Some rain in the area, but as of now, the main track is fast and we are on the turf for the opening day card at Belmont Park (Widener turf is "good"; inner turf is firm).  

The featured Affirmed Success goes as Race #5.  For older NY-bred sprinters on the main track, it wil go with a field of six.

Now eight years old, Weekend Hideaway is making his fifth consecutive start in the Affirmed Success.  He won it 2016, and he ran very well in this race last year while settling for a close 4th when all was said and done.  

He is the horse to beat as he makes his second start of the year, following a seven-furlong prep at Gulfstream vs. a solid field of open allowance horses. 

I am going to take a shot against the favorite with Loki's Vengeance.  He is also making his second start of the year, following a win off the layoff in his second start for Linda Rice.  That was a nice bounce back effort for Loki's Vengeance, who did not run well at all in his final start of 2017 as the favorite.  He won't always show up with his best race, and he appears to be a horse who has some trouble dealing with adversity, but his good race is pretty good and he projects for the right kind of up-close trip in this race. 

Race #6 is a seven-furlong sprint over the Widener turf course for NY-bred fillies & mares. 

The two main contenders are Way Smart and Spring Folly, who are both returning from layoffs.  

Way Smart broke her maiden over course and distance last October, and she then found some traffic in her only other start of the year, before settling for 4th at the end.  She appears to have been breezing in company in Florida with Tizzelle, who made an impressive return of her own here a couple of weeks ago for trainer Jimmy Bond.

Spring Folly is starting back from a longer layoff, having not been seen since finishing a very good 2nd last July 15th behind subsequent stakes winner Lover's Key.  She only managed three starts last year, but she ran well in all of them, including both starts over this trip on the Widener course.

Baronet is a little cheap, but she is an interesting claim for Rudy Rodriguez, as she has speed and is better on turf than she is on dirt.  

Race #8 is a turf route scheduled for 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf.  Rocketry may be the horse to beat as he gets stretched back out to a more appropriate distance for his third start of the year.  He ran twice and Gulfstream over the winter, both times going shorter, and he did not have the best of trips in either of those races.  He's pretty good, but this is a tough spot.  

Roman Approval is going to attract attention off the Mike Maker re-claim, and for good reason.  He has speed, loves this distance at Belmont, and has a prior good record for this trainer

Roman Approval didn't win either of his starts going long here last fall, but he may have been best in both of those races after setting fast paces and just getting closed down at the end.  

It's good to be back at Belmont, where first post is going to be 1:30 ET almost every day.  Scratches and changes for opening day are here.