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Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 features graded action from Belmont Park, Churchill Downs

by Ryan Martin

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday, featuring stakes action from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs.

The Cross Country Pick 5 requires bettors to pick the winner of five select races from tracks across the country. The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country with each week featuring a mandatory payout of the net pool. The Cross Country Pick 5, boasting a low 15 percent takeout, offers sequences with races from Belmont Park and partner tracks across the country.

The sequence kicks off in Race 7 [4:06 p.m. Eastern] at Belmont Park where trainer Chad Brown sends out first time starter Redistricting in a field of sophomore maidens going 1 1/16 miles on the Widener turf course. The son of Kingman is out of the Montjeu mare Cascata – a full-sister to 2011 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner St. Nicholas Abbey. Treadway Racing Stable’s homebred Fly Right will make his first start since November at Aqueduct, when finishing third to next-out stakes winner Ari Gold. Trained by Leah Gyarmati, the son of Astern is a full-brother to graded stakes winner Sail By.

Action shifts to Churchill Downs for the following leg in Race 8 [4:22 p.m.] where Stonestreet Stables’ Grade 1-winning millionaire Pauline’s Pearl headlines a field of seven older fillies and mares in the Grade 3 Shawnee. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the 5-year-old Tapit mare will try to recapture her winning form from January, when she won the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic. Steep opposition will be provided by four other graded stakes winners, including Godolphin’s Frost Point who seeks her fourth straight conquest for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, last year’s Grade 3 Comely winner Sixtythreecaliber, dual graded stakes winner Travel Column and Hidden Connection, who won the 2021 Grade 3 Pocahontas.

The middle leg will see Grade 1-winning millionaire Classic Causeway return to turf for the first time this year in the Grade 3 Arlington at Churchill Downs [Race 9, 4:55 p.m.]. Owned by Kentucky West Racing and Clarke M. Cooper, the 4-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway has not won since springing a 26-1 upset in last year’s Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational for trainer Kenny McPeek. Juddmonte’s Set Piece will attempt his fifth overall victory over Churchill’s Matt Winn turf course, while also seeking his fourth career graded win for trainer Brad Cox. 

Godolphin’s Silver Knott returns to North America in the penultimate leg – the Grade 2, $200,000 Pennine Ridge [Race 9, 5:12 p.m.] for 3-year-olds traveling nine furlongs on the inner turf. Trained by Charlie Appleby, the son of Lope de Vega was a narrow second as the favorite in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in November at Keeneland and enters off a distant 11th in the Group 1 2000 Guineas. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher will saddle graded stakes-placed Far Bridge as well as international stakes winner Sharar – a half-brother to 2017 Champion Turf Female Lady Eli.

The curtains close on the sequence in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Blame at Churchill Downs [Race 10, 5:26 p.m.], where Lucky Seven Stable’s Rattle N Roll goes for his third straight graded stakes conquest for McPeek. The millionaire son of Connect captured the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 19 and the Grade 3 Ben Ali on April 22 at Keeneland in his last two efforts. WSS Racing’s Barber Road is the only other last out winner in the field as he returns to graded stakes company for the first time since last year’s Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, where he finished seventh for trainer John Ortiz. The gray Race Day colt defeated first-level allowance company going 1 1/16 miles on April 15 at Keeneland. 

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence will be available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the spring/summer meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Belmont spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, June 3:

Leg A: Belmont Park – Race 7, MSW (4:06 p.m. Eastern)

Leg B: Churchill Downs – Race 8, G3 Shawnee (4:22 p.m.)

Leg C: Churchill Downs – Race 9, G3 Arlington (4:55 p.m.)

Leg D: Belmont Park – Race 9, G2 Pennine Ridge (5:12 p.m.)

Leg E: Churchill Downs – Race 10, G3 Blame (5:26 p.m.)