Saturday's Best Bet: Stick with Patternrecognition in Kelso Handicap

Saturday’s eighth race from Belmont Park is the Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso Handicap for 3-year-olds and up traveling one mile on the main track. 

#6 Patternrecognition (9-2) was my top pick in an optional claiming extended sprint win at Saratoga Aug. 11 (best last out number), and I am sticking with Chad Brown's sharp front runner. Saturday's rider Tyler Gaffalione was aboard for his romping entry level win at this distance at Aqueduct last fall, and he is faster than this group based on his last two efforts at seven panels.   

#2 Timeline (8-1) is also conditioned by Chad Brown, and I like the cutback in distance for the 4-year-old colt. He enjoys this oval and should be forwardly placed under his winning pilot Javier Castellano.

#7 Sunny Ridge (3-1) exits a wide ninth from post 12 in the G1 Woodward. In his last two local starts, he finished 2nd in the G2 Brooklyn, and he easily captured the State Dinner at 8.5f July 6. 

Morning line favorite #1 Battle of Midway (2-1) was my top pick in the 2017 BC Dirt Mile, and he was a 14-1 winner that day. He was retired after that, but is now on the comeback trail, and his only start this year was a distant 2nd in a 4-horse field in the G2 Pat O'Brien at Del Mar. He is 2-for-2 at this distance, but both of those wins were around two turns at Del Mar, and he may or may not return to top form as a 4-year-old. I will let him beat me at underlaid odds. 

#4 No Dozing (4-1) is an extended sprint specialist exiting an okay 5th in the G1 Forego. He fired a Fair Hill bullet for this Sept. 15, and this is his first try at Belmont Park. He projects a decent tactical trip, but has burned me more than once in the past, and I am not quite sure what to make of him. 

#3 Realm (10-1) exits back-to-back wins, including a 12-1 upset over four rivals in the Alydar Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 5. He needs to run faster to make an impact today. 

#5 Still Having Fun (8-1) is a late running 3-year-old taking on a salty group of older rivals. He might be up against it from a pace and class standpoint. 

The Plays:

#6 to win 

Exacta 6/2-7

Exacta 2-7/6

Recent Best Bet Winners: