The good thing about the Sim classic handicap division is that every week, there\u2019s always a tough graded competition to fill.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>If you miss your chance, something else is always on the parkway to seek out next.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The same holds true in One week after Senor Sam( Saki Cocktail<\/B> [Sakhee-Hopoate(AUS), by Redoute\u2019s Choice(AUS)] should be up near the leaders early on, and she\u2019s the lone successful branch of a well-pedigreed tree for trainer shoalsdock<\/I><\/B>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>His dam was well-bred, but less than effective on the track.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Still, the copious amount of Northern Dancer in the lineage (3Dx4Sx5Sx5Dx5D) seems to have clicked here.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He was mediocre his first two grass tries, but upon a switch back to the dirt, he\u2019s improved dramatically, only failing to earn a check in one of twelve starts on dirt.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He kinda hung in the stretch last out in a <\/SPAN> Pony Express <\/B>[Gone West-Arctic Phone, by Phone Trick] is easily the most experienced among these, with a whopping 49 starts under his belt.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But with just $138,000 or so in career earnings, it\u2019s pretty clear that there\u2019s not a whole lot of strong graded activity under her credentials; in fact, there\u2019s only been one graded race, where he was seventh in the Tally Ho Mile last year.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Nevertheless, trainer ontarget2<\/I><\/B> has kept him busy on a steady diet of allowance events over the last year or so, and he\u2019s been equally adept on turf and on dirt.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s very capable of cracking a 100+ speed figure on either surface, but has just been unable to find a spot that\u2019s been conducive to further career development.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s been clear of allowance conditions since last April, but since earlier stakes races have been lacking he\u2019s focused more on higher-level and open allowance starts.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In fact, he\u2019s only tried dirt stakes twice, with no finish better than a fifth back in 2002.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>On grass, he\u2019s fared a little better, with a best finish of third, but more recently he\u2019s been a pretty solid allowance horse, earning his checks and his BPs on a relatively steady basis.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s capable of being a player on the lead, but recent form has seen more success coming from off the pace.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>His figs are pretty good among these, but in this Grade <\/SPAN> Sadfly\u2019s Bingo<\/B> [Sadler\u2019s Wells-Carson Bingo, by <\/SPAN> Jivago<\/B> [A.P. Indy-Foolish Games, by Danehill] has quite a few strikes in his favor.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s got some regal bloodlines in him; he\u2019s got a pair of solid allowance races over the surface; and he\u2019s lightly raced.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Trained by mysterycat<\/I><\/B>, he\u2019s done very well for himself since coming off the grass, never finishing worse than fifth on the dirt.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>His pedigree is sharp: his dam was always brilliant in the morning, smoking her cigarettes and talking over coffee, and winning eight times, including a stakes, on grass.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s got two wins at this distance, and has prepped for this with a pair of strong allowance efforts over the track.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In both, he hung very close to the pace; two back, he managed to stretch out to a four-length margin before fading and gritting out a win by a long neck.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Last out, he proved he was the one who needed the I Need A Race Allowance, when he faded late going a mile and was a tired, soundly-beaten second.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s 0-for-2 at stakes-level while earning a paycheck both times, and he\u2019s earned some very solid figs, particularly when clearing his NW4x two back, when he received a 108 for sheer grit.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He\u2019s got a strong future ahead of him at 4, it would appear, and while some segments of this field are very intimidating, there are other segments that shouldn\u2019t unnerve him; he\u2019ll stick very close to the front end, but that\u2019s at his peril. Musique Toujours<\/B> [A.P. Indy-Pharprospect, by Mr. Prospector] shares something in common with the California-based horse of the same name: the need to prove themselves on the big stage.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>You remember Musique Toujours, dontcha?\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He stunned last winter\u2019s edition of the Sunshine Millions Classic at 70-1.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This Musique Toujours<\/B> isn\u2019t so much a \u201cstunning upset\u201d type, but this pedroza<\/I><\/B> trainee has something to prove in his graded stakes debut here.