Morvich

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

The $100,000 Morvich H. (G3) is Wednesday’s opening-day feature at Oak Tree,
and 10 sprinters will square off down the hill, including past champions
CALIFORNIA FLAG (Avenue of Flags) and GET FUNKY (Straight Man). The about 6
1/2-furlong turf affair will also serve as the final tune-up for DESERT CODE (E
Dubai), who will look to defend his title in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint over
the same course/distance in early November.

California Flag dominated the 2008 edition in front-running fashion,
registering a 105 BRIS Speed rating for his three-length decision, and is our
pick to lead wire-to-wire again. The gray five-year-old gelding really came on
for trainer Brian Koriner at this time last season, winning three of four
starts, but he was out of action for most of this year. He returned to the races
in good order, winning the August 19 Green Flash H. at Del Mar, and won’t face
any new speedballs in this spot. California Flag appears set for another strong
showing.

Desert Code will be making his first start since April, but we won’t dismiss
his chances for the win. The five-year-old returned off a similar freshening
with a 2 1/2-length score in the Daytona H. (G3) earlier this year, and we know
he loves the turf in Arcadia, California, winning five of 10 starts including
the aforementioned Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. The chestnut appears to be
training forwardly for his first start back, and he’ll likely be rallying in the
stretch under Richard Migliore.

TENGA CAT (Storm Cat) is winless in four turf starts at Santa Anita and was
no match for our top pick last time, but we’ll still use him in our top three.
The Ron Ellis runner gave a fine account of himself when stepping into stakes
company last season, recording a couple of placings as well as a close fourth in
the Daytona H. over this course, and appeared headed to bigger and better things
before being suddenly sidelined during the summer. The six-year-old has returned
with a couple of solid efforts this year, winning an allowance/optional claiming
event at Del Mar prior to a third in the Green Flash, and we’ll look for him to
keep showing more in his third start off the bench.

STONESIDE (Ire) (Marchand de Sable) offered a belated rally for fourth in the
Green Flash last time, but the five-year-old gelding has had more success over
this course, winning the San Simeon H. (G3) in April. The late runner won’t
enter the Morvich in the best form, missing the top three in his last three
starts, but he remains a legitimate threat for a minor award with his finishing
kick.

TIZ WEST (Gone West) picks up the services of Rafael Bejarano and has the
class to be a factor at this level, but we prefer him over a little more ground.
PERFECT OFFICER (Officer) ran for a $35,000 tag earlier this year, but the
sophomore has made excellent progress since then for George Weaver, winning the
Solomon Northup S. most recently at Saratoga. He’s facing a stiff class hike in
this spot and will be making his California bow, so we’ll just watch to see how
the improving gelding fares in this spot.

BRUCE’S DREAM (Atticus) will put his unbeaten record on the line while making
his stakes debut, but the California-bred will be severely tested for class. We
can’t ignore the fact that Garrett Gomez sticks with the Mike Puype trainee, but
we’ll let the gray three-year-old beat us. Get Funky drew the far outside post
and will attempt to snap seven-race losing skid. The six-year-old hasn’t hit the
board in his last six starts, and he doesn’t look fast enough at present to
challenge here.

CHEROKEE HEAVEN (Cherokee Run) hasn’t started since winning a conditioned
allowance/optional claiming event in May, and the lightly raced five-year-old
will be making his stakes debut in a tough spot. His BRIS numbers aren’t
encouraging and we can’t recommend his chances from the rail. FLASHMANS PAPERS
GB) (Exceed and Excel) looked good over the winter, winning the Eddie Logan S.
and finishing second in the Baldwin S. (G3), but he went completely off form
following the latter effort. Doug O’Neill sent him to Fairplex for a
seven-furlong stakes last time, and the three-year-old wound up a
non-threatening second. This doesn’t look like a good spot for him.