Frank E. Kilroe Mile J

AMERICAN
GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

Dual Grade 1 heroine VENTURA (Chester House) will tackle the boys in
Saturday’s $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1), and the Bobby Frankel trainee
is the one to beat in our minds. The five-year-old dark bay rolled home in the
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint two back and made her yearly debut an
impressive win in the Santa Monica H. (G1). She’s been first or second in nine
of her 11 turf tries, and finished a big second in the Woodbine Mile (Can-G1)
against males three back. Garrett Gomez will break from the rail atop the classy
dynamo.

GLOBAL HUNTER (Arg) (Jade Hunter) has always had ability and received the
perfect prep for this when second in the Thunder Road H. (G3), so we’ll give the
six-year-old a big chance at a Grade 1 placing. The bay has always been
placed among the best horses out west by trainer A.C. Avila, and he’s often run well
while not breaking through at the graded ranks. We like the draw, surface and
distance of this race, and we expect to hear his name late beneath Jose Valdivia
Jr.

ARTISTE ROYAL (Ire) (Danehill) is one of the top turf horses in training in
the United States for Neil Drysdale, and his closing rush to win the San Marcos S. (G2)
last out was a thing of beauty. While we have the highest regard for the
eight-year-old, we can’t see him beating our top pick at a mile — he wants
longer. We still believe that the classy sort will be in the top three under
Rafael Bejarano, though.

GIO PONTI (Tale of the Cat) is a brilliant turf performer when right for
Christophe Clement, and we hope to see the colt return to his sophomore form in
this field. While the four-year-old has yet to run anything close to poor, the
lofty expectations we set on him have yet to be realized, so we’re still waiting for
him to transform into a beast. Ramon Dominguez will guide the exotics threat.

WISE RIVER (Belong to Me) is in really good form for Clark Hanna and has been
first or second in five of six tries at this distance. The dark bay has never
been better, but shipping across the country to face some of these legitimate
Grade 1 performers seems ambitious in the very least. We’ll use the
Kentucky-bred in some exotics in the hope that he rewards his connections’
aggressiveness.

DIXIE CHATTER (Dixie Union) has been quite consistent in his trio of turf
starts for Richard Mandella, but the bay colt will need to step up his game in
order to challenge these foes. MR NAPPER TANDY (GB) (Bahamian Bounty) is
essentially a one-run closer who’s endured trouble getting through his allowance
level. We’ll pass.

Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) hero MAST TRACK (Mizzen Mast) was last seen running fifth in
the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile for Frankel. The five-year-old bay
really turned the corner last summer and has posted four straight 100+ BRIS
Speed figures against the highest class of competition. With that said, we don’t
see this Kentucky-bred as a turf miler and we’ll reluctantly toss him in here.

BECRUX (Ity) (Glen Jordan) has seen better days and doesn’t looks to be in
the form to make a huge splash in this field. The hard-trying gelding was a good
third in the Citation H. (G1) three back, earning a 117 BRIS Late Pace number,
and a repeat of that would make him a threat here, but his inconsistent pattern
makes us shy away.

VICTORY PETE (Five Star Day) has run some good races this campaign and has
excellent early foot, but his best chances at a top-three finish occur if he’s
clear on the lead on a tepid pace, which we don’t envision. HEWITTS (Concerto)
has plenty of speed and is a solid turf sprinter, but he’s not at the Grade 1
level at a mile.

MONTEREY JAZZ (Thunderello) has apparently lost his magic for Craig Dollase
and the dark bay looks like a shell of his old self. While still fast, the
five-year-old has had no punch in four of his last five starts. The Kentucky-bred finished
two from last in this race while in peak form last year, and we don’t expect much better in
this one.