Old Hat

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Saturday’s $100,000 Old Hat S. (G3) brings about a sense of deja vu because
the 6 1/2-furlong sprint features the stakes debut of a freakishly fast filly
who has won by convincing margins. Last year, Madcap Escapade
(Hennessy) brought similar exploits into this affair, this time it’s MADDALENA (Good and Tough).

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Maddalena captured her career debut last April by 5
3/4 lengths at Churchill Downs and didn’t re-appear until the middle of January
at Gulfstream, where she destroyed allowance rivals by 6 3/4 lengths. The
speedball earned a 105 BRIS Speed rating for that sparkling performance, and we
fully expect her to blitz her rivals on the front end once again here. As it was
with Madcap Escapade, the question concerning Maddalena is how far will she go?
That won’t matter on Saturday.

ASPEN TREE (Holy Bull) makes her first start since finishing second by a nose
in the Pocahontas S. last November and could be a good stakes performer for
trainer Carl Nafzger this season. This is simply a starting point for the
chestnut, who will likely stretch out in ground next time out, but we’ll look
for her to rally for runner-up honors.

ALFONSINA (Grand Slam) completed last season with a solid second in the
Valley Stream S. (G3) at Aqueduct and makes her first appearance at three here for
conditioner Nick Zito. The bay lass won’t be able to run with the lead early,
but she owns decent tactical speed and can close some ground in the stretch for
a top-three placing.

PORTSEA (More than Ready) steps up off a solid stakes score and does her best
running on the front end. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the uncoupled Pletcher
charge hold for a small share. GREAT INTENTIONS (Cat Thief) was no match for
Maddalena last time but looms as a top three possibility once again. The Michael
Hushion trainee is lightly raced with room for improvement, but we’ll just watch
for now.

TOLL TAKER (Bernstein) reeled off three straight wins before losing her rider
last time at Hawthorne. The Grade 3 winner will probably be chasing our top
selection from the start off the layoff, and we’ll look for her to get a little
tired late. GLITTERING TAX (Artax) exits a win at Tampa Bay Downs and will
likely find this company too difficult.