Astounding (10) appears to be the horse to beat, but the many layoff lines in this runner’s past performances have to be a source of some concern. If he’s ready to fire his best shot, I think he’s going to win this race, but it’s hard to know what to expect. Even though he lost as the favorite twice last summer at the Spa, he actually ran better than it seems on both occasions and may have won twice under different circumstances. I think he’s dangerous, but I don’t expect him to offer sufficient value. A couple of runners are coming out of the July 21 race at the $50,000 claiming level. That spot was a bit tougher than this one and I thought Thatcher Street (1) did well to hang on for fourth after stalking throughout. The problem with him is that he never seems to get the job done, and now he drops in class again.

I’m using both of the aforementioned contenders, but I’m more interested in SOUPERFAST (8), who finished just behind him last time. This gelding got shuffled back after the break and ended up getting extremely rank under Joe Bravo, resenting racing out of his customary position close to the pace. All things considered, I thought he ran well to get as close as he did at the end. I also thought he ran fairly well two back when he moved a bit too soon before getting run down by the superior Team Colors. Now he gets a rider switch to Jose Ortiz, and I would guess that he’ll revert the stalking tactics that have worked best for him in the past.