3 minute read

The Justin Warwick trained Material Man returns from a slight freshen up on Saturday and has drawn to take a power of beating in the third event at Belmont.

A winner of four of his five starts the son of Vital Equine has displayed plenty of ability and arguably should be unbeaten after he didn't have a lot of luck two back.

Successful in recording a new career peak at Northam last start, Material Man comes into Saturday's event on the fresh side (33 days) and appears well placed down in the weights.

Although facing easily his sternest test, he's drawn to get the gun run and if able to improve on his last start performance he is sure to set a decent standard.

Having started the well supported odds-on favourite at his past two starts, Material Man has been installed a 2-1 chance on Saturday, a quote which does have a fair bit of juice attached.

On predictive ratings we have him marked closer to a 6-4 chance and if able to continue his upwards rating spiral he should prove very hard to beat.

Obviously respect the Alana Williams trained Socially Unique however given Material Man's pull in the weights (3kg) we are more than happy to side his way.

The Listed Belmont Oaks [2000m] is quite the open contest and while Showy Chloe is the clear class runner we are prepared to side with the Stephen Wolfe trained Hey Listen on an each-way basis.

Only lightly raced the daughter of Demerit has displayed sharp improvement this time in culminating with a dominant success at this track last start.

Admittedly Saturday's contest is another kettle of fish, however she looks to be a nice filly heading in the right direction and can take that next step.

With rain forecast for Saturday's meeting, Hey Listen should have no concerns with the prospect of a wet-track and is quite adaptable in her races.

Sean Mcgruddy sticks aboard at her current quote of 9-1 she presents plenty of value.

Last start she improved more than 10 pounds and if able to continue that upward spiral she is sure to make her presence felt.

As a side note, TopBetta will kick off its new Skin Series on Saturday ($50K Total Prize Pool) and while Belmont won't play a part it is definitely worth checking out - Click Here .

BET OF THE DAY: Race 3 #10 Material Man @ $3.00

EACH WAY PLAY: Race 7 #8 Hey Listen @ $10.00