How to bet the 2018 Athenia Stakes at Belmont Park

On Leave winning the One Dreamer Stakes at Kentucky Downs (c) Reed Palmer Photography

by Dick Powell

I like handicapping challenges but Sunday’s Athenia Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course is a real headscratcher. The weather should be fine and there is little danger that the race will be switched off the turf. Let’s take a look at each of the nine runners to see what we can uncover.

RYMSKA (#1) (9-2) won two straight Grade 3s last year before taking a listed contest at Saratoga. In her only start this year, she missed by a nose going a two-turn mile at Saratoga against high-class allowance foes when stuck behind a glacial pace. Chad Brown wins 27 percent off medium rest, and the daughter of French sire Le Havre draws the rail with Irad Ortiz Jr.

HAWKSMOOR (#2) (5-1) ran well at Saratoga when she tried to take the Diana Stakes (G1) gate to wire, only giving it up in the stretch to horses like Sistercharlie, who would be odds-on in here. Hawksmoor came back with a pair of seconds in the Ballston Spa Stakes (G2) and Noble Damsel Stakes (G3), and fits with these from a pace and class perspective.

NEW MONEY HONEY (#3) (3-1) was a Grade 1 winner on the turf last year for Brown but has been a bit of a disappointment this year. Off for six months, she returned going this distance on this course June 21 and won by a neck in fast time. I loved her in the Diana but she was no match for stablemate Sistercharlie and didn’t respond the way I thought she would when the running got serious. Last out at Woodbine, she held on for second in the Canadian Stakes (Can-G2). On her best days, the Medaglia d’Oro filly can use her speed to set up shop and stalk the pace. With three starts under her belt this year and a drop in class, maybe she delivers in this spot.