How to bet the Seek Again Stakes

An excellent field of 10, including a pair of main-track only entrants, will go a mile on the Belmont Park turf in Saturday’s feature, the $100,000 Seek Again S. No fewer than five contenders in the cast are of graded stakes quality for sure, including two from the barn of turf wizard Chad Brown.

Juddmonte homebred #10 Flavius gets the slight nod in the competitive test for Brown. Since coming to the states in 2019, the six-year-old son of War Front has been a steady performer while facing some of the best U.S. turf performers. He is lightly raced and ran a big one in his 2021 bow, missing by a length in the deep Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) at Santa Anita in March.

Flavius was a close third in the 2020 First Defence S. in his lone prior spin on the Belmont green, and I expect him to improve upon that effort in his second try of the season. The bay has flashed some tactical speed in the past, and he could get first run on the talented deep closers in the field with Castellano in the controls.

The race will go through Grade 2 victor #5 Get Smokin for Tom Bush. A winner of the Hill Prince S. (G2) on the surface in October, the chestnut gelding has fine early foot and will dictate things from the start on Saturday. The four-year-old led to the turn for home before tiring in the Maker’s Mark Mile (G1) most recently, and he will set more realistic splits in the Seek Again. Junior Alvarado will guide the fleet Kentucky-bred.

I also give a big chance to Christophe Clement’s Grade-1 winning #7 Decorated Invader. The accomplished son of Declaration of War was superb in the first half of 2020, but seemed to tail off just a bit to conclude his sophomore campaign. The bay recorded a non-threatening third in his 2021 bow, but he has plenty of back class and will improve in his second run of the season. The move to Rosario is an added bonus.

Seek Again Wagers

• $10 win and place on #10 Flavius ($20)
• $10 exacta: 10 with 5,7 ($20)
• $2 trifecta box: 5,7,10 ($12)