The Pennine Ridge
Eight three-year-olds are scheduled to race a mile and an eighth on the grass at Belmont in The Pennine Ridge.
As we often see in these grass races, especially in New York the pace of lack of is a mystery. We won’t even talk about the timing issues. Let’s just look at the field and see what shakes out.
Lachaise breaks from the rail and makes his three-year old debut. This is a tough spot for this New York Bred ridgling to come back in. He can certainly go forward, and the barn is capable, but this is a big ask. I’ll pass.
Sharar makes his US debut for Todd Pletcher. This Gun Runner colt comes in from Dubai and is a bit of a mystery here. He looks a cut below to me and I say prove it. Pass.
Belouni out it all together for Chad Brown last out. 8-1 looks awfully generous on this colt who looks every bit a contender in here. Jose Ortiz rides and he has been white hot of late.
Silver Knott comes in off a bad race at Newmarket but don’t let that fool you. This colt has always been highly regarded by Appleby and Godolphin and his race in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf was excellent. Buick is not here only because he rides in the Epsom Derby back in the UK. His lack of speed early won’t help him here, but I expect him to be running as good as any of these in the lane and likely better. I’ll land here.
Congruent goes first time for Chad Brown and this is almost always a positive. He will have to improve to contend, and improvement would be no surprise but enough for the win, that I doubt.
Kalik is on a roll and is another from the Brown barn. He can contend but I don’t think he is as good as the Godolphin runner, at least not at this point.
Freedom Trail looks a cut below the top contenders in here. He is a pass for me.
Far Bridge is the favorite and horse to beat. He ran big on the inside in traffic last out and would be no surprise at all. He’s good and coming off a tight trip, but I still lean to Silver Knott.
Pace always plays a part in these and most races. That said we also often see that last burst, at times into a slow pace get the job done. Mullen will help the price a tad as opposed to Buick who might have made Silver Knott the favorite.
Make sure to check out our;
The Belmont Stakes Horses by The Thorograph Numbers and Patterns on Past the Wire TV
Enjoy the races!