Australia: Spot Plays to play after the Belmont Stakes

We’ll head to the land down under for a few key spot plays on Saturday night! If you’re looking for action after the marathon Belmont Stakes Day card at Saratoga, Australia racing is a worthwhile option.

Here, we’ve got a few runners you may want to keep an eye on Saturday night at Sunshine Coast, one of the most prominent Australia tracks running this weekend. Let’s dive in!

Race #4 (11:24 p.m. ET): #3 Philipsburg (17/2 ML)

We’ll start in this 1 3/8-mile event, where I think Philipsburg might be well-meant. It’s hard to identify as a 1 3/8-mile specialist, but it’s entirely possible that’s what this horse is. He won twice in seven days at this distance back in April, and it seems like he’s been running up against better groups in each of his last several outings.

There seems to be some early speed in this field, which should set up for this seven-year-old gelding’s late kick. Regular rider Winona Costin has the mount on Saturday night, and she knows him very well. All told, I think there’s plenty to like, and that the morning-line price is a bit of an overlay.

Race #5 (11:59 p.m. ET): #1 Air We Go (15/2 ML)

The late Pick Four (or “quaddie,” in Australian parlance) kicks off in the fifth, and my top pick is the very first horse in the program. Air We Go won his debut in December in wire-to-wire fashion, and he did enough for his connections to try a stakes race at Eagle Farm just 10 days later. That race didn’t go well, and we haven’t seen him in a race since.

However, he came back running in a barrier trial last month, which he won by a bit more than a length. Air We Go does carry top weight of 131 pounds in this event, but he gets a ton of class relief from the last-out clunker, and if he’s the horse he was in his unveiling, I think he’s got a big chance to return in style.

Race #7 (1:15 a.m. ET): #3 Mississippi Prince (11/2 ML)

This is the Sunshine Coast feature, and a few of these runners have experience at the highest level of the country. It’s a good group, but I come back to one central concept: Pace makes the race.

Mississippi Prince his me as a horse that could inherit the lead by default. He was a good second last time out going one mile, and while the stretch-out in distance is a question mark, I wonder if he’ll have it easy enough early to where it doesn’t matter. He’s an eight-time winner with some class to him, and if he gets a favorable setup, he could prove tough to run down late.