Friday’s Picks from Belmont Park

Friday’s card at Belmont Park kicks off at 1:00 ET and overnight rain might knock us off the grass today. There are only three races carded for grass including one of the two stakes.

The third race on today’s card is the $125,000 Ashley T. Cole for New York breds. Only seven were entered and two of those are main track only entrants so if we are on the turf, we will have a compact field of five.

City Man is the even money favorite. The Christophe Clement trainee won the state bred West Point by a nose in his last outing. The runner up was Therapist, who is the 8-5 second choice in the Cole.


The duo looks better than the other three and while they combined for a $2 exacta that paid $51.50 in the West Point, the payoff figures to be much shorter this afternoon.

The other stake on the card is the $150,000 Joe A. Gimma for state bred juvenile fillies going seven furlongs on the main track. The race drew six led by the 8-5 morning line favorite November Rein.

The filly took the field gate to wire to win the state bred Seeking the Ante going 6 ½ furlongs at Saratoga in her last outing. Her main rival appears to Classy Edition (2-1) who was an impressive maiden winner in her debut for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“America’s Day at the Races” is on FS2 from 12:30 to 5:30 ET with the action from Belmont Park. TVG is offering new players  up to a $300 Risk Free wager.  In addition, AmWager is offering up to a $500 bonus for new horseplayers.

To purchase my Belmont Park Report for Friday click here .

Now is the perfect time to purchase my Monthly Package. It gives you a month of Belmont Park Reports daily and my Best Plays Report each Saturday and Sunday.

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

BELMONT PARK 1 ANALYSIS (1:00 P.M. ET)

 Race 1 Clm $10,000

  • #6 Lovely Lady Lexi 8-1
  • #4 Bustin Bay 9-5
  • #2 Extra Effort 8-5
  • #3 Ok Honey 7-2

Analysis: Lovely Lady Lexi tracked the early pace and came up the inside to finish an even third against $50,000 starter allowance foes at Monmouth Park. He was fifth two back at Finger Lakes against optional claimers running into repeat winner Lune Lake. He was claimed by Englehart three back out of a win over the main track here at this tag. He pressed the early pace, took over the lead and went on to win by 1 1/2 lengths in a sharp effort. In 2020 this guy landed in the exacta in 9 of his 10 starts. He is bred to like a wet track and has a couple of seconds and a third on the off going. Decent value here if he goes off near his 8-1 morning line.

Bustin Bay was claimed by Broberg for $14,000 two back at the Spa out of a third-place finish versus non-winners of three. He put him in a first level state bred allowance race and he finished in a deadheat for first. Now he is jammed in for $10,000 which does not exactly look like a good sign. He beat $16,000 non-winners of two over a wet track here back in July. He is logical but his price is going to be end up on the short side.

BELMONT PARK 8 ANALYSIS (4:44 P.M. ET)

Race 8 The Joe A. Gimma

  • #4 Classy Edition 2-1
  • #6 November Rein 8-5
  • #2 Velvet Sister 7-2
  • #5 Shesawildjoker 4-1

Analysis: Classy Edition was bumped coming out of the gate in her debut, stalked the early pace and took command heading for home, easily winning by 6 3/4 lengths over a racing strip that was slaying to inside speed that day. The filly was a $550,000 purchase, by Classic Empire out of a Bernardini mare that has dropped two other runners including stakes winner Newly Minted ($516,738). She is bred to get more ground and already showed she can handle a surface with some moisture in it which might be the case again today.

November Rein took the field gate to wire to win the state bred Seeking the Ante last out in her first start against winners, earning the top last out speed fig. She broke her maiden two back sat the Spa in her second career start. She owns a solid pace profile throughout but there are a couple of foes in this small field that can make things tough for her early, which should set things up nicely for our top pick late.

LIVE LONGSHOTS

These are price plays for exotic players looking to find a couple of extra contenders to use in their Pick 4 and Pick 5 wagers. Or for those with smaller bankrolls, you might want to get in a small win wager. 

Belmont Park

  • R1: #6 Lovely Lady Lexi 8-1
  • R2: #5 Cee Are Em 12-1
  • R4: #2 Rickys Revenge 8-1
  • R6: #3 Vodka Madini 8-1
  • R9: #8 Jack’s Dream 8-1
  • R9: #7 Data Deal 8-1

Good luck today!