Betting the Man o’ War on a Budget
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Twilight Eclipse, pictured winning the 2014 Mac Diarmida Stakes, is one of the top choices in Saturday's Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
Man o’ War was an incredible Thoroughbred. He won 20 out of 21 races, including his career debut by six lengths at Belmont Park on June 6, 1919. During his racing career, he set two American records, three world records and three track records.
Man o’ War’s only loss (said to have been because he was turning around when the barrier was raised signaling the race was off and running) was to a horse named Upset, a defeat that helped popularize a sports term for when the underdog beats the favorite, which had been coined years earlier. Can you tell I love a good history lesson?
Now for the lowdown about the horses running in the Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont on Saturday — my top three picks!
IMAGINING
Imagining won his first Grade 1 race in the 2014 Man o’ War while leading the field from start to finish and will try for a repeat victory on Saturday. Imagining is coming off a win in the 1½-mile, Grade 2 Pan American Stakes at Gulfstream Park, where he beat Twilight Eclipse, another Man o’ War entrant. Imagining has the rail and is dangerous on an uncontested lead; he could once again lead from start to finish. He has five wins on the grass at Belmont, including a 5-for-6 record on the inner turf course on which the Man o’ War will be contested, and a nice prep win in his most recent race. Imagining might be overbet but is a must-use.
HARDEST CORE
The upset 2014 Arlington Million winner has shown he can win off a long layoff. He has had great consistency on the Belmont turf with two wins and a second in three starts and might come out running off the bench on Saturday.
HARDEST CORE
TWILIGHT ECLIPSE
Twilight Eclipse is a picture of consistency, regularly posting the top speed figures in the field. He is as game as they come and will have top jockey Javier Castellano on board. Twilight Eclipse is seeking his first win on the turf at Belmont Park. It’s also worth nothing that Twilight Eclipse, a consistent top-three runner who is tied for the most starts in the field (23 starts with 6 wins, 5 seconds and 4 thirds) lost to Main Sequence, the 2014 champion turf male, by less than a length in three consecutive Grade 1 races last year.
Strategy A: $20 win on Twilight Eclipse (#4)
Strategy B: $10 exacta: Twilight Eclipse with Hardest Core and Imagining (4 with 1,6)
Strategy C: $5 trifecta: Twilight Eclipse with Imagining and Hardest Core with Imagining and Hardest Core (4 with 1,6 with 1,6)
$5 trifecta: Imagining and Hardest Core with Twilight Eclipse with Imagining and Hardest Core (1,6 with 4 with 1,6)
$400,000 Man o' War Stakes
Saturday, Belmont Park, Race 9 at 5:28 p.m. ET
1 3/8 miles on the turf for 4-year-olds and older
PP
Horse
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
M/L
1
Imagining
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Shug McGaughey
Phipps Stable
9/5
2
Hyper
John Velazquez
Chad Brown
Ken and Sarah Ramsey
10/1
3
War Dancer
Jose Lezcano
Bill Mott
Diamond M Stable
12/1
4
Twilight Eclipse
Javier Castellano
Tom Albertrani
West Point Thoroughbreds
3/1
5
Comes the Dream
Junior Alvarado
George Weaver
Jim and Susan Hill
30/1
6
Hardest Core
Luis Saez
Edward Graham
Andrew P. Bentley
4/1
7
Dynamic Sky
Cornelio Velasquez
Mark Casse
John Oxley
5/1