Top pick: #3 (CLEVER COOKIE) - Price play pressed and tired late to finsh third when debuting in a Belmont sprint Oct. 8, then raced evenly while extremely wide on this surface Nov. 10. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens brings her back on short notice and stretches her out to a mile. Castellano stays aboard and this home-bred by "Smart Strike" can this with some improvement.
2nd pick: #1 (Closing Move) - Darley home-bred by "Bernardini" hasn't quite lived up to expectations so she was sold privately to veteran Maryland-based trainer Tom Voss. She has some speed, draws the rail, Dominguez is aboard, and filly is (2-0-1-1) on this surface.
3rd pick: #5 (Opalite) - She has a bit of closing punch and last out at Belmont she rallied to finish second in an "off the turf" contest on Oct. 4. Freshened up for the past 7 weeks, filly would benefit if a fast/and or contested pace develops.