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BELMONT NOTEBOOK JULY 23, 2015 by John Mucciolo There was no graded racing during the final week at Belmont Park. Track Stats A total of 47 races were held over the main strip at the Elmont, New York, venue, with favorites winning at a 30 percent rate and the top two betting choices combining for 47 percent of the wins during the week. From 22 races on the main oval, two animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (9 percent), while three of the 25 grassy races were taken all the way on the lead (12 percent). Just a pair of winners led at every call on the main oval, both coming on Saturday and both of those favorites. We didn't think it was a pronounced bias this past week, but the rail was far from golden in our view. Two of the three winners who led in wire-to-wire fashion on the turf came in route races, with the other coming in a sprint run. Meet Totals
HORSES TO WATCH Wednesday (7/15) 4TH -- Trainer Rudy Rodriguez unveiled a potentially nice one in ELEMENTSOFHARMONY (Exchange Rate), who went to the front and never stopped in a facile win on the lawn at first asking. The sophomore filly came home well under moderate urging and likely will not be in for a tag next time out. 8TH -- GREYWALLS (City Zip) outran her odds when going to the front, dueling, and then holding on for runner-up honors in a second straight nice outing for conditioner John Terranova. The sophomore is in a nice form cycle right now. Thursday (7/16) 2ND -- Trainer Michael Matz doesn't win with debut types very often so SEASIDE SCHILLER (Artie Schiller) is certainly one to watch going forward. The two-year-old miss showed speed and kicked well in the lane, coming home in a solid :22 4/5 under Luis Saez. 6TH -- The Todd Pletcher-trained MEI LING (Empire Maker) came up short at the end but showed a ton of heart in making the winner battle every step of the way while more than six lengths clear of third under the wire. Tab the filly a major player in her comeback attempt. Friday (7/17) 1ST -- DREAMING AS ALWAYS (Broken Vow) was pretty awesome in this dominant allowance score and could be stakes bound ion the very near future for trainer Christophe Clement. The four-year-old exploded in the lane and finished up her final five-sixteenths in a fine :29 2/5. 8TH -- ALJALELA (Unbridled's Song) showed no rust from the nine-month layoff in this spot for conditioner Todd Pletcher, ranging into contention in the lane and drawing clear to a two-length win under Javier Castellano. The three-year-old miss could have a solid second half of the season with steady improvement. Saturday (7/18) 6TH -- MANIPULATED (Malibu Moon) was bet down to even-money in his debut while facing stakes company, and we saw why after the juvenile colt punished this field by four lengths in the end. We're not sure what was in this cast, but the New York-bred is surely one to watch at Saratoga this summer. Sunday (7/19) 4TH -- WONDERMENT (Cosmonaut) made it two straight big wins to kick start her career for Kenny McPeek, who is not known as the nation's top juvenile conditioner. The two-year-old filly could be a nice one as she was not getting tired in the stretch of this dash. A Look Ahead The racing moves to Saratoga on July 24.
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