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

by Mary Eddy

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Sunday featuring racing from Belmont Park and stakes from Monmouth Park, Woodbine 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, which features five races from four tracks in less than one hour, begins at 4:08 p.m. Eastern in Race 7 at Belmont, a nine-furlong inner turf starter allowance for 3-year-olds and up. Conditioner Carlos Martin sends out two contenders in last-out winner Penner Ash, who wheels back first off the claim on nine day’s rest, and More Than Work, who finished fifth in this condition on May 21. The Linda Rice-trained Pioneering Spirit is in search of his first victory against winners after graduating for a $40,000 tag on May 11 over the local going.
 
The action heads south to the Jersey Shore for Race 9 [4:22 p.m.] at Monmouth, the one-mile Smart N Classy Handicap for New Jersey-bred fillies and mares aged 3-years-old and up. Trainer Butch Reid, Jr. sends out the formidable multiple stakes-winner Girl Trouble on the heels of a dominant four-length allowance coup sprinting six furlongs on May 13 at Monmouth. The Fast Anna filly has won two stakes, including the Parx Futurity in January. The Farrel Mann trainee Beach Daze arrives from a string of runner-up efforts spanning four starts and dating to an optional claimer in February at Parx Racing. The daughter of Blofeld was last seen finishing a closing second sprinting six furlongs in the May 20 Spruce Fir Handicap over the Monmouth main track.
 
The middle leg will see action return to Belmont in Race 8 [4:40 p.m.], a seven-furlong Widener turf $40,000 claiming event for older horses. Five-time winner Scilly Cay takes a drop in class in his turf debut for conditioner Pat Reynolds after failing to hit the board in his last three outings. He won the Rego Park in January 2020 when in the care of trainer Linda Rice. The consistent Chuck Willis also takes a drop in class for Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse in his second start of the year, while the multiple stakes-placed Street Copper makes his seasonal bow for trainer Michael Trombetta.
 
The penultimate leg features graded action from north of the border as a field of 11 take on the Grade 2, $175,000 Eclipse [Race 8, 4:48 p.m.] for older horses traveling 1 1/16 miles on the synthetic. Graded stakes-winner Artie’s Storm makes his 5-year-old debut and is in search of his first win since winning this event last year for trainer Paul Buttigieg. The son of We Miss Artie has placed in four stakes in six starts since, including a last-out third in the Steady Growth in December going the Eclipse distance over the Woodbine Tapeta.
 
The Martin Drexler-trained Carrothers has shown a great improvement in form since he was haltered for $35,000 out of a winning effort on February 23 at Gulfstream Park. He has won his last three races, led by his most recent triumph going one-mile and 70 yards over the Gulfstream synthetic in an April 9 starter allowance. The field also includes the Jonathan Thomas-trained multiple graded stakes-placed Wolfie’s Dynaghost, who is undefeated in three starts over synthetic, as well as graded stakes-winners Rondure and War Bomber. Tyson, a 4-year-old Tapit colt trained by Josie Carroll, is undefeated in two lifetime outings, both over synthetic surfaces. Tyson’s second dam, Teeming, is also the second dam of Grade 3 Peter Pan winner and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets contender Arcangelo.
 
The curtain drops on the sequence in Race 9 [4:55 p.m.] at Churchill, the Grade 3 Mint Julep for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Leading the field of eight is Gainesway Stable’s White Frost, who enters from a game third-place finish to In Italian in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 15 at Keeneland. The Candy Ride dark bay came up a neck shy of her first graded victory two starts back when second in the Grade 3 Honey Fox in March at Gulfstream.
 
Steep opposition will be provided by the Cherie DeVaux-trained Gam’s Mission, who won this event last year; Sweet Dani Girl, a last-out second to Didia in the Grade 3 Modesty for trainer Carlo Vaccarezza; and New Year’s Eve, the Brendan Walsh-trained third-place finisher from the Modesty.

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 4
Leg A: Belmont Park, Race 7 – starter allowance (4:08 p.m. Eastern)
Leg B: Monmouth Park, Race 9 – Smart N Classy H. (4:22 p.m.)
Leg C: Belmont Park, Race 8 – $40K claiming (4:40 p.m.)
Leg D: Woodbine, Race 8 – G2 Eclipse (4:48 p.m.)
Leg E: Churchill Downs, Race 9 – G3 Mint Julep (4:55 p.m.)