EXCITING SAL Draws Full Field

Six furlongs
Fast Dirt
$80,000
All horses, 3 years old and up

This Storm Cat x Devil His Due four year old has not found stakes competition to his liking (in two previous starts), and his ownership may face disappointment again.  This late running style may prove to difficult in this short sprint to the wire.

Out of the sire Bertando and a Bluebird mare, this colt is gradually moving back to sprint events, after showing signs of tiring at longer trips.  He will have to prove that he belongs in this class before he will get much attention from anyone.

This millionaire, out of Bestyoucanbe x Gone West, has been on an extended roll in his last several races, and that are no signs that he is slowing this train of momentum anytime soon.  He last outing was a gate to wire breeze in the “ Slew Sea Special Stakes” in Delaware, and ships south to pick up a few more dollars to his impressive chest of winnings.

A nice colt (Thunder Gulch x Seeking the Gold) that has a tendency of breaking slowing, and in this event, he may run out of real estate before he can catch the likes of PULLED STRINGS and others.

It has been a while since this Meadowlake x Spectacular Bid colt rallied from off the pace to capture a sprint event.  Like others in the field, the race may not be set up for those that like to rally in the stretch.

A winner of more than $800,000 in earning, but one has to wonder if the last four races may indicate that this five year old is beginning to feel his age.  Ran big 29 weeks ago, in the  Pablo Veces Handicap Gr. II, but things have not looked as promising since.  Expect him to be pressuring PULLED STRINGS out of the gate- but for how long?

He has tired at longer distances, but does he have enough in the tank to hang with someone like PULLED STRINGS?  He may fall from contention before the stretch run.

Winner of seven of fourteen starts, the Monashee Mountain x Victory Speech three years old colt will be knocking heads with an older group for the first time.  His first challenge will probably be out of the gate-when he comes eyeball to eyeball with the favorite.  He is talented, but young.  The pressure may be a bit too much for him, but discard him out of any exotic bets.

This five years old (Broken Vow x Belong to Me) is a hard nose competitor that can be classified as a “stayer”.  He may need a big race, but if he stays close to the leader, he has the drive to keep the pressure on to the wire. 

This is a  four year old filly that ran against the boys in her last outing-resulting in a ‘show’ finish.  One of those that she finished ahead of in that race was MARK OF THE SWORD.  She remains winless in sprints, and it is doubtful that she will crack the win column in this event.

Out of Eishin Storm x Salt Lake– he is stepping back from graded competition, and could be there to pounce on the leader, if PULLED STRINGS fails to fire.

(King Cugat x Not for Love) –He is the morning line second choice, and should be taken seriously.  If he throws a performance like he did in his second place finish in the ‘Secret Manta Handicap’ (three races back), he can end up in the winners circle.  In that event, two of the runners that he beat were WINTERTIME, and PULLED STRINGS.  In that race, the early fractions were brisk, and PURSUER T rallied in the stretch to pass some of the tiring front runners.  This similar setting could play out in this event.

HIGH TIME is out of High Yield x Lost Code, and hightimes will be floating if this veteran of thirty five starts can pull off a big performance.  His four years old has tasted much success in the past, and a return to stakes competition is a result of a good seven furlong performance in his last trip. 

This six years old runner rallied from tenth place in a 6.5 furlong allowance event to win (LTO).  It is doubtful that a duplication of that performance can occur in this stakes race.