Belmont - Race 7

#8 Half a Surprise (2/1 ml)

3yo turf horse for Pletcher was tons the best in her Gulfstream debut, but had a nightmare trip and couldn't get into the clear until it was too late, damn near winning anyway when she took off like a rocketship in deep stretch to just miss by a neck, instantly going clear as soon as the wire passed. Probably the worst beat i've taken all year. Incidentally, the reason i liked her that day was that she had worked in company with Affirmatif, another 3yo Pletcher grass horse who won his debut by 9 lengths and most recently won the Woodlawn Stakes on the Preakness undercard. In Half a Surprise's following start @ Aqueduct, she raced in traffic along the rail while well behind a dawdling pace, and was in tight once again while attempting to split horses in the stretch. She did eventually get thru and came after the leader, but that one had been allowed to set such a slow pace, and had such a large lead by the time Half a Surprise got into the clear that she just couldn't get there. Personally, i think the ride reeked of overconfidence, and as such i think it's rather unlikely that Dominguez will get caught sleeping here. Gets some extra distance here, which should definitely be to her advantage, and hopefully she'll be a reasonable price here (despite the short morning line), as there's another horse in here for Mott whose last-race Beyer is 14 points higher than Half a Surprise. As far as Half a Surprise's recent training is concerned, since her last race she's been working in company with Beyond Our Reach, another 3yo turf filly who came over from Europe last fall to run in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Looks like a stakes runner here for Pletcher, long overdue to break her maiden after two starts. Should graduate today with a clean trip.

HRT record:

58 for 198 (29%)

$488.40 mutuels ($8.42 avg)

What a source of disappointment this horse has been. No excuse today.

that why i don't bet three year old fillies..............there like 14 year old girls.... fickle.....i'll only look at one fillie trainer ....linda rice...