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Sunday’s Cross Country Pick 5 to feature racing from Belmont Park, Monmouth Park and Woodbine

by Mary Eddy

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Sunday featuring racing from Belmont Park, Monmouth Park and Woodbine Racetrack.

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 begins in Race 6 from Belmont Park at 3:40 p.m. Eastern with a nine-furlong inner turf starter allowance for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. The Bill Morey-trained Always Laughing looks to notch her third consecutive win after a seventh-out graduation and follow-up win in a $30,000 claiming event in March. She will face a competitive field that includes Cumberland Falls, a 3-year-old who broke her maiden against elders in May at Monmouth for trainer Kent Sweezey, and the Bruce Brown-trained From Hello, who finished second in this condition in each of her last two outings.

The second leg features juvenile fillies contesting a five-furlong maiden on Belmont’s Widener turf course in Race 7 [4:12 p.m.]. The well-bred Kodiac Wintergreen debuts for conditioner Rusty Arnold off a string of works at Churchill Downs. The Irish-bred daughter of Kodiac is a half-sister to multiple stakes-winner Love Reigns. Trainer Ben Colebrook saddles one of three horses in the field who have made a start in Yellow Sun Dress, who was defeated a half-length when fourth on debut in an off-the-turf sprint in April at Keeneland.

Action heads north to Woodbine for the middle leg in Race 7 [4:25 p.m.], a seven-furlong turf optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up. The Great Oz looks to avenge a head defeat in this condition on May 21 over the Tapeta at the Toronto oval. He earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure for trainer Martin Drexler and is in search of his first win since September. The wide-open field includes the dual graded stakes-placed Proven Strategies for Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse, stakes-winner Hicksy, who enters from a pair of local claiming victories for trainer Kevin Attard, and Grandson, who takes a step down in class after an off-the-board finish in the restricted Steady Growth in December for trainer John LeBlanc, Jr.

The penultimate leg sees action from the Jersey Shore as a field of nine assemble for a 5 1/2-furlong turf allowance for 3-year-olds and up in Race 9 [4:40 p.m.] at Monmouth. The Michael Trombetta-trained Biz Biz Buzz has finished on-the-board in each of his last five outings, including a win two starts back in a Florida-bred optional claimer at Gulfstream Park. His good form will be challenged by the improving Tapio, who finished second in a dead heat with the stakes-placed American Speed in a May 20 allowance at Pimlico Race Course for trainer Michael Stidham. Two Steppin Kluki cuts back from one-mile as he looks to notch his fourth lifetime victory for trainer John Pimental.

The sequence concludes with graded action from Belmont in Race 10 [5:50 p.m.], the Grade 2, $200,000 Wonder Again for sophomore fillies going nine furlongs on the inner turf. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey saddles Allamericanbeauty off a closing half-length victory in a first-level allowance in April at Keeneland where she went from nearly last-to-first under Frankie Dettori. Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown sends out the formidable triad of dual graded stakes-placed Revalita and maiden winners Prerequisite and Venencia, while the undefeated Spansive, winner of both her career outings, looks to keep her perfect record intact for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. 

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 – Sunday, June 11

Leg A: Belmont Park, Race 6 – starter allowance (3:40 p.m. Eastern)

Leg B: Belmont Park, Race 7 – maiden special weight (4:12 p.m.)

Leg C: Woodbine, Race 7 – allowance optional claiming (4:25 p.m.)

Leg D: Monmouth Park, Race 9 – allowance (4:40 p.m.)

Leg E: Belmont Park, Race 10 – G2 Wonder Again (5:50 p.m.)