Monday, May 25, 2009

The Grade 1 Shadwell Met Mile

There appears to be some speed in the Met Mile today at Belmont Park. Amazingly enough, some of the speed was removed from the field with the removal of Mr. Fantasy. He likely would have been with the front-runners and pressed the pace quite a bit.

With that, let's get to those horses that are actually running in the highlight race today. I like #11 Bribon, a French-bred runner that won the Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont on April 29. I really would have been sold on him had Mr. Fantasy still been present since Bribon should be sitting off the pace and be charging late. This will be his second start off the layoff and he has fired Beyers in the 100s in five of his last seven tries at this distance. #1 Accredit drew the rail here and should be part of the pace run. The big question regarding him is whether or not he can get the distance. He has never been this far before, but I am inclined to include him at his 10-1 morning line odds. He won in the slop last time out in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Handicap on Derby Day. An even longer shot I like quite a bit today is #12 Driven By Success, who is 20-1 in here. He has been off since April 9, but did run third in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap. The thing that stands out to me is Ramon Dominguez in the saddle. He has been paired with Ramon five times, winning three and running second in the other two. I will wrap the top four with #8 Mr. Sidney, who is going turf-to-dirt today after winning the Grade 1 Maker's Mark at Keeneland on April 10. He did that with a career-best Beyer figure of 101. Kent Desormeaux will be aboard for trainer Bill Mott today.

So, what's the play today? Well, I know I picked the favorite on top, which I normally don't do, so we will pair up a box and a key in the play on the Met Mile:

$1 EX BOX- 1-8-11-12 and $2 TRI 11 with 1-8-12
TOTAL- $24

We hope everyone has a good Memorial Day holiday today and remind you that They Are Off accepts no responsibility for any wagers in connections with these suggestions.

Tune in tomorrow for more from They Are Off. For right now, I am Gone... GOODBYE!

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