Jaipur

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A field of nine will head to the gate Sunday for the $100,000 Jaipur H. (G3)
at Belmont Park with a main-track-only entrant waiting at the ready. OLD FORESTER (Forestry)
comes into the seven-furlong contest off a victory in the Canadian Turf H. at
Gulfstream Park. His last two outings have produced BRIS Speed figures above
100 and the four-year-old is perfect in two starts over the Belmont turf.
Conditioner Bill Mott has put the colt through some solid workouts leading up to
this event and Old Forester’s late speed should benefit him against some of the
early speed here. Jockey Edgar Prado returns after posting a 7 1/4-length score aboard the
chestnut and a nose decision in the following race last fall. The colt is coming off a
two-month freshening and should be a tough competitor.

GULCH APPROVAL (Gulch) will hope to end his streak of seconds he has produced
in his last two outings. The five-year-old exits a runner-up finish in the
Maker’s Mark Mile S. (G2) and came home 1 1/4 lengths behind our top choice in
the Canadian the race prior. Trained by Nick Zito, Gulch Approval has a
preference for the early lead and could get caught up in a speed duel, but has
ran away victorious under those circumstances before. The gelding is winless
since posting a close decision in the Elkwood S. at Monmouth last August, but
will be dangerous under Javier Castellano, who is 6-2-4 over the past week.

TRADE FAIR (GB) (Zafonic) has yet to hit the board since making his first
U.S. start two back. Despite his minimal earnings this year, the
five-year-old is certainly capable of competing against this field. He battled
for the early lead in the Maker’s Mark last out, but was out of gas in the end.
The Bobby Frankel trainee might be more suited to a wait-and-see trip, and not
get caught up in a trap up front. He has the most experience in this field going
the Jaipur distance, winning five of 10 tries at seven furlongs. Jerry Bailey
will take the reins again to improve off his performance at Keeneland.

ECCLESIASTIC (Pulpit) is winless since May of last year. Since Allen Jerkens
took over training duties, however, the four-year-old colt has become
revitalized, placing second versus optional-claiming company and then running
third in the Fort Marcy H. (G3) last month. He comes into this contest off a
sharp three-furlong workout and should finish near the top of the pack.

STEEL LIGHT (Stravinsky) comes off a great second-place finish in his first
event stateside. Stumbling badly at the start, the Christophe Clement trainee
rallied strong in the end, only to come a half-length shy of victory. In the
process, he earned a 105 BRIS Late Pace rating and could find himself near the
front at the wire in this one under Jose Santos.

NO PAROLE (Lit de Justice) comes off a disappointing finish in the Kingston
H., vying for the early lead, but tiring in the end. The cut back in distance
should be an advantage, but if he tries to go to the lead out of the gate again,
we’re not sure he can sustain what will look to be a rapid pace.

Two horses will be making their grass debut in this one — THUNDER TOUCH
(Gulch) and SEEKING THE GLORY (A.P. Indy). The former comes off a third in the
Bold Ruler H. (G3). His versatile running style allows him to press the pace or
sit back and stalk the field, and he has proved successful at both. The latter
was bumped in the stretch of the Westchester H. (G3) and finished fifth, 12
lengths behind the leader. He has proved successful versus allowance company and
the decision is questionable to his surface switch. Given they are trying the
green for the first time, we’ll give each a race.

BLAKELOCK (Summer Squall) will make his first start since sitting on the
shelf for six months. His only successes this far have come against lower level
allowance and claiming fields. He will probably be outmatched here. The lone
main track only entrant, AGGADAN (Carnivalay) has experienced great success of
late, coming in either first or second in nine of his last 10 and will be a
major competitor should this race be moved off of the turf.