San Gabriel J

AMERICAN
GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

A field of eight has been assembled to contest the $150,000 San Gabriel H.
(G2) over the Santa Anita turf on Sunday. The Bobby Frankel-conditioned KING’S
DRAMA (Ire) (King’s Theatre [Ire]) is the clear standout in the field, but the
Grade 1-winning millionaire has not raced since June and will compete at
something other than his favorite distance, so we’ll look for an upset in here.

HENDRIX (Sultry Song) has been knocking on the door for a graded win for some
time, and the five-year-old could end the year with his biggest score. Trained
by Craig Dollase, the bay was last seen finishing a very nice second in the
Citation H. (G1), closing from last to gain the place, and has posted two fine
morning drills in the interim. The Kentucky-bred gets a jockey switch to turf
wizard Corey Nakatani, and we expect the hard knocker to be moving best in the
latter stages.

King’s Drama is obviously good enough to top this bunch and would not
surprise us with a top showing. The gelded six-year-old has been seen just three
times in 2006, but has compiled a win in the San Luis Rey H. (G2), with placings
in the Charles Whittingham Memorial H. (G1) and San Luis Obispo H. (G2). The
marathon specialist has trained quite well in advance of this and will have the
services of David Flores, but we’ll try to beat him here and hope the nine
furlongs is a bit short.

RHYTHM MAD (Fr) (King’s Theatre [Ire]) is among the top horses in this group on his
best day, but the Richard Mandella charge hasn’t been seen since January of this
year and is the wildcard in here. The six-year-old dark bay had his best year in
2004, when annexing the Jim Murray Memorial H. and placing in the San Juan
Capistrano Invitational H. (G2), but has raced just twice since with no success.
We never question the decisions of the Hall of Fame conditioner, so we’ll
include this one in our exotics beneath Victor Espinoza.

SOUTHERN AFRICA (Cape Town) was a game second in the recent Native Diver H.
(G3) and could factor in here with a repeat of that. The Mike Puhich charge has
amassed a solid 4-2-1-0 turf mark to date, but has yet to topple a group like
this on the lawn. With the correct pace scenario, the four-year-old has a big
chance at a top-three placing.

Multiple Group 1 hero PORFIDO (Chi) (Mash One [Chi]) has been a
disappointment since coming to the United States in the summer, but the Chilean champion could rebound with a solid effort for Frankel. A winner in seven of 16 lifetime
starts, the bay was unplaced at 12 furlongs in his last pair versus stakes
company, and gets the cutback to nine panels in here, which may be to his
advantage. Alex Solis will pilot the colt, who is yet another with a
viable exotics shot. RAILROAD (Double Honor) is the unquestioned speed of the group, spending much
of his time sprinting on the sod, and will attempt to handle 1 1/8 miles in here
for Brian Koriner. The Florida-bred has raced almost exclusively with stakes
company in 2006, but must step up to the graded level in here, which he may find
to be a difficult task. If the gelding could establish a tepid early pace, he
might find himself with a piece of the pie at the wire.

CAPITANO (Belong to Me) is in good current form but has had limited success over
this oval and we’ll take a stand against on this occasion. The Thomas Bell pupil
has hit the board in 17 of 27 career starts, so his chances to finish off some
exotics are not far fetched. DON INCAUTO (Arg) (Roy) has the back class to be
competitive with this bunch late, but his current form does little to excite
us.