The Jury: Bets and fades for June 10

Belmont Stakes Day and an early opening at Ellis Park are the highlights of one of the most popular betting days of the racing season, and the TwinSpires Jury has you covered with their best insights.

What is your best bet?

James Scully: A classy European sprinter, recording three Group 2 or Group 3 wins, as well as Group 1 placings, in England and Ireland, #2 Go Bears Go (12-1) moves to his preferred six-furlong distance in the Jaipur (G1) following an encouraging third in the 5 1/2-furlong Turf Sprint (G2). I love the jock switch to Belmont spring/summer meet leading rider Jose Ortiz, and the late-running sprinter to receive a favorable set up. Go Bears Go looks poised to keep progressing, and I will look for a strong showing in his second start for Wesley Ward.

Vance Hanson: With so much speed entered in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens for three-year-olds at Belmont, it's hard not to think #4 General Jim (7-2) will have an outstanding opportunity to make it three in a row after getting ideal set-ups in the Swale (G3) and Pat Day Mile earlier in the season. This recent spate of success has coincided with him sporting blinkers, and he's developed into a more polished article over the past few months. This is a large and competitive field, but anything around his morning line price to me would represent tremendous value.

Ashley Anderson: In Ellis Park's eighth race on Saturday, a 6 1/2-furlong starter allowance, #2 Shady Empire (3-1) will be tough to beat while dropping in class off a win in a six-furlong allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn on May 6. Since joining the barn of Robertino Diodoro, the six-year-old gelding has steadily improved, increasing his Brisnet Speed figures in all three starts. Three back, he was beaten a neck when making his first start for Diodoro, then came home a half-length third in a $50K allowance at Oaklawn two back at today's distance. He returned off a nearly two-month layoff to win at today's distance last out while recording a career-best 95 Brisnet Speed figure, the highest last-race speed rating among the field, and he'll keep rider Cristian Torres, a 29% winner paired with Diodoro over the last two months. Diodoro is also a 26% winner with horses that won their last race and a 29% winner with horses dropping off a win.

Who is the horse to fade?

JS: #1 Cody’s Wish (7-5) has been a bright light for horse racing, “With this horse winning, it’s really way more than a horse race,” Bill Mott said of the emotional connection between the horse and Cody Dorman, who was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, and Cody’s Wish is really good, winning five consecutive stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Churchill Downs (G1). His regression from the starting gate, breaking extremely slowly in the last two, is alarming. He’s been able to overcome the slow starts while breaking from middle posts, but the five-year-old is stuck on the rail Saturday.

The nine-horse Met Mile (G1) lacks need-the-lead types, a few runners are candidates to show speed, but I can’t envision a hot pace. I will take a stand against Cody’s Wish in the multi-race wagers, using horse-for-the-course #5 Charge It (6-1) on tickets, and tab #2 Slow Down Andy (10-1) for the upset. A frontrunning scorer in the Del Mar Derby (G2) on turf three back, the Doug O’Neill-trained colt experienced troubled trips recording commendable thirds in the Dirt Mile and Awesome Again (G1) in his last two starts. He’s eligible to be keyed up at the break, drilling six-furlong works in preparation, and I like Slow Down Andy on the front end.

VH: He's arguably still the best three-year-old colt in the country and might still be so at the end of the season, but #6 Forte (5-2) is seemingly being asked to do the unlikely by attempting to win the grueling 1 1/2-mile Belmont S. despite not having run in 10 weeks. This sort of preparation has occasionally been successful in European classics, or in end-of-season, weight-for-age events on both sides of the Atlantic, but it's been rarely attempted for any of our own Triple Crown events since the sport went year round approximately a century ago. It will be an enormous training feat if he comes through, but he's a stand-against for me at 3-1 or less.

AA: #1 Spirit of St Louis (5-2) opens as the morning line favorite in the finale at Belmont on Saturday, a 1 1/16-mile allowance on the inner turf. The Medaglia d’Oro gelding won on debut when racing a mile on Aqueduct’s main track, then stretched out to 1 1/8 miles in an allowance and was beaten by 1 1/4 lengths as the favorite in a field of five. The four-year-old makes his first start on grass and will get hot jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, but the rail post may cause the lightly-raced gelding some trouble, and there are intriguing rivals with better value among this competitive field of 12. I’ll instead take a shot with #10 Shpilkes (8-1), who got up to win by a nose at a mile and 70 yards in an allowance optional claimer on the turf at Parx. The Twirling Candy five-year-old will get a rider switch to hot jockey Jose Ortiz, a 27% winner this meet, and trainer Guadalupe Preciado is a 25% winner with horses that won their last race.

What else is worth noting?

JS: In the Belmont (G1), #3 Arcangelo (8-1) enters on the upswing following a fine win in the Peter Pan (G3), jumping straight to stakes competition off a maiden win two months earlier to gamely defeat a razor-sharp Bishops Bay by a head. By Arrogate and out of a Tapit mare, the long-striding gray colt registered a 101 Brisnet Speed rating, the co-top last-out number in the Belmont field, and he’ll have more to offer in the Belmont.

Arcangelo is my top choice, and #7 Hit Show (10-1) will be included in every multi-race ticket. His fifth in the Kentucky Derby is better than it looks on paper, chasing a hot pace before grudgingly giving way to the top four, and I expect the Brad Cox-trained colt to be forward from the start with Manny Franco. Hit Show may be poised for a breakthrough performance.

VH: Arguably the two leading older turf performers in the country will be competing in separate races on the Belmont card, Chez Pierre in the Poker (G3) and Up to the Mark in the Manhattan (G1). Should they prevail in their respective events, it will be fascinating to follow their individual campaigns in the lead-up to the Breeders' Cup, as both have the potential to be Eclipse Award-worthy candidates. Chez Pierre has the upper hand currently, having beaten the relatively inexperienced Up to the Mark in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) in April, and it's possible neither will meet the other again, with Chez Pierre likely to focus on mile events and Up to the Mark over slightly longer. This grass championship race could be reminiscent of the one back in 2012, which pitted miler Wise Dan against longer-distance specialist Point of Entry. Who will blink first?

AA: In Saturday’s ninth race at Ellis Park, Todd Pletcher pupil #5 Prove Worthy (9-2) will face eight rivals in a 1 1/8-mile allowance in lieu of racing in the Belmont. The Curlin colt, who broke his maiden at Churchill on May 23 in his third career start, was under consideration for the "Test of the Champion," where stablemates Tapit Trice and Forte will compete Saturday as the top two choices on the morning line. Prove Worthy is the fourth choice on the morning line in Ellis Park’s ninth race and will bring a good late kick. His steepest competition lies in #3 Empirestrikesfast (5-2), who was a distant seventh in the Lexington (G3) after breaking his maiden on debut at Gulfstream on March 11, and #6 Tiwanaku (4-1), who was an even second in a 1 3/16-mile allowance at Churchill last out. The lightly-raced colt will get rider Rafael Bejarano, who ranked sixth for most wins by a jockey last meet at Ellis. Pletcher is also a 25% winner with horses coming off a maiden win and a 22% winner at the allowance level, making Prove Worthy an appealing choice at 9-2 on the morning line.