Hello all! Those of you familiar with my "Slew's Fast Horses" listings have seen on one or two occasions a "key Horse" listed at the top of the daily file. This does not happen often because these horses come from my own evaluation of fast races that merit a closer look. I don't pick many but one or two get selected and when they run, get added to the daily file. Tomorrow (Sat.) is one of those times.

The Sands Point, a Grade II turf event run May 29th at Belmont Park produced a flying finish that involved three horses: Better Lucky, Regalo Mia and Zultanite. The favorite, Somali Lemonade was a curious 4th and was never really involved. The race ran quickly with the exception of the 1st quarter. Better Lucky and Regalo Mia came home dead tight in 1:42.75 with the last 16th run in a nice 6.09 seconds. The track record was set by Roman Envoy in 1992 at 1:39.38 carrying 117 lbs. It was his best year, with 6 wins from 10 starts with earnings in excess of 450k. He was bred and owned by the venerable Fred W. Hooper. It should be noted that in the Sands Point all carried 117 lbs except Somali Lemonade who weighed in at 121 lbs.

While both horses, Somali lemonade and Zultanite are dropping into the Grade III level, and while I tend to look to horses that finished together to reverse themselves the next time they face each other, I think not this time. Zultanite has held his from since his maiden win in November and showed courage on the rail as he was headed in deep stretch by Better Lucky. If he isn't dead tired, he should be tough in this spot, with rider Paco Lopez winning at 22% for the meet.

I will be at Monmouth Park tomorrow and barring anything unexpected in the paddock and walking ring, Zultanite will be my key horse in that race. I will probably hedge just a bit using an exacta box with Somali Lemonade in case she wakes up. But the listing in Slew's file stands:

SLEW'S FAST HORSES for (06/23/12) v1.0

CURRENT KEY HORSES (< 90 DAYS)

Zultanite - MP (11) 05/28/12 # 7

For whatever YOU do, good luck and good 'capping!

Slew

Hello all. I normally post in the guest handicappers section but today, I find that two races merit attention and possibly some horses who have yet to run as well.

There was one race at Belmont Park today (6-20) that strikes me as a bit strange. Race 4, a Maiden Claiming affair for the girls at 6F was run in a quick 1:08.57 on what was no doubt, a dry and glib turf course. The winner, Vindicated Ghost had run previously in an Optional Allowance affair on June 1st as a MAIDEN. That race was won by Ballastic Sue in a quicker 1:07.65. True to her name, Ballastic Sue paid $33.00. That June 1 race now has 2 next out winners, as Strategic Missle came back 6 days later to win a SB AlwOC and paid $80.00. That horse was a single on Slew's list that day and is no stranger to the winners circle.

It seems to me that the seed race (the 6th) on June 1st has yet to see the entire story unfold as it was fairly contentious, and the 8th race on June 7th needs to be watched. The first 5 horses were separated by less then 1 1/2 lengths.

Keep an eye out for runners from these races.

Slew