Belmont Notebook

BELMONT NOTEBOOK

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

by John Mucciolo

A Grade 2 test on the lawn highlighted the opening weekend of the fall

meeting at Belmont Park.

Bowling Green H. (G2): Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred HYPER (Victory

Gallop) moved to the fore in early stretch and kept all foes at bay in

registering a half-length win for trainer Chad Brown. The peaking six-year-old

endured 10 furlongs on the firm inner turf in 2:01 1/5 under the guidance of

Javier Castellano.

Track Stats

A total of 20 races were held at the Elmont, New York, venue, with favorites

winning at a 30 percent rate and the top two betting choices combining for 60

percent of the wins during the week. From nine races on the main oval, four

animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (44 percent), while one of the 11 races on

the lawn were taken all the way on the front (9 percent).

The turf wire job came in a turf dash on Saturday in a sprint race. Overall,

we saw all types of winners on the lawn breaking from inside and very wide, up

close and far back early on.

Four winners went all the way on the front on the main oval over the weekend,

but it's way too early to make any judgments about the surface from such a

limited sample.

Meet Totals

RACES:		20
DIRT:		9
TURF:		11
FAVORITES:		6 (30 percent)
2ND CHOICES:		6 (30 percent)
TURF WIRE:		1 (9 percent)
DIRT WIRE:		4 (44 percent)

HORSES TO WATCH

Saturday (9/7)

3RD -- The Mark Hennig-trained BLITHEY (Exchange Rate) proved that her fine

debut run was no fluke when the Empire State-bred rolled over this field by a

facile 11 1/4 lengths under Castellano. The juvenile miss broke on top and

really turned it on late in a professional move, running away from this field.

Expect the filly to be stakes bound in the very near future.

5TH -- START JUMPING (Jump Start) reeled in a clear leader in midstretch and

cruised home a 2 3/4-length winner beneath Castellano. The David

Jacobson-trained gelding was tons the best in here and avoided a claim; a class

rise might be in line for the in-form sophomore.

7TH -- BIKINI BEAUTY (Bernardini) was well back early, began to inch closer

approaching the turn for home and blew past her foes late to win going away in a

powerful debut run. Trained by Christophe Clement, the juvenile miss is bred to

be a nice one and certainly appears to have a ton of potential.

Sunday (9/8)

2ND -- LONG WATER (Elusive Quality) had no chance with the winner in this

third-place effort, but the Kiaran McLaughlin pupil was more than eight lengths

clear of fourth and we expect this one to graduate before long. The

Kentucky-bred is cut out be a nice one being out of a Grade 1 queen who thrived

at a route of ground.

7TH -- SHELDON (Purim) made a solid late run through the lane to earn the

show spot in this debut effort and the two-year-old colt could be a useful one

in the near future for Jimmy Toner, who is better with experienced runners. The

youngster would surely benefit from a trip where he saves more ground in his

comeback run.

 A Look Ahead

The Grade 1, $350,000 Garden City and Grade 3, $200,000 Noble Damsel Stakes

will both be offered on Saturday.