Bodog Beat

Benny the Bull is the overwhelming favorite to take the True North Handicap on Belmont day. (AP Images)

Saturday’s Belmont Stakes undercard features plenty of high-class performers going to the post in several graded stakes events.

The Gr. 1 $400,000 Manhattan Handicap, over 1 ¼ miles of Belmont turf, marks the return of the veteran Better Talk Now, an who also ran in the Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup Day. The nine9-year-old won last year’s edition in a thrilling photo finish over eventual Eclipse Award winner English Channel. Challengers in the 11 horse field include Gr. 2 winner Pays To Dream and Out of Control.

A well-matched group of ten 10 fillies and mares will travel the Widener turf course in the Gr. 1 Just a Game Stakes. Gr. 1 winner Vacare, recently third to Precious Kitten in the Gr. 1 Gamely Stakes at Hollywood Park, was undefeated in 2007 and figures strongly in here. Gr. 2 winner Lady of Venice, who finished third behind Rutherienne in the Gr. 2 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland, will attempt to score her first victory in a Grade 1 event.

2007 Champion Indian Blessing comes off a three three-month freshening in the prestigious Gr. 1 $250,000 Acorn Stakes for sophomore fillies. Undefeated last season, the talented miss started 2008 with two consecutive graded victories before suffering her first lifetime defeat by finishing second in the Gr. 2 Fair Grounds Oaks to eventual Kentucky Oaks queen Proud Spell.

Another California-based miss, Golden Doc A will attempt to avenge a second-place finish to Indian Blessing in the Santa Ynez. Golden Doc A has since won the Gr. 1 Las Virgenes Stakes and finished a good fourth in the Kentucky Oaks.

The Gr. 2 $250,000 True North Handicap at six furlongs starts off the stakes action on Belmont Dayday. Benny the Bull, winner of his last three starts, the most recent being a dominating victory in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, looms as the overwhelming favorite in the True North. Benny the Bull is trained by Richard Dutrow, and Big Brown’s stablemate could set the tone for a memorable afternoon.

Sophomore sprinters will go seven furlongs in the Gr. 2 $250,000 Woody Stephens Stakes, a race named after the Hall of Fame trainer who won five consecutive Belmont Stakes. J Be K, who set a rapid pace in the one-mile Withers Stakes before finishing second, will try and hold off Triple Crown nominee Ready’s Image.

Stay tuned to Bodog Beat for your up-to-the-minute Belmont Stakes coverage and be sure to bet on the Belmont Stakes in the Bodog Racebook today.