Jimbo:

Glad to hear you'll be upstate opening weekend. Hoping for some good racing and
good weather, neither of which we have had much of in NY the past couple of months.

I think my only play this afternoon will be the late P4 at Belmont. The CCA
Oaks has always been a fun race to play, especially when run at 1-1/2 miles
for most of the 70s and 80s. Some of the great fillies of recent years (Shuvee,
Chris Evert, Ruffian, Davona Dale, Open Mind, Mom's Command and Sky Beauty)
have won this race.

In 1991, the race was won by Lite Light, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer and
owned by M.C. Hammer. In an unforgettable NYRA moment, one of the Phippses
presented the winners trophy to Hammer and his entourage. I seem to recall that
Hammer was dressed for the occasion in a tuxedo-- with no shirt.

I do not think there are any Hall of Fame candidates in this years running but
it looks like an open betting race, and I will go 4 deep with Livin Lovin
(another Graded SW from Birdstone's first crop) Wynning Ride (first time dirt
but Baffert has a 29% strike rate in graded stakes),Don't Forget Gil and
Hightap, the latter two seeming to have the most bottom for this 10 furlong
race.

7th Race: Four of these have wins on turf. The one I like most is Linda Rice's
Beso Del Sur, a 3YO filly competing against males. She is slower than the 3
other turf winners in the field, but Linda Rice's magic touch in turf sprints
is undeniable. I will take a shot against ML favorite Sydney Road, a 200K Padua
purchase dropping first time for a tag. Although trainer Albertrani is[i]muy
caliente [/i] in 2 relevant categories (class droppers and last 90 days), this
colt last raced on June 11 and was not seen again until he worked on July 5.
Toss.

In the tenth race I will go contrarian and single the ML favorite, Fair Catch.
FC is not as fast as second fave Winloc's Big D, but WBD has had 13 turf tries
without success. FC retains RamDo and has had troubled trips in his last 2.

"Still working" on the 8th as J66 would say.

1,7,11/ TBD/ 1,2,3,7/ 2 = TBD