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Keeneland Select

Belmont Park Hotlist - June 18

By Matt Shifman and Bob Ehalt

Hot List Key:
 A:
A preferred horse to watch                         B: Secondary horse to watch
*C: Went down 2 or more betting notches and finished 1st through 3rd
*D: Went down 2 or more betting notches and finished 4th or worse
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

2nd race [OC 62k/N2X, 1 mi TURF] – (4) By All Means was Group 3 placed in France before coming to America and joining the Clement barn. In her first start of the year, she was third in a stakes race at Gulfstream Park after getting badly blocked. She gets Lasix for the first time. (1) Veronica Greene has an allowance score between a pair of good stakes races for Chad Brown. (6) For the Flag has two front-end victories in two starts this year with improved speed figures and is projected to be on the lead again. (3) Pleasant Passage won her first two starts as a 2-year-old including the Miss Grillo (G2) and a second in the Breeders’ Cup. She was fifth in her 2023 debut in the Appalachian (G2) at Keeneland.

3rd race [Clm 14000 N3L, 1 mi] – (3) Merchants of Cool (B) lost a shoe in the paddock and ran without it last time. (5) Ministerial made a huge improvement at Keeneland while moving off the artificial surface and fought off challenges to win a N2L for a $30,000 tag. (4) Norgay set the pace at Belmont last time for a $35,000 price and finished second. (1) Super Quality was claimed out of a bad performance in April by Linda Rice. He won the N2L condition in March by 10 lengths.

5th race [NY, NY Stallion Series, 7F TURF] – (7) Itsallcomintogetha (C) broke his maiden in his second start of the year with a front-end effort while getting bet down from 10-1 to 5-1. (8) Twenty Six Black came back from one race last year at Saratoga when he was third to break his maiden and then romp in an allowance as the favorite in both victories. (6) Ramblin’ Wreck was second in a December version of this stakes race but on the dirt and come now makes his first start of 2023 for Danny Gargan who has great stats after long layoffs. (5) Gem Mint Ten ran his two best races after moving onto the grass with a maiden win and an allowance place finish.

6th race [Md 20000, 1 mi] – (5) Lucky Lucky Luke drops out of NY-bred maiden special weights as a new gelding with speed figures that are better than the rest of the field. (2) Steady Progress was second last time at this level with five top three finishes. (4) Old Point made two starts since Linda Rice claimed him and improved to run third last time. (1) Sixwillberich drops down from a third in a $40,000 claimer back in February.

Best bets: By All Means (2nd); Lucky Lucky Luke (6th). Best value: Merchants of Cool (3rd); Itsallcomintogetha (5th).

No.NameLetter/
last race
Today's RaceComments
(3)Merchants of CoolB on 5/283Raced without a hind shoe in his first start of the year.
(7)ItsallcomintogethaC on 5/65Front end winner going a mile on the grass.