Vosburgh Stakes (Grade 3) – Race 9 at Belmont Park – Post Time 4:44 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Ignite the Light

Other contenders: T Kraft, Senior Officer

For exactas: Crazy Mason, Moonlight

Ignite the Light won the Stable Recovery Stakes about a week ago. He rallied from last of seven horses, gained three lengths in the final eighth and was beaten by a head. Veteran trainer Dick Dutrow has always been fine with running his horses a week ago, and many of those horses have won stakes. That race was at six and one-half furlongs, and is he stretching out to this seven-furlong distance? He won his last two races at this trip in April and February. Jockey John Velazquez won with Ignite the Light in one of those races, the only other time he rode. His last two wins earned 107 and 106 Equibase Speed Figures, the best of any field this year, with both at the distance. Ignite the Light earned a 105 figure in the Stable Recovery, which is better than any horse in this field in their most recent races.

T Kraft and Senior Officer finished second in a dead heat in the Forego Stakes at this distance. Both earned a 100 figure. Senior Officer has never finished second in seven races and that was his first-ever graded stakes race. Although his recent run was not as fast at Ignite the Light, Senior Officer earned his best winning figure of 105 at the distance two races before, on June 6. T Kraft earned his win this year from five starts but last year he won three of five races. His best was the best effort of the year. T Kraft gets the outside post and Junior Alvarado rides again, as he did in his only winning race this year.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Ignite the Light at odds of 5 to 2 or higher.

T Kraft, Senior Officer at 3 to 1 or higher.

Exacta: Ignite the Light, T Kraft, Senior Officer over Ignite the Light, T Kraft, Senior Officer, Crazy Mason, Senior Officer

City of Hope Stakes (Grade 2) – Race 3 Santa Anita – Post Time 5:06 PM Eastern (2:06 Pacific)

Top Win Contender(s): Teao

Although this is a good six-horse field of milers at this City Hope Stakes, I think Teao is the best horse to win. This Chilean import has won six of 12 races in his career, including some of the four top stakes in South America in fields of 11 to 16 horses. He has won four of his last five at two-turn races. He won the best race in South America, the Group 1 Gran Premio Latinoamericano Stakes which has a $285K purse, in April. His last races were on turf, and his recent race earned an 111 Equibase Speed Figure, better than the favorite King of Gosford, who earned a 108 figure when he won the Del Mar Mile Stakes. Teao put in a series of excellent workouts in Southern California, including an excellent five-furlong time of 59.2, and he is set to win.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Teao at odds of 2 to 1 or higher.

Flower Bowl Stakes (Grade 2) – Race 11 at Belmont Park – Post Time 5:54 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Gezora

For second on exactas: Sunlit Uplands, Kathynmarissa, Esna, Cathedral

Gezora is trying to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf again. Last time, she beat a field of 13, moving from sixth to win and earning a 120 Equibase Speed Figure, the best figure of any horse in this field. She has had three races since then, finishing second, eighth, and sixth. Gezoro’s best effort came in her first race this year, the Modesty Stakes in May, when jockey Prat Flavien rode her. She wasn’t 100% because she had been off for six months. She then changed trainers to Bill Mott. In her second race this year, she pressed the pace from fourth to third to second early while racing wide and finished eighth. That is not her style of racing. In her last race, run at a snail’s pace, she couldn’t make any ground and finished sixth. Today, Prat gets aboard again and her recent workout of 59.8 sent us a message. Her other workouts at 1:01.6 and 1:02 tell us she is interested again, which makes her the one to beat.

Four horses can finish second. Sunlit Uplands finished second in her U.S. race on August 22, earning a 105 figure, but she has never raced farther than one mile and one-sixteenth, and this race is one mile and one-quarter. Kathynmarissa has run five times at this distance, with a record of 0-2-1. Her most recent run earned a 106 figure. Esna is a European import and has won once in three races at this distance. That win came in a non-group stakes. Her two races since were Group 3 stakes, with her best figure at 109. Cathedral finished fourth in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Still, she put in excellent work recently, and she is now trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat. She earned a 108 last year in the Cup, and as a four-year-old she has the potential to run better.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Gezora at odds of 3 to 2 or higher.

Exacta: Box Gezora over Sunlit Uplands, Kathynmarissa, Esna, Cathedral

Eddie D. Stakes (Grade 2) – Race 5 at Santa Anita – Post Time 6:10 PM Eastern (3:10 Pacific)

Top Win Contender(s): Sumter, Freedom’s Not Free

In this downhill turf distance of six at one-half furlongs at Santa Anita, the most significant factor is how many horses have run at this trip and run well, particularly in graded stakes. A number have won at this distance, and a few have won in stakes. However, the best recent race was the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes on June 13, where Freedom’s Not Free won by a nose with Sumter finishing second. Freedom’s Not Free won that race off a layoff since last August and put in a scintillating rally from seventh at the eight pole to win. Sumter also put in an excellent rally from sixth at the quarter pole to lead, but he couldn’t sustain his momentum. Jockey Juan Hernandez rode Freedom’s Not Free to victory in his recent win, and both of the horse’s last races can be discounted, as both were one mile and different jockeys rode. Now Freedom’s Not Free cuts back to the distance of his win, and Hernandez gets back aboard.

Sumter won the Grade 3 San Simeon at this distance on March 14, earning a 115 figure, getting the rail, the same as he did when he won the Eddie D again. Sumter also finished second last fall in the similar Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes, where he also earned a 115. Mike Smith rides him today. I think both horses will run races similar to those they ran previously. Either of these horses could win or finish second.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Sumter, Freedom’s Not Free at 5 to 2 or higher.

Exacta: Box Sumter, Freedom’s Not Free