Horse Racing Betting – Night Spirit as Top Pick

Racing returns to the Jersey Shore on Friday afternoon, with Monmouth Park offering up a dozen races, with a later post time, the first race kicking off at 2:10 ET.

The heat on the east coast will subside a few degrees this afternoon, with temperatures in the high 80’s at Belmont Park and Monmouth Park.

Belmont Park gets underway first today, and our play of the day comes later in the card, the seventh race, which is a $40,000 claiming race.

Our top pick is Night Spirit who steps into a tougher spot while retuning to the turf for the first time since last summer.

Her last turf try came at Colonial Downs where she was a well beaten ninth, but she has the turf pedigree to handle the surface, and she looks much sharper now than she did last summer.

The late Pick 3 starts with the tenth race at Monmouth Park, a three race sequence that includes three longshots.

It appears we can beat all three of the likely favorites, and the final leg of the wager leaves us four deep with a pair of runners that could go off at double-digit odds, which should give us a good shot of padding our bankroll with just a $24 investment.

Today’s Play of the Day from Belmont Park:

BEL Race 7 Clm $40,000B (4:12 ET)

#2 Night Spirit 7/2

#3 Spiritual Tune 9/2

#4 Hey Babe 5/2

#1 Little Miss Macho 6/1

Analysis: #2 Night Spirit rolled over $25K non-winners of two last out in a race taken off the turf in her first go off a nine-month layoff. Her first two tries on grass were not great, but both came over ground with give to it at Colonial. She has a decent turf pedigree, out of the stakes winner Night Fax ($242K) who has dropped a couple of turf winners.

#3 Spiritual Tune pressed the early pace and finished gamely to prevail against $25K non-winners of two in her first start against winners. Back to back hard fought efforts could lead to a bounce here as she steps up another notch in class, but there is not much else in here to get excited about.

Wagering

WIN: #2 to win at 5/2 or better.

EX: 2,3 / 1,2,3,4

TRI: 2,3 / 1,2,3,4 / 1,2,3,4,7

Today’s Pick 3 Play from Monmouth Park:

Starting in Race 10: $1: 1,3 / 2,4,6 / 5,6,8,10 = $24

MTH Race 10 Clm $10,000 (6:30 ET)

#1 R Little Nugget, #3 Papaleo

#1 R Little Nugget came up the inside with a good late rally to grab the runner up spot for this tag. The gelding was claimed out of the race by the Pompay barn that is 41% winners (with a +ROI) first off the claim. The gelding gets a jock upgrade here form the ten-pound bug to Marquez, who hits at a 33% clip when riding for the barn.

#3 Papaleo makes his first start since January where the gelding had to check in traffic while down along the inside on the far turn and finished evenly for third. Two runners came out of that race to win next out. The Volk barn is 19% winners with horses coming back off a +180 day layoff and this guy finds a good spot here dropping in for a $10K tag.

MTH Race 11 OClm $75,000N2X (6:58 ET)

#2 Ms. Short Pockets, #6 Profiteroles, #4 Reprieve

#2 Ms. Short Pockets made a good late rally to get up and beat Alw-1 foes last out in her first start off the claim by the Dibona barn. The filly has now won three of five over the turf here and makes her third start off the bench here for a underrated barn. She has some pedigree, out of the stakes winner Ms. Deep Pockets ($225K) who has dropped a couple of nice runners in Witch Woman ($145K) and Sligovitz ($415K). Elvis departs to stick with our second choice in here.

#6 Profiteroles was a good-looking Alw-1 winner and earned the top last out speed fig in the effort. She is a logical player here for the Breen barn.

MTH Race 12 Md $20,000 (7:25 ET)

#6 Vested in Town, #5 Beat the Blues, #8 Lady Symphony, #10 Bible Belt

#6 Vested in Town ships in from Chuck Town for a sharp barn in Houghton. Last out against maiden special weight company the three year old tracked the early pace and came up short in the stretch in the two-turn sprint over the tight turns. The runner up Yellow Brass was a next out graduate at the maiden special weight level at the WV track on June 19. This gal was competitive for a tag in Maryland and fits well here.

#5 Beat the Blues was off poorly and made a mild late run to finish third last out for a $50K tag at Calder. She makes her first start since December for the Volk barn that is 23% winners with newcomers to the barn. The filly has a couple of quick works on the morning tab.

Price Plays From Belmont Park:

These are price plays to watch today. A small win-place wager is in order or if your pockets are deep enough, use these runners in your trifecta and Pick 3 and Pick 4 wagers. One or two of these could be the difference between a regular day at the track and hitting the IRS window with a signer.

R4: #5 Mike’s Instinct 12/1

R8: #6 Heaven’s Voice 10/1

R9: #5 Classroom Legend 8/1

Good luck padding your bankroll today!