Phoenix

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A deep field of 10 will travel six furlongs in the $250,000 Phoenix S. (G3)
on opening day at Keeneland this Friday. Defending champ SING BABY SING
(Unbridled’s Song) has raced just twice since bagging this event a year ago, and
while the competition seems a bit tougher this time around, we’re going to tab
the six-year-old for the upset. Trained by Jack Bruner, the Kentucky-bred exits
a sharp second in the Remington Park Sprint Championship last out and has been first or
second in seven of his last eight starts, with his lone unplaced try coming in
the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). We love the outside draw for the bay.

CAPT. CANDYMAN CAN (Candy Ride [Arg]) was rightly catapulted into first in
the King’s Bishop S. (G1) last out to earn his deserved Grade 1 conquer for Ian
Wilkes. The ultra-talented sophomore has won five of six tries at races less
than one mile, and while his lone try on Polytrack doesn’t look like much, he
was a different animal then and shouldn’t be tossed on this day. Javier
Castellano will guide the win threat.

Synthetic specialist FATAL BULLET (Red Bullet) has compiled a sparkling
10-8-2-0 mark on all-weather ovals, which includes a second in the Breeders’ Cup
Sprint for conditioner Reade Baker. The lightning-quick gelding hasn’t been seen
since finishing last in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (G2) on the dirt, but the return
to his preferred oval should be enough to vault him into the winners’ circle.

Grade 2 hero MY PAL CHARLIE (Indian Charlie) has been keeping company with
some of the top milers in training for Albert Stall Jr., who almost always
fires big at Keeneland. The bay colt was a solid third in the Commonwealth S.
(G2) over this strip in the spring and is in such consistent form that it would
be foolish to not include him in all rungs of the exotics. We expect the colt to
stalk and pounce beneath Robby Albarado.

GREELEY’S CONQUEST (Mr. Greeley) is a live longshot in our eyes, as the Gary
Thomas trainee appears to have the right running style to rally for a big share
late. A winner over our top pick at Remington last out, the talented sprinter
has never tried to run on a synthetic oval but if he takes to the Polytrack, he
has a winning chance beneath Jamie Theriot.

Conditioner Allen Jerkens doesn’t venture this way all that often, so we
figure we should take notice of his charge FORMIDABLE (Sky Mesa) in here. The
four-year-old bay peaked in South Florida this winter, posting a trio of huge
efforts prior to regressing some since returning to his New York base. The fleet
bay is a mystery on this oval, but he’s been training rapidly and could provide
excellent value at a nice price. Rajiv Maragh has the call.

Grade 1-placed PAST THE POINT (Indian Charlie) is capable of a big effort
from time to time but doesn’t resemble a sprinter and might be too slow for
these. E Z DREAMER (In Excess [Ire]) has rounded into his best form while
focusing on sprint events, but this field is loaded and we don’t see him being a
big factor late on this occasion.

HAMAZING DESTINY (Salt Lake) didn’t look good in his synthetic debut at
Turfway most recently and can’t be backed by us. SILVER EDITION (Silver Deputy)
flopped in a big way in his lone run on this track in the spring, and the
oft-raced bay will be making his 12th start of 2009.