Vanity

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Like the Mother Goose S. (G1) at Belmont Park, Saturday’s Vanity H. (G1)
appears to be an open and shut case. ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]) will face more
rivals than Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro), but the outcome should be the
same, with the reigning champion mare easily routing her competition in the 1
1/8-mile Cushion Track event at Hollywood Park. The undefeated mare is going for
win 11 in this spot, having successfully defended her title in the Milady H.
(G2) last out while making her 2009 bow, and will have regular rider Mike Smith
in the saddle once again.

ALLICANSAYIS WOW (Street Cry [Ire]) took a brief lead in the stretch of the
Milady last out in only her second U.S. start, but was passed late by Zenyatta
and Life is Sweet (Storm Cat), eventually running third. The bay four-year-old
won her stateside debut in late April and earned a 95 BRIS Speed rating for the
Milady. Her chances at dethroning the queen of California racing are slight, but
she should have no trouble handling the rest of this field.

BRIECAT (Adcat) was an easy front-running winner of the Bayakoa H. (G2) over
this track in early December, but hasn’t been able to put it together again in
three starts so far this season. The Vladimir Cerin charge has had excuses,
though, including a trip to Turf Paradise in March and a race on the turf at
Hollywood last out. The four-year-old chestnut will probably relish the return
to the surface over which she’s gone two-for-two so far, and could enjoy the
stretch out to nine furlongs. Martin Garcia has the call, and the pair could be
tough in the exotics.

MODIFICATION (Vindication) ran fourth by a length to Life is Sweet in the La
Canada S. (G2) in February and was a winner over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride prior to
that event. She also appeared to like the sloppy, sealed dirt at Churchill Downs
on Kentucky Derby Day when rallying six wide to be third in the seven-furlong
Humana Distaff (G1). Though the Doug O’Neill trainee doesn’t appear as fast as
others in here, she’s prove herself a game performer and deserves a shot in the
top three.

HOT N’ DUSTY (Unusual Heat), who is also entered in Sunday’s Beverly Hills H.
(G2), has chosen a tough spot to make her stakes bow,
but could surprise in the gimmicks at a good price. The Barry Abrams runner has
finished first or second in eight of her last 10 starts, competing on synthetic
tracks and turf courses alike. The bay miss posted a nice half-mile move in
advance of this last Friday, and she might challenge for a share. YOU LIFT ME UP
(Lord Carson), another whose name also appears in the Beverly Hills lineup, doesn’t appear fast enough to truly contest this event, but a
check is not out of the realm of possibility. The dual stakes-winning
four-year-old could stick around to pick up the pieces under Rafael Bejarano.

FOREST MELODY (Forest Camp) hasn’t been able to compete against stakes rivals
in the past, and we don’t think she’ll do so against this group. DAWN AFTER DAWN
(Successful Appeal) is a nice runner when she’s competing on turf, but her past
few synthetic tries have been pretty dismal. We’ll let her beat us.