Toboggan

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

The ultra-consistent ETERNAL STAR (Five Star Day) is our top pick in the
Saturday’s $100,000 Toboggan H. (G3) at Aqueduct, where a field of nine will
travel six furlongs. The Michael Trombetta trainee has earned triple-digit BRIS
Speed numbers in 11 straight races, and while he’s never broken through in the
graded ranks, he faces a filed where he can do so beneath regular rider Julian
Pimentel.

Grade 2 star LUCKY ISLAND (Arg) (Lucky Roberto) went from being arguably the top
sprinter on the East Coast to an unimpressive performer in a short period of time for
Kiaran McLaughlin, but the talented five-year-old is a candidate to bounce back
in here. While his last trio of outings are nothing to write home about, we
expect to eventually see the dark bay return to where he was last spring. Alan
Garcia will be aboard the Argentine.

AH DAY (Malibu Moon) is brilliant when he’s right for King Leatherbury, but
the bay has raced just twice since finishing second in the 2007 Churchill Downs
H. (G2). The gelded Maryland-bred has trained like a beast and is four for six
at this distance, so we’ll definitely use him in some of our plays.

GRAND CHAMPION (Two Punch) will make his debut for conditioner Michael
Hushion, who excels with horses making their first start under his care. The
multiple stakes-winning Maryland-bred has won five of his 12 starts over this
surface and smoked a bullet five-eighths in advance of this, so we’ll throw him
in with the contenders.

PLACE YOUR BET (Out of Place) was a clear second in the competitive Paumonok
H. for Scott Lake, and the improving gelding has a lot of appeal at a big price.
The chestnut earned a whopping 112 BRIS Speed number two prior at Laurel and has
been first or second in 16 of 20 lifetime outings, so we’ll use him underneath. The hard-knocking JOEY P. (Close Up), a winner in 15 of his 33 career
outings, will make his first start since September for Ben Perkins Jr. The
gelded seven-year-old hasn’t lost anything over the past few years despite his
age, and he owns tremendous tactical speed, so it would be unwise to ignore the
dark bay, who runs well fresh. In his lone showing over the inner dirt, Joey P.
was a close second in the Gravesend H. (G3).

WEST COAST FLIER (West Acre) rolled home in an allowance race following a
claim by Gary Contessa, but this field is miles better than his last and we’ll
look elsewhere. SAINT DAIMON (Saint Ballado) has regained good from as of late
but will likely need a career best to impact this field. DRIVEN BY SUCCESS (Precise End) has moved up in a huge way since joining
Bruce Levine’s barn, rolling to a trio of romps against state-bred foes. The
gelded four-year-old will likely be winging it early from the rail and could well
lead this field into the turn for home, but he’s giving up too much in the class
department for us to back him.