2012 Peter Pan Stakes Field and Breakdown
Contributed By Big Daddy No BucksPosted on 5/12/12 12:38 PM
The 2012 Peter Pan Stakes takes place at Belmont Park today in Elmont, New York. There may be some opportunity in this race so here is the way it breaks down for me.
The Lumber Guy may find distance to be too far. I think he's more of a sprinter. The one turn may help him, but there is a ton of speed in the race that may well wear him out long before the finish.
Right to Vote, like The Lumber Guy, may be too much of a speed horse in this race finish first.
Zetterholm has won his last three races, but but today this off-the-pace racer will be running with a class of horses he has not seen before. Zetterholm will have to make huge improvements to get on the board in this race.
Le Bernadin should be very comfortable with the Peter Pan's distance, but he wil need to show some improvement as well. That said, Le Bernadin looks set to move forward and is a genuine contender in this race.
The morning line favorite, Mark Valeski, probably deserves to be the favorite, but there are some legitimate questions about him. For instance, is a mile and an eighth too much for him? While he has some excuses for less than stellar past perfomances, he's still a stout horse and is being ridden by one of our favorite jockeys, Rosie Napravnik. Look for Mark Valeski to come from off the pace.
Good Morning Diva, Hakama, and Big Screen are in need of help to get on the board. Unless Hakama has made galactic size leaps in class, he is just too slow. Good Morning Diva runs well on wet tracks. No rain means pain for him. The bulk of the field will have to melt down for Big Screen to be much of a threat.
Master Rick appears to be a talented with some good numbers, but there are some problems. First, he's never gone this distance, and second, many handicappers question the validity of his 99 Beyer Rating in his last race.
Teeth of the Dog should be coming from behind, so he is horse that will benefit from a furious pace up front. In this field, Teeth of the Dog appears to have a legitimate chance to hit the board.
Summer Front is a turf horse running on dirt and at a distance of a mile and an eighth for the first time. Summer Front looks to be a pretty good horse but there are too many firsts for this horse for me to consider him a primary contender.
Street Life will be making his run from behind. To finish in the money he will need the speed horses to wear each other down. He runs with blinkers for the first time today and finished behind show horse Teeth of the Dog in the Wood Memorial.
The 2012 Peter Pan Stakes should be a good race that offers a lot of betting angles to play. Depending on where the odds go I will be working bets around The Lumber Guy, Le Bernadin, Mark Valeski and Teeth of the Dog. Other horses I'm likely to work into some multi-horse bets are Master Rick and Street Life.
Here's the field for the 2012 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park:
| PP | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Weight | Early Line | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 |
Right to Vote | E G Harty | A O Solis | 116 | 20-1 |
| 2 |
 |
The Lumber Guy | M E Hushion | M J Luzzi | 120 | 4-1 |
| 3 |
 |
Zetterholm | R E Dutrow, Jr. | J Alvarado | 116 | 20-1 |
| 4 |
 |
Le Bernardin | K P McLaughlin | E Castro | 116 | 15-1 |
| 5 |
 |
Mark Valeski | J L Jones | R Napravnik | 116 | 5-2 |
| 6 |
 |
Good Morning Diva | T A Hills | J R Leparoux | 120 | 10-1 |
| 7 |
 |
Hakama | M J Trombetta | J R Velazquez | 116 | 15-1 |
| 8 |
 |
Big Screen | T Albertrani | R Maragh | 116 | 15-1 |
| 9 |
 |
Master Rick | S M Asmussen | C S Nakatani | 120 | 10-1 |
| 10 |
 |
Teeth of the Dog | J Bravo | M R Matz | 116 | 6-1 |
| 11 |
 |
Summer Front | R A Dominguez | C Clement | 120 | 8-1 |
| 12 |
 |
Street Life | C C Brown | J Lezcano | 116 | 8-1 |
