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​Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 to feature all-turf sequence from Belmont Park and Royal Ascot

by Mary Eddy

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring an all-turf sequence from Belmont Park with international stakes action from Royal Ascot. 

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 first four legs of the sequence come from Royal Ascot in the United Kingdom, beginning in Race 1 [9:30 a.m. Eastern] with the Listed Chesham at seven furlongs for juveniles.  

The field of 23 is led by a formidable trio of Aiden O’Brien trainees in Pearls And Rubies, who enters from a determined first-out graduation sprinting five furlongs on June 11 at Navan, and the pair of Buttons and Content, who finished first and third, respectively, in a June 8 maiden at Leopardstown going the Chesham distance. Second-out maiden winner La Guardia looks to upset the O’Brien runners off an impressive 2 1/4-length score on May 27 for conditioner Richard Hannon.

The sequence continues in Race 2 [10:05 a.m.] with the Group 3 Jersey for sophomores sprinting seven-furlongs. Juddmonte’s Covey looms large for trainers John and Thady Gosden off a 3 1/4-length victory last out in the May 27 Silver Bowl Handicap at Haydock. The son of Frankel looks to make it four wins in-a-row, dating to a second-out graduation in April at Newmarket. Trainer Charlie Appleby will challenge with two runners in Grade 1-winner Mysterious Night and Group 2-winner Noble Style.  

The middle leg features a talented group of sprinters 4-years-old and up vying for Group 1 glory in the six-furlong Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee [Race 3, 10:40 a.m.], led by the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Artorius as he cuts back from a close fourth-place effort in the 7 1/2-furlong Group 1 Agency George Ryder in March at Rosehill.  

The Flying Artie colt earned his first Group 1 coup earlier this year off a 209-day layoff when taking Canterbury in March at Randwick. The loaded field includes the Richard Gibson trainee Wellington, a Group 1 winner in Hong Kong, and the Christophe Clement-trained Big Invasion, who enters from a game second to Caravel in the Grade 1 Jaipur on June 10 at Belmont.  

The penultimate leg sees overseas action wrap up in Race 4 [11:20 a.m.], the Group 2 Hardwicke for 4-year-olds and up traveling 1 1/2 miles. The Owen Burrows-trained Hukum returned from a nearly one-year layoff to win the 1 1/4-mile Group 3 Brigadier Gerard on May 25 at Sandown, attending the pace early before pouncing in the final furlong to win by a half-length. The field of 11 includes last year’s winner Broome, who was a last-out third in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup for O’Brien. The son of Australia won the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup earlier this year by a neck over Siskany, who went on to capture the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup two starts later.  

The sequence closes out stateside in Race 6 [3:41 p.m.] from Belmont Park, the $150,000 Wild Applause at one-mile on the Widener turf for sophomore fillies. Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown saddles two contenders in graded stakes-winner Liguria and stakes-placed Tax Implications. The former is making the second start of her sophomore campaign off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Edgewood in May at Churchill Downs while the latter makes her first start since a runner-up effort in the Chelsey Flower in October. 

The Clement-trained Breath Away has never finished worse than second in four lifetime outings and seeks her second career stakes conquest, while Soviet Excess streaks into her stakes debut off a pair of wins at Gulfstream Park for Hall of Fame conditioner 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 – Saturday, June 24

Leg A: Royal Ascot, Race 1 – Chesham (9:30 a.m. Eastern)

Leg B: Royal Ascot, Race 2 – G3 Jersey (10:05 a.m.)

Leg C: Royal Ascot, Race 3 – G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee (10:40 a.m.)

Leg D: Royal Ascot, Race 4 – G2 Hardwicke (11:20 a.m.)

Leg E: Belmont Park, Race 6 – $150K Wild Applause (3:41 p.m.)