Clement Hirsch Turf Championship Preview

An evenly matched group of eight turf stars will go postward in the $250,000
Clement L. Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship S. (G1) at Santa Anita on Sunday.
RUNAWAY DANCER (Runaway Groom) has disappointed in his last pair when favored,
but we expect the six-year-old to bounce back at a square price in here.

Trained by Dan Hendricks, the gray gelding is untested at the 1 1/4-mile
trip, but his closing kick has been effective at 12 furlongs and the cut back in
distance may actually be to his benefit. The late runner should be the recipient
of a strong early pace in here, and we envision Garret Gomez closing best of all
aboard Runaway Dancer to garner the win.

FOURTY NINERS SON (Distorted Humor) has been ultra competitive with some of
the best in his division, evidenced by his third-place finish in the Arlington
Million (G1), and is another who has a big shot at the top prize. Conditioned by
Neil Drysdale, the gelded chestnut has hit the board in all six of his outings
in 2005 but has settled for minor awards in all three of his graded starts
thus far, leaving us to believe he could be beatable at low odds.

SWEET RETURN (GB) (Elmaamul) has been a monster on the West Coast and should
appreciate the move back to the Golden State for Ron McAnally. The five-year-old
is the class of the field with earnings surpassing $1.5 million to date, and
he’s never been worse than third in seven local tries. We feel the chestnut
could be compromised by the abundance of pace in here and would be better left
on the bottom of exotics.

EXTERIOR (Distant View) is winless in his last five events for trainer Bobby
Frankel and has been unplaced in two of those. He possesses a big closing kick
but hasn’t had favorable pace scenarios in which to unleash it as of late. The
four-year-old, though, could also benefit from the expected early pace in here,
and we suggest using this horse in all exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagers.

LAURA’S LUCKY BOY (Theatrical [Ire]) was a hard-luck second in the Del Mar H.
(G2) most recently for Richard Mandella, and comes into this one in solid form.
The bay four-year-old has had success locally, taking two of four races, and has
trained well in advance of this. The colt likes to be forwardly placed and will
need to be reserved in the early stages in order to match strides with the top
ones late, but we don’t see that scenario playing out.

WHILLY (Ire) (Sri Pekan) captured the Sir Beaufort S. and San Marcos S. (G2)
in succession over this sod in the winter but is facing much better here. The
bay may be the speed of the speed, but he’s a question mark at the distance and
can’t be endorsed by us. LEPRECHAUN KID (Alphabet Soup) earned his best win to
date in the Del Mar H. (G2) last out, but would do well to hit the board in
here. CONTINENTAL RED (Flying Continental) has won just once from his prior 23
outings and would be a huge surprise to us in this spot.

TRACK BANDIT SELECTIONS

1ST    RUNAWAY DANCER

2ND    FOURTY NINERS SON

3RD    SWEET RETURN (GB)