​Graded stakes from Belmont Park and Delaware Park comprise Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5

by Keith McCalmont

The New York Racing Association Inc. [NYRA] will host an all graded-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring racing action from Belmont Park and Delaware Park.

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

Saturday’s sequence kicks off with the Grade 3, $150,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial [Race 5, 3:15 p.m.], an 11-furlong turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Delaware Park.

A talented field of nine is led by Godolphin homebred Micheline for trainer Mike Stidham. The 4-year-old Bernardini bay, who boasts a record of 15-5-2-1 with purse earnings of $674,478, captured the nine-furlong Grade 2 Hillsborough over firm Tampa Bay Downs turf in March. The Grade 1-placed filly is out of the multiple Grade 1-winning Include mare Panty Raid. Steep opposition will be provided by Blame Debbie, who captured the 12-furlong Grade 3 Dowager in October at Keeneland and enters from a front-running score at the same distance in the Searching on June 13 over good going at Pimlico for trainer Graham Motion, who also sends out the streaking Tonal Verse.

An international field will assemble in the second leg of the sequence for the $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational, opening jewel of the Turf Triple series for sophomore fillies going 10 furlongs on the inner turf in Race 7 at 4:06 p.m. 

Trainer Aidan O’Brien will saddle the regally-bred Santa Barbara, a half-sister to 2019 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf-winner Iridessa and 2020 Breeders’ Cup Mile victor Order of Australia. Cirona, trained by Christophe Ferland, captured the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte in April at Longchamp and was narrowly defeated in the 10-furlong Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary on soft turf in May at Longchamp. Local chances include the one-two finishers of last month’s Grade 3 Wonder Again in Con Lima for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher and Plum Ali for conditioner Christophe Clement.

The third leg will see eight competitors line up in the Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride [Race 8, 4:38 p.m.], a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies at Belmont. Trainer Brad Cox will saddle a pair of top contenders in the undefeated multiple stakes-winner Australasia and stakes-winner Inject.

The Louisiana-bred Australasia, by Sky Kingdom, bested Victory Ride-rivals Bella Sofia and Miss Brazil in the six-furlong Jersey Girl on June 6 at Belmont. Inject, a bay daughter of Frosted, romped by 5 1/4-lengths last out in the six-furlong Goldfinch on May 15 over a muddy Pimlico main track.

The penultimate leg, the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational [Race 9, 5:12 p.m.] at 10-furlongs for sophomores on the inner turf, is topped by the O'Brien-trained Bolshoi Ballet, who finished seventh as the favorite last out in the Group 1 Epsom Derby. The Galileo bay won both his efforts in 2021 prior to the Epsom Derby. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will be represented by last-out Grade 2 American Turf-winner Du Jour, while Jonathan Thomas will saddle stakes winner Hard Love.

The sequence concludes at Delaware Park with the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap [Race 9, 5:15 p.m.], a 10-furlong test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up featuring multiple graded stakes winner Bonny South.

The Juddmonte Farms’ homebred daughter of Munnings captured the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks last year and added the Grade 3 Doubledogdare to her ledger in April at Keeneland. Trained by Brad Cox, Bonny South enters from a runner-up effort to Letruska in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 5 at Belmont. Queen Nekia, a five-time winner at Delaware Park, will look to rebound from a distant fourth in the Ogden Phipps for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, July 10:

Leg A: Delaware Park - Race 5 - G3 Robert G. Dick Memorial (3:15 p.m.)

Leg B: Belmont Park - Race 7 - G1 Belmont Oaks (4:06 p.m.)

Leg C: Belmont Park - Race 8 – G3 Victory Ride (4:38 p.m.)

Leg D: Belmont Park - Race 9 – G1 Belmont Derby (5:12 p.m.)

Leg E: Delaware Park - Race 9 - G2 Delaware Handicap (5:15 p.m.)