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Today is the G1 Jonathan Sheppard at Saratoga! An odd renewal the field is largely horses who would have ran in the novice stakes that was originally scheduled for today. Belfast Banter is out with an injury but in his stead Cyril Murphy has McTigue who will likely be the favorite, followed by recent allowance winner L’Imperator. Noah and the Ark shoulders the highweight again. Danny Mullins is back to ride Jimmy P for Keri Brion.
https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR082323USA1-EQB.htmlThe handsome Phipps-bred Awakened wins the Jonathan Sheppard! Firm ground made the difference for him I think. Great stretch battle, very nice ride by Tom Garner (2 taps with the whip past the turn and the rest was hands and heels) and Jimmy P and McTigue both tough in defeat. The big stakes at Aqueduct will be interesting next month.
Tomorrow 14th September at 1pm ET/5pm GMT is the last of the big summer handicaps – the G1 Lonesome Glory, held at the “Big A” for the second year in a row. It is quite frankly Snap Decision vs. a bunch of what I will politely call “allowance horses” vs. 20-22lbs of lead weights. Snap is back from a summer break in which he had throat surgery and he is being primed for the American Grand National last month so he may not be at peak fitness but even so I think the 162lb impost won’t phase him.
I don’t think there any any markets for this over here. I wouldn’t mind a few bob on Barbados – he may be just a handicapper now but he was 2nd in a Queen’s Vase and 4th in an Irish St Leger, then performed well in some QR races over here. His hurdle efforts in Ireland were reasonable too, coming second to My Mate Mozzie then paying the price when trying to give Adamantly Chosen a race.
Of course there’s a bit of dust on his Irish form but his latest two runs stateside have been OK too considering he was held up too far back in races where there didn’t look to be a pile of pace. I think the extra distance will suit and hope he is positioned more prominently.
I am seeing the race on Betfair – it’s 13:05 Belmont at the Big A – and per Racing Post it will be shown on SKY racing.
https://www.racingpost.com/racecards/1699/belmont-at-the-big-a/2023-09-14/849441/
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