Virginia Derby

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Saturday’s $750,000 Virginia Derby (G3) marks the graded bow for ENGLISH
CHANNEL (Smart Strike), who has recorded authoritative victories in the Woodlawn
S. and Colonial Turf Cup in his last two outings. The Todd Pletcher-trained colt
could prove to be the best three-year-old turf horse in North American this
season, but we’ll try to beat him here at a short price with REBEL REBEL (Ire) (Revoque),
who makes his U.S. bow under the direction of Hall of Fame conditioner Bobby
Frankel.

Winner of the Easter S. in his first start this year, Rebel Rebel turned in a
very classy performance when finishing second in the English Two Thousand
Guineas (Eng-G1) in late April. He squared off against two powerful foes, Dubawi
(Dubai Millennium) and Oratorio (Danehill), in May’s Irish Two Thousand Guineas
(Ire-G1) last out, and the bay colt will receive first-time Lasix for his first
start stateside. He shows a couple of encouraging recent works at Belmont and
figures to save ground from the rail under Jerry Bailey. Rebel Rebel owns a
seasoning advantage over the likely heavy favorite and could spring the upset.

English Channel has been crushing overmatched opposition in his last three
starts, but the competition gets much stiffer here. The chestnut colt owns a
dynamic turn of foot, but English Channel has also displayed the tendency to
find trouble. He was rank and tossing his head in the Woodlawn two starts back
and extremely green when finishing fourth in his seasonal bow this year. He
still lacks seasoning and will be facing 10 rivals without as much room for
error. This could be a good spot to go against the talented sophomore.

CHATTAHOOCHEE WAR (War Chant), who will race uncoupled for Frankel, captured
the Transylvania S. (G3) three starts back and suffered a troubled trip when
second (via disqualification) in the Kent Breeders’ Cup (G3) most recently. The
stalker adds blinkers and retains Pat Valenzuela in the saddle, and we wouldn’t
be surprised to see Chattahoochee War continue to move forward with an improved
showing here. He could offer a strong challenge for it all.

RUSH BAY (Cozzene) has improved since trying the turf two starts back for
trainer Tom Amoss and exits a victory in the 1 1/8-mile Jefferson Cup (G3) at
Churchill Downs. The bay colt earned a 101 Late Pace rating last time and is
bred for the added ground here. Rush Bay will likely be closely stalking a
moderate pace under Robby Albarado and could have a say in the final outcome.

PRINCE RAHY (Rahy) has hit the board in his last two starts against Grade 3
rivals at Belmont Park and could add some value to the exotics here (20-1 on
morning line). The Frank Alexander trainee is a good finisher and relishes a
route of ground, and his present form is appealing. Consider for the exotics.

SPRING HOUSE (Chester House) enters on the upswing for conditioner John
Hennig, finishing a fine second when making his stakes bow in the Jersey Derby
two starts back and closing strongly for second in the Kent (placed third via
disqualification) most recently. The dark bay gelding probably won’t get much of
a pace up front, but he remains a candidate for the top three. REY DE CAFE (Kingmambo)
exits a pair of narrow victories and may continue to develop for trainer Rusty
Arnold. However, the chestnut colt was all out to post those hard-fought wins by
a nose and is a threat to regress some against tougher company here. We’ll let
him burn us.

SILVER WHISTLE (Alphabet Soup) makes his stakes bow off a pair of nice wins
going 1 1/4 miles at Belmont Park, but he faces a major class hike on Saturday.
We’ll just watch for now. CROWN POINT (Honor Grades) is capable of a decent late
showing, but he hasn’t won since last October and hasn’t shown enough in recent
starts for us to recommend his chances. INTERPATATION (Langfuhr) drew an outside
post and might need an easier spot to be effective. CRIMNAL MIND (Cryptoclearance)
is on the far outside and doesn’t look good enough to challenge here.