic Endeavor 1-1
#5 Special Risk 3-1
#1 Little Miss Julia 8-1

Analysis: Curiousncuriouser shipped to Philly last out where she faced $25,000 non-winners of four. She stalked the early pace and finished evenly in a third-place finish. She beat $14,000 non-winners of three at the Big A two back in a sharp effort in her third start since Englehart dipped in to claim her for $14,000. She drops in for $12,500 while facing open company but she catches a pretty weak looking group here. She owns a solid pace profile throughout.

Patriotic Endeavor stalked the early pace and made a mild late rally to finish in the runner up spot last out for this tag going a mile. She has done her best working going long but she did show two back she can be close to the pace. Rice hits at a 24% clip moving runners from route to sprint.

Wagering
WIN: #2 to win at 8-5 or better.
EX: 2 / 3,5
TRI: no play

Today’s Featured Race of the Day from Belmont Park:

BEL Race 8 Alw $77,000N1X (5:18 ET)
#2 Kulin Rock 8-1
#1 Rapt 5-2
#3 Gucci Factor 9-2
#6 Dr. Shane 5-1

Analysis: Kulin Rock was outrun early while saving ground and came with a seven-wide run to rally for fourth last out off a two-month break. The gelding broke his maiden in his third career start at Gulfstream Park and has not run back to that fig although he has been close. Three back he was beaten just a length when third behind repeat winner Runaway Posse, who beat Alw-2 foes at Tampa Bay Downs in his next outing on April 22. The Tagg trainee gets a jock upgrade to Ortiz and worth a look here if he goes off near his 8-1 morning line.

Rapt made a good late rally to finish in the runner up spot last out in the state bred Kingston which was his first start off a six-month layoff. He only won once last year, beating state bred Alw-2 optional claimers but as in the mix in most of his outing including a decent third in the state bred Mohawk here last fall. He is 0 for 4 at this condition outside of the NY bred ranks but is coming off a career top speed fig and looks like a good fit in this spot.

Wagering
WIN: #2 to win at 5-1 or better.
EX: 1,2 / 1,2,3,6
TRI: 1,2 / 1,2,3,6 / 1,2,3,6,7

Live Longshots:
These are price plays for exotic players looking to find a couple of extra contenders to use in their trifecta and superfecta wagers. Or for those with smaller bankrolls, you might want to get in a small win-place wager.

Belmont Park
R1: #1 Little Miss Julia 8-1
R2: #3 Tamzine 12-1
R4: #7 St. Edmond’s Girl 10-1
R5: #4 Steelersfanforlife 8-1
R6: #7 Pas de Deuce 8-1
R8: #2 Kulin Rock 8-1

Good luck today!

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