ESPN Horse Racing

Saturday, Sept. 12, Belmont Park

The Low-Down: The question that needs to be answered in this year's Grade 1 Garden City Handicap is: how good is GOZZIP GIRL? In my opinion, she is the best 3-year-old filly or mare turf runner in the country. And since this contest is limited to 3-year-olds, she looks to possibly have this field over a barrel. Set to oppose her in this field of nine are five other stakes winners.

Our Eyes: GOZZIP GIRL's win in the American Oaks at Hollywood Park back on July 5 was nothing short of sensational for trainer Tommy Albertrani. She sat back well off the pace and when jockey Kent Desormeaux pushed the button in the stretch she just exploded to win with ease. She shortens back up to 9 furlongs today, which shouldn't be a problem because she's already proven successful at this distance, and she's 2 for 2 over this Belmont Park turf course. Her main competition might be SHARED ACCOUNT who won the Lake Placid at Saratoga very impressively and is on the upswing. Ramon Dominguez will be aboard for the first time. Another interesting prospect is the undefeated filly MARAM for high-percentage conditioner Chad Brown. She returned off a 10-month layoff to win a small stakes at Saratoga and then came back with a bullet 5-furlong workout on Sept. 7. She's stepping up in class to tackle Grade 1 foes for the first time, but might be good enough to get a big piece in this race.

The Bottom Line: So how do we make money with a presumed odds-on favorite (GOZZIP GIRL) headlining this race? I think there's some value in the exotics. Keying GOZZIP GIRL in first and second place over SHARED ACCOUNT AND MARAM in the trifecta. This way, if we connect with the heavy favorite we should eke out a meager profit and if we can possibly get her beat by one of our other two (and she finished second) our ROI will be fairly generous. Good luck in the Garden City!

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