San Marcos

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

The 10-furlong San Marcos S. (G2) is the first of several graded events for
turf marathoners in Arcadia, California, this year and will likely feature a
heavy favorite in LICENSE TO RUN (Brz) (Exile King). Like most everybody else,
we won’t be surprised to see the Brazilian Group 1 winner earn his first U.S.
victory here, but he looked like an easy winner in midstretch of the Hollywood
Turf Cup (G1) last time before hanging in place when he got close to the leaders.
We’d hate to come up short at very low odds with a horse who showed that
tendency before, so we’ll let him beat us.

WHILLY (Ire) (Sri Pekan) enters the San Marcos on the upswing for trainer
Doug O’Neill having captured two of his last three outings, including the Sir
Beaufort S. last out. The four-year-old was a precocious juvenile in Italy and
made his U.S. bow last summer, finishing third in the Cinema Breeders’ Cup H.
(G3). Following an unplaced effort in the Oak Tree Derby (G2), he came right
back to take the Bien Bien S. and turned in a strong showing in the 1 1/4-mile
Hollywood Derby (G1), rallying into contention before being completely stopped
by traffic in the stretch. Whilly was beaten only 3 1/2 lengths and came right
back with an excellent showing in his last start. The improving colt could be a
major player in the turf ranks this year and we’ll try to catch him at a decent
price early on.

License to Run could turn out to be one of the year’s best turf performers
for trainer Bobby Frankel and was very consistent in Brazil before shipping
north. We’ll look for him to keep his form off a hard-trying effort last month
with a strong late rally here.

EPICENTRE (Kris S.), who will run uncoupled with stablemate License to Run,
owns excellent BRIS Speed and Late Pace figures and has captured three of his
last five starts. Frankel’s runners tend to excel off layoffs, and Epicentre must
be respected despite the 231-day rest. The six-year-old has exhibited a strong
turn of foot and could challenge for it all with a stalk-and-pounce trip under
Rene Douglas.

HABANEROS (Tabasco Cat) upset his rivals in wire-to-wire style two starts
back in the Carleton F. Burke H. (G3) but didn’t show much after breaking a step
slowly in the Hollywood Turf Cup. He’ll likely show speed early and should have
no problem with the distance, and the six-year-old gelding likes the local turf
(6-2-2-1). We’ll use Habaneros in the exotics. PUPPETEER (GB) (Singspiel [Ire])
makes his first start in California for trainer Jeff Mullins and the French
Group 3 winner owns the class to be a factor here. He’s left himself too much to
do in both U.S. starts so far, and this will be his first start at 10
furlongs. However, Puppeteer has been working well in the mornings and might
turn things around in this spot.

T. H. APPROVAL (With Approval) tries stakes rivals after recording two sharp
victories over allowance and optional claiming foes last November. The Eduardo
Inda charge owns good tactical speed and could offer a challenge from just off
the pace, so consider for part. PUERTO BANUS (Supremo) hasn’t hit the board in
four starts since capturing the San Luis Obispo H. (G2) last February and was
eased at the wire last time in the Hollywood Turf Cup. He’ll need to improve
significantly off his recent performances to challenge. GORYLLA (Brz) (New
Colony) appears to prefer even longer distances and is hard to recommend off
three dull showings last year. We’ll just watch for now.