First Flight

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A small field of six fillies and mares will contest Sunday’s $150,000 First
Flight H. (G2) at Belmont Park, and the top two finishers of the May 24 Vagrancy
H. (G2), CAROLYN’S CAT (Forestry) and PORTE BONHEUR (Hennessy), respectively,
will face off for the second straight time in the seven-furlong event. We
respect the chances of both runners, but we’ll tab TURN AWAY (Empire Maker) for
top honors.

A heavy favorite in all five career starts, Turn Away figures to finally
offer some value (6-1 fifth choice on the morning line) and will enter the First
Flight off a sharp allowance score at Belmont in which she recorded a
career-best 98 BRIS Speed rating. The four-year-old was making her seasonal bow
that afternoon in the slop, and there’s good chance of rain over the weekend, but she won over a fast track at Belmont last fall after
nearly falling down at the break. Trained by Bobby Frankel, the Juddmonte
homebred hasn’t realized expectations yet, but Turn Away has the opportunity to
take a step in that direction with her first stakes win here. She’ll look to
stalk-and-pounce under new rider Kent Desormeaux.

Carolyn’s Cat is on the improve for Kiaran McLaughlin, registering a
career-best 105 BRIS Speed figure for her 3 1/4-length, wire-to-wire decision in the
Vagrancy, and she’s turned in a couple of good runner-up efforts in her two
previous attempts at the distance. She will show speed from the rail with Alan
Garcia.

SPRITELY (Touch Gold) is quick and has been freshened for this event for 71
days following a facile score in a lucrative stakes at Charles Town. She’s
proven to be a seven-furlong specialist, posting a 3-2-0-1 mark at the distance,
and appears to be training well for this start. Jockey John Velazquez may elect
to closely track Carolyn’s Cat before asking for his mount’s best, and we give
Spritely a shot to deliver a good showing and will use her in the top three.

SUNDAY GEISHA (Sunday Break [Jpn]) owns big BRIS Speed numbers and merits
consideration for part, but the Philly shipper has caught pretty soft company in
her recent starts and looks vulnerable in her Belmont debut.

Grade 3 victress Porte Bonheur ran well when making her 2009 bow in the
Vagrancy, finishing a clear second by 4 1/4 lengths, but she’s never run at
seven furlongs and is a candidate to regress a little off her last performance.
IRON BUTTERFLY (Forestry) will bring a three-race winning streak into this
event, but the recent claimer is probably facing too much of a class hike.