One of many Grade 1 races taking place on Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets undercard June 10 at Belmont Park is the $400,000 Jaipur Stakes. Contested over six furlongs on turf, the Jaipur is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series and awards a “Win and You’re In” berth to the 2023 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park.
The biggest name entered in this year’s Jaipur is #12 Caravel (3-1), the 6-year-old mare who led all the way to beat males by half a length in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland. The red-hot daughter of Mizzen Mast brings a four-race win streak into the Jaipur, having kicked off 2023 with gate-to-wire victories in the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland and the Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs.
But all four of Caravel’s recent victories have come sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the Kentucky circuit. Tackling six furlongs over the massive Widener turf course at Belmont Park is a different ballgame. The Jaipur is often won by horses who prefer running six furlongs or farther, with Disco Partner (2017-18), Oleksandra (2020), and Casa Creed (2021-22) being prime examples.
To Caravel’s credit, she won the Grade 3 Intercontinental Stakes traveling six furlongs over Belmont’s Widener course last year. But that contest came against fellow fillies and mares. To win the Jaipur, Caravel will have to beat males over a distance possibly farther than her absolute best and do so while breaking from post 12, risking a wide trip. It’s not an impossible task, but it does loom as a difficult one.
A key challenger to Caravel is the above-mentioned #11 Casa Creed (9-2), who has won the last two editions of the Jaipur. The stretch-running veteran has the stamina to run farther than six furlongs (he won the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap racing one mile at Saratoga last summer) and is usually closing ground down the homestretch. He started 2023 with a narrow runner-up finish in the Group 3 1351 Turf Sprint Presented By STC at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia and should be formidable while returning to the United States. It’s worth noting Casa Creed won the 2022 Jaipur in his first start back from a Middle East foray.
But the biggest threat to Caravel might be #10 Big Invasion (6-1), a 4-year-old colt with upside for improvement in his first Grade 1 try. The son of Declaration of War was a highly effective turf sprinter last season, winning five consecutive stakes. Saratoga’s 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Quick Call Stakes ranked as his biggest triumph, but Big Invasion also showed an affinity for running longer over Belmont’s Widener course when rallying to a 3 1/4-length score in the Paradise Creek Stakes sprinting seven furlongs.
Big Invasion never had a chance to challenge for victory in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes Presented by Cohere Health at Churchill Downs last month. He was trying to rally down the homestretch, but checked hard in traffic and never found racing room. His seventh-place finish is excusable, so if you draw a line through that effort and judge him off his stretch-running triumph in Gulfstream Park’s Silks Run Stakes to start 2023, Big Invasion is a serious win threat in the Jaipur.
Other logical contenders include Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship Stakes winner #9 Nothing Better (8-1), who has shown excellent early speed while winning multiple races over six furlongs; #8 Arrest Me Red (6-1), runner-up by half a length in the 2022 Jaipur and third by half a length against Caravel in the Shakertown earlier this spring; #2 Go Bears Go (12-1), a former European campaigner who rallied to finish third in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint; and #4 Mid Day Image (30-1), who trounced an $80,000 allowance optional claimer over this course and distance on June 1.
So how should we bet the Jaipur? Let’s go all-in supporting Big Invasion to take home top honors. We’ll definitely bet him to win, and we’ll round out our plays with either exacta or exacta and trifecta tickets, depending on how much budget you want to invest.
Wagering Strategy on a $15 Budget
$9 to win on #10 Big Invasion
What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, 9th race, $9 to win on #10 Big Invasion
$2 exacta: 10 with 8,9,11 ($6)
What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, 9th race, $2 exacta 10 with 8,9,11
Wagering Strategy on a $40 Budget
$13 to win on #10 Big Invasion
What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, 9th race, $13 to win on #10 Big Invasion
$4 exacta: 10 with 8,9,11 ($12)
What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, 9th race, $4 exacta 10 with 8,9,11
$0.50 trifecta: 10 with 8,9,11 with 2,4,8,9,11,12 ($7.50)
What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, 9th race, $0.50 trifecta 10 with 8,9,11 with 2,4,8,9,11,12
$0.50 trifecta: 10 with 2,4,8,9,11,12 with 8,9,11 ($7.50)
What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, 9th race, $0.50 trifecta 10 with 2,4,8,9,11,12 with 8,9,11
Good luck, and enjoy the race!
Pick 4
5-6-1/3/6/8-4/12/16
5-6-1/3/6/8-4/12/16
$103
Daily Double
3-12
3-12
$20
Consolation Pick 3
6-6-12
6-6-12
$14
Superfecta
12-10-11-5
12-10-11-5
$50
Trifecta
12-10-11
12-10-11
$42
Pick 4
5-6-1/3/6/8-4/12/16
5-6-1/3/6/8-4/12/16
$103
Daily Double
3-12
3-12
$20
Consolation Pick 3
6-6-12
6-6-12
$14
Superfecta
12-10-11-5
12-10-11-5
$50
Trifecta
12-10-11
12-10-11
$42
