Belmont | Race 4 | Post Time 2:31 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs | Not already a TimeformUS member? Sign up 

Tapalist (#6) could go off favored here as he makes his NYRA debut off the claim for Robertino Diodoro. This barn hasn’t had too many starters in New York over the past year or so, but he does have an excellent record of improving horses off the claim at other circuits. This colt did put forth a strong performance two back when he won impressively for the $10k tag at Oaklawn. He couldn’t handle a step up in class last time, but that was probably a tougher field than the one he meets here. If he improves at all he’s going to be tough for this field to handle. However, there are questions about him and others to consider. 

I’m not a big fan of Pier Forty (#4), who just seems to have gone the wrong way of late, and Beach Front (#3) seems like a dubious candidate to get a mile. 

Therefore, I’m going in a different direction with BEATTHATFLEW (#7). He wasn’t defeating much of a field when he won his N2L condition two back, but he drew off impressively through the lane and earned a respectable speed figure for the level. Some may dismiss him due to the fact that he was well beaten in his first start for the Joe Parker barn last time, but he was badly overmatched against allowance company. Despite the stiff competition, he was running on late in that race, confirming that he has taken a step forward since the winter. Now he’s back at the right level, and he ran the best race of his career over a sloppy, sealed track, which he could encounter again.

THE PLAY

Win: 7

Exacta Key Box: 7 with 1,4,6