Spot Plays for Belmont Park Sept. 18, 2026

An exciting new chapter in American racing begins Friday as Belmont Park reopens. However, bettors can safely ignore what they remember about the old Belmont for handicapping purposes. 

Reported changes include entirely new surfaces for the dirt main track and turf courses, plus a synthetic Tapeta surface inside the grass strips. The finish line on the main track is about 125 feet farther down the stretch, while the circumferences of both turf courses have been reduced by about a sixteenth of a mile each with wider lanes.

In some respects, then, how it all will play is a bit of a guessing game. Nonetheless, I’ll be taking a swing at some races ahead of the featured Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

Race 1: Maiden, 1:30 p.m. ET

The opener is a 10-furlong turf maiden for fillies and mares, the kind of race Irish import #4 Ifweonlyhavelove (6-1) can prove competitive in. 

Off since last October and now with Miguel Clement, Ifweonlyhavelove will, at the very least, appreciate the drop in class, having last seen action in a Group 3 at the Curragh which included Thundering On, eventual winner of the Epsom Oaks (G1), and Blandford (G2). In a race filled with rivals who have fallen short of graduating despite more opportunities, Ifweonlyhavelove presumably can factor.

Race 3: Maiden, 2:39 p.m. ET

Another maiden, this one for two-year-old fillies over 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf. The John Terranova barn might not have great recent stats with debut runners, but #10 Classy Runner (15-1) has flashed useful speed at times in a worktab dating to June, including a near bullet over the turf at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training center earlier this month.

By Hard Spun, Classy Runner is out of a winning half-sister to Penn Mile (G3) scorer Dream On, who was Grade 1-placed at two. Both were reared by Fantasy (G3) heroine Mamma Kimbo.

Race 4: Allowance/Optional Claiming, 3:15 p.m. ET

#3 Mutaawid (6-1), who goes first off the claim for owner-trainer Amelia Green, received zero help from returning rival Rothschild in a similar spot at Saratoga on Aug. 22. Rothschild lulled his rivals to sleep going 1 3/8 miles, leaving Mutaawid and others with too much to do.

Aside from a tossout race over Turfway’s synthetic track, Mutaawid’s form has otherwise been very good this year, including a narrow loss at this level two back at Aqueduct. The six-year-old veteran has essentially passed this class level before while entered for a tag, and perhaps an encouraging sign is that Green is protecting him by running without one this time.