Shakertown

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A field of seven will dash 5 1/2 furlongs on the Keeneland lawn in Saturday’s
$100,000 Shakertown S. (G3). We like what SILVER TIMBER (Prime Timber) has done
since being claimed five starts back by Chad Brown and will go with the New
York-bred on top in a difficult race. A comfortable winner of the Woodford S.
(G3) on this strip in the fall, the gray was last seen finishing a decent sixth
in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and has trained steadily in advance of his 2010
debut. We expect Julien Leparoux be in the hunt throughout atop the
seven-year-old.

We think GRAND ADVENTURE (Grand Slam) has a big chance in here beneath Kent
Desormeaux. The lightly raced Mark Frostad trainee earned a substantial 102 BRIS
Speed number in his lone effort at this distance, and the four-year-old has kept
top company for the majority of his career and seems poised to break through at
the graded level before long.

CHAMBERLAIN BRIDGE (War Chant) is among the better turf sprinters in the
United States and is an obvious contender in this field for Bret Calhoun. The
gelded six-year-old has superb tactical speed and has a liking for this oval,
which includes a graded win and a close third-place finish in this event a year
ago. Jamie Theriot will break from the rail atop the potential race-time
favorite.

Stakes star AFFIRMATIF (Unbridled’s Song) also rates a win chance in this
field for Todd Pletcher. The four-year-old has been training swiftly in
preparation of his four-year-old bow and has very good speed, and we won’t be
surprised to see the bay excel at this trip as the year unfolds. We love the
fact that Garrett Gomez will ride and will include this one in our multi-race
plays.

FREE BRAVE (Cherokee Run) has never topped this kind. MORALIST (Talk is
Money) is quick and took his last turf try, but we can’t endorse him in this
spot. A STEEL TRAP (Northern Afleet) looks overmatched.