Top pick: #11 (SILVER TREE) - Wonderful runner in that at age eight he is still able to compete at this top level with remarkable consistency. His record over the past two years is (12-6-3-0), almost all in stakes. Proved in his last that he can handle this course, and need only avoid a poor trip from this outside post to give "Brown" a run for his money.
2nd pick: #6 (Proudinsky) - Troubled trip in the "Baruch" at Saratoga, saw him only beaten less than two lenghts. Capable at this level and a recent "bullet" drill at Belmont signals that trainer Bob Frankel wants him involved in the running from the time the gate opens.
3rd pick: #4 (Big Brown) - Never easy to do something for the first time in anything. Only "blemish" on runner's A1 resume is his Belmont "fiasco". "Haskell" win was hard earned and well deserved. He impressed me more in that one than in his other wins. He was a "beaten" horse at the sixteenth pole, but dug deep and summoned something extra to get the job done. That's the sign of a really good horse, not one that wins by daylight when un-challenged. That said, he'll have to run at least as well in his first grass race as there are some "hard-hitters" signed on. Turf works indicate a fondness for the surface. May scratch if the race is run on anything but "firm" turf, which is a strong possibility.
4th pick: #3 (Shakis) - Has a pair of wins in the "Bernard Baruch" stakes at Saratoga in the past two years. The trouble is the four efforts in-between those two are very mediocre. Old-timer will need to repeat one of those performances to have a shot today.
5th pick: #5 (Kiss the Kid) - Makes his all-important third start back from a layoff. Brings good speed to the contest and he's more than capable at being in this at the finish, and at a big price.