By ED FOUNTAINE
June 7, 2008
Today's Belmont Stakes, run as the 11th race on a 13-race card, anchors a $1 million guaranteed Pick 6 and $1 million Pick 4, preceded by five other graded stakes.
First up is the Grade 2, $250,000 True North Handicap at six furlongs. Big Brown's connections, IEAH Stable and trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., should draw first blood sending out Benny the Bull. The stretch-running 5-year-old is coming off three straight stakes scores dating back to Nov. 24: The DeFrancis Dash at Laurel Park, the Sunshine Millions at Gulfstream, and the $2 million Golden Shaheen at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai.
Next is the Grade 1, $400,000 Just A Game for fillies and mares going a mile on turf. Vacare is making her first start since October for trainer Christophe Clement and breaks from the outside post 10, but she's won six of her eight starts and owns an edge in class.
The Grade 1, $250,000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies at a mile features the return of Bob Baffert's Indian Blessing. The 2007 2-year-old filly champion is making her first start since the March 8 Fair Grounds Oaks, when she suffered her first defeat in six starts, finishing second to eventual Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell.
In the Grade 2, $250,000 Woody Stephens, 3-year-old colts and geldings go seven furlongs. J Be K cuts back from a mile after setting the pace and finishing second in the April 26 Withers at Aqueduct.
Veteran turf horses go a mile-and-a-quarter in the Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan Handicap over the inner course. In a wide- open field of 12, Bobby Frankel's Brazilian-bred Out of Control, beaten a length last out in the May 3 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, is the one to beat.
