Churchill Downs Stakes Analysis: Saturday, June 27, 2020

There’s great racing around the country this weekend, with Churchill Downs and Belmont offering some excellent contests to compete for the public’s attention. As a result, I’ve decided to provide analysis for the four stakes races at Churchill in addition to my usual Belmont coverage. I ‘m looking at these races anyway, so I might as well share my thoughts.

Belmont Analysis: Saturday, June 27, 2020

This is an excellent Belmont card, with four graded stakes races making up for lost time during the early days of the pandemic. However, heavy rain is in the forecast all day in Elmont, and I’ve had to create contingencies in certain turf races that may get rained off. This shouldn’t affect the two turf stakes though, which include some of the best horses in the country.

Can Gamine Beat the Law?

This past weekend, in a world desperately wandering from distraction to distraction in a particularly dark time, Belmont Park provided, as it always does for those in need.  However, as the day came to a close, only two horses remained on the minds of many as they begrudgingly flipped the channel back to the news.

Before the tenth race, all six NYRA handicappers selected three-year-old colt Tiz the Law to win the Belmont Stakes. At 4-5, he entered as one of the heaviest Belmont favorites of the decade, tied with California Chrome and Justify while only entering the gate five cents behind American Pharoah. All three of them were contending for the Triple Crown, while he was merely entering the first leg. There was a world of expectations for him, but he lived up to the hype. read more

Trip Notes: Breaking Down the 2020 Belmont Stakes

Watching a race live is often a one-sided activity. In this year’s Belmont Stakes, it’s very likely that spectators are watching two horses: Tiz the Law and the runner they picked to beat him. However, as the Triple Crown progresses, it’s important to get to know all of these runners and how their trip in the Belmont Stakes affected their performance. 

Belmont Analysis: Sunday, June 21, 2020

This is a slow day, but it would be an insurmountable task to top Belmont Stakes Day yesterday. A weekend recap will be coming in the next few days, but in short, Saturday’s card lived up to every expectation a racing fan could have. For those closely following the Moquins’ quest as 0.1% owners of Power Up Paynter, I can say it was an amazing feeling to own a part of a winner on such a big day of racing. The reaction in my household to his statebred allowance win was more frenzied and raucous than any other race on that stacked card. It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at the races. read more

Welcome

My name is Patrick Moquin, and I’d like to introduce you to Paddy’s Picks, a website I will stop referring to as a horse racing blog as soon as I can think of a classier name for it. Here, I’ll be doing as much racing analysis as I possibly can while also sharing the occasional thought on certain facets of the sport of kings.