Inglewood

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

There are a lot of questions surrounding Saturday’s Inglewood H. (G3), but
we’re going to give a slight nod to RED FORT (Ire) (Green Desert), who will be
making his first start in nearly a year.

After winning a one-mile turf prep, Red Fort just missed winning this race
last year as the 6-5 favorite. In his next start, he stalked the pace and
finished second, beaten a head, to multiple Grade 1 winner Sweet Return (GB) (Elmaamul)
in the Charlie Whittingham Memorial H. (G1) in what turned out to be his final
outing of the season. Trainer Neil Drysdale is very skilled at bringing horses
off the shelf, and Red Fort shows a long series of works for his return.

The Bob Baffert-trained SENOR SWINGER (El Prado [Ire]) closed determinedly to
win the Thunder Road H. in his seasonal debut and then ran 11th, beaten just three
lengths, in the super tough Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1) last out. The Grade 2
turf winner is going well at present and may add some value to the exotics.

WILLOW O WISP (Misnomer) loves the Del Mar turf course, winning the Del Mar
Derby (G2) and La Jolla H. (G2) over that course last summer. The Vladimir Cerin
trainee set the tempo before finishing seventh, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths, in
the aforementioned Kilroe. The bay four-year-old is the one to catch and must be
respected for a top three placing.

In his lone American start, ARTISTE ROYAL (Ire) (Danehill) finished a
one-paced sixth as a well-liked 7-2 in the Arlington H. (G3) last July. The
Laura de Seroux trainee has been training forwardly of late and adds first-time
Lasix for his return to action. The French Group 3 winner is worth a second look
at a price.

Nine-year-old SARAFAN (Lear Fan) has made more than $2.6 million during his
racing career. The veteran Grade 1 turf winner has not officially won a race
since August, 2004. He was pulled up and vanned off the track in his last start
of 2005, then ran a good fourth against allowance foes in his lone start this
season. Owned by Gary Tanaka, Sarafan deserves a fine retirement when the time
comes. QUASIMODO (A.P. Indy) is three-for-three this year at a mile on the turf
at Santa Anita. The Julio Canani-trained colt makes his stakes and Hollywood
debut and will have to improve to threaten some of these.

NEW EXPORT (Brz) (Exile King), a multiple Group 1 winner in his native land,
makes his U.S. debut for conditioner Bobby Frankel off more than a one-year layoff. His quality is hard to determine, so we’re just going to watch. Italian Group
2 winner NARRATIVE (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) has not started since finishing 18th
in a race at York in July, 2004. This is probably too short for the layoff
marathoner.