Goodwood

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A well-matched field of seven will vie in the $250,000 Goodwood S. (G1) at
Hollywood on Saturday, and a case can be made for each of the runners in this
group.

We’ve long liked Grade 2 victor CROWN OF THORNS (Repent) and will give the
smart five-year-old the nod on this day. The 2009 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1)
runner-up returned from a lengthy break to put in yet another sharp performance,
rallying well to be a fine second in the Pat O’Brien S. (G1) at Del Mar.
Trained by Richard Mandella, the bay is proven at two turns and has trained
forwardly in advance of this, so we envision a stalk-and-pounce trip for the
Florida-bred beneath Rafael Bejarano.

Unbeaten dynamo TWIRLING CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]) has toyed with four fields
to begin his career for trainer John Sadler and could be the one with another
move forward. The talented sophomore has superb tactical speed and a huge closing
kick, but he has yet to be tested and might be worth trying to beat if he’s
odds-on. The Kentucky-bred will get Mike Smith, who left a dual Grade 1 winner
to ride this one.

AWESOME GEