Top pick: #2 (MR. WILLIAM) (5-1) - Gelding showed good early speed in his first pair and was claimed at Belmont on May 17th by Dave Jacobson. On the sidelines since, 4-year-old drops off the purchase price and will be racing on the dirt for the first time. New trainer wins at a 27% rate first off the claim and is at 17% off of extended layoffs.
2nd pick: #7 (Stop Sign) (4-1) - New York-bred has finished second in both starts facing fellow state-breds and moves in with "open" company for the first time. Speed/stalker must be left in the mix.
3rd pick: #1 (Optionality) (3-1) - Claimed at Churchill by Mike Maker on May 10th, gelding by "More Than Ready" was sent in for almost an eight week break and raced evenly while having some traffic issues on June 30th in his first for the new barn. Has the rail and is a win candidate.
4th pick: #4 (Foggy Road) (6-1) - Freshened up since a very poor effort at Belmont in late May, trainer Rudy Rodriguez has him working nicely and will drop this son of "Medaglia d'Oro" into a claimer for the first time.
5th pick: #10 (Lincoln Flyer) (12-1) - Debuting colt has a very steady work tab and some of the drills indicate speed is present. Four-year-old by "Awesome Again" need not be much to factor against these.