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The pedigree is blue, as he\u2019s out of a Grade <\/SPAN> God\u2019s Gift<\/B> [Fusaichi Pegasus-Fat Cat, by Storm Cat] is a colt who has shown flashes of brilliance as well as flashes of heartache for trainer lulu<\/I><\/B>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He started off his career by winning six of his first nine starts, including the Bowing Under Quest Stakes and the No Reception SQ Stakes, in which he led with conviction early and held on with determination late, earning a 110 for the wire-to-wire triumph.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He also was a game third in last year\u2019s Buckeye Derby, tiring late but not missing by a whole lot.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But after the No Reception SQ, he hit a wall—if it had been literal, it would have explained the sudden and immediate form tail-off more deftly.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>As it happened, he tired badly in his first start against his elders in the Grade <\/SPAN> Forbidden Treasure<\/B> [Empire Maker-Sunken Treasure, by Kingmambo] represents one of the top Sim trainers, billgulch, <\/I><\/B>and this colt seems to have a very big \u201cA\u201d game.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He has a truly blueblood pedigree, as the \u201cdam\u201d here was a three-time Grade I winner on the lawn, and he himself is a Grade Seeking A King<\/B> [Seeking The Gold x Damascus] is the favorite, representing the barn of ultimate<\/I><\/B>, and his back class supports this support, frankly; if you can run a 114 against allowance company in California, and can continue your development over a campaign marked by a degree of both injury and vacation—he needed six months off following that allowance effort—you should be favored.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>And even on recent form, he still fits here snugly.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Following the extended break, he returned really none the worse for the wear and tear.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He repeated the allowance victory in Tuff Enuff<\/B> [Chester House-Bridget Jones, by Octoganal(NZ)] has that \u201chigher\u201d back class.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>You would, too, if you won—watch me as I consult the r\u00e9sum\u00e9—the Breeders Bowl Classic, the Windy City Gold Cup, the Shiny Gem Stakes, the Corkscrew Stakes, and the Wooden Indian Stakes, not to mention the Middle Jewel Stakes and the New Yorker Stakes, and all that in a single calendar year, 2004.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>*phew*\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Not only were those big events feathers in his cap, the way he managed to win these things was just as impressive.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He closed from the back of the field, but was never in a neighboring country when he started running.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He earned a 117 in the Dry Well<\/B> [Machiavellian x Woodman] makes for a most fascinating entrant for trainer mikb<\/I><\/B>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This four-year-old filly has only one start, a gate-to-wire maiden sprint win in which, in just the span of five furlongs, she opened up a five-length lead before being eased under the wire two-and-a-half lengths in front.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>It was a stellar performance, let there be no mistake.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But her presence here is a mystery.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Consider the following: she\u2019s going three-and-a-half furlongs longer in her second start.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s a filly starting against colts in just her second time out.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s bypassing a Grade Pegasus\u2019 Sword G<\/B> [Crusader Sword-Flying Spectacle G, by Fusaichi Pegasus] represents pgpg<\/I><\/B>, and should be up close early.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He finally cracked the 100 barrier last out when he just held on to an allowance win in Idaho, and it\u2019s emblematic of his grit and fortitude; it also marked his second straight victory at the allowance level, both times eking out narrow wins.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Still, the recent form notwithstanding, there\u2019s a question of class versus stakes-level competition, seeing as he hasn\u2019t won a stakes race since he was 2.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The mile seems more his speed, and though he just recently broke 100 in his figs, his average has held constant around the high 90s.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Those numbers don\u2019t quite measure up to the middle and high-100s so many of the others have shown themselves capable of, and it\u2019s going to be awfully crowded sitting just off the lead and waiting for the pace to collapse.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The 103, though, should bode well for further development.<\/P> Tricky Tony<\/B> [Minds Music x Crafty Prospector] draws an outside post for trainer skirom<\/I><\/B>, and he owns some back class of his own.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>He popped a 124 speed fig at 3 when he captured the Grade II Flat Land Derby, which was remarkable, and yet not a fluke, as he spent the rest of his three-year-old campaign trying to recapture the glory.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Speed figs of 114 and later 118 are no 124, but they were still strong numbers nonetheless, and they proved to be the high-water marks on his career.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>In last year\u2019s four-year-old campaign, he didn\u2019t come that close to races like those, but still managed to be nosed out in the Grade My selections:<\/P>