Top pick: #2 (ANEW) - Graded stakes winner returned from a 51 month layoff (extremely rare) and showed good speed before tiring racing for $25K on Nov 4. Trainer Steve Asmussen drops him down a bit and this veteran 10yo should beat these with any improvement in his 2nd back.
2nd pick: #8 (Hardshell) - He hasn't raced since June 15, but this speedball is working fast and has run well on this surface without winning in the past(6-0-2-1). 3yo has a bullet half-mile work at Belmont 5 days ago and looks set for a big effort.
3rd pick: #5 (Our Brave warrior) - New York-bred ran a big race when going wire to wire at Belmont two back, then showed nothing last out. Runs off a 5 week break, is working fast, and he can factor with his best.