Belmont Stakes Undercard Races Preview and Picks

Acorn Stakes - 1 m fillies, 12:39 pm

Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia heads a short field with morning line odds of 6/5. Go Maggie Go (3/1) comes in off a win in the (G2) Black Eyed Susan Stakes. Off The Tracks (5/1) has three lifetime wins, and is from the same sire as Belmont favorite Exaggerator.

Ogden Phipps Stakes - 1 1/16 m F&M, 1:52 pm

Perhaps the most evenly matched race of the day, where any one of four or five have a chance. Curalina (3/1) has been in the money in all 9 lifetime starts and comes in off a Grade 1 win.  Stopchargingmaria (7/2) won last year's Breeders' Cup Distaff and makes her second start of 2016. Veteran Sheer Drama (5/1) has three Grade 1 wins, including as recently as two starts back.

Just A Game Stakes - 1 m (turf) F&M, 3:58 pm

Wide-open affair has drawn a field of 13 and should offer good value on several choices. Strike Charmer (8/1) drew the tough inside post but comes in off a solid graded-stakes win. Former Canadian Horse of the Year Lexie Lou (15-1) also comes in off a turf win at Woodbine and gets a cut back in distance at a big price. Irish-bred Faufiler (5-1) has made steady improvement in her second year on US soil. 

Metropolitan Mile Handicap - 3-year-old and up, 4:41 pm

Lots of big names in this one, including Frosted (7/2) who ran second to American Pharoah in the 2015 Belmont. Stanford (5/1) won the (G2) Charles Town last out and was second in two previous graded-stakes tries. Calculator (10/1) has been in the money in all of his last six graded-stakes starts.

Manhattan Stakes - 1 1/4 m (turf) 4-year-olds and up, 5:37 pm

This one features an international cast with a heavy 8/5 favorite in Flintshire, a world-traveller who has been 1st or 2nd in nine graded or group stakes lifetime. He'll be facing the top American turf runner in Big Blue Kitten (6-1) looking for the win in his second start of 2016. World Approval (10-1) goes for the red-hot Mark Casse barn, and has been knocking on the door recently in top-level stakes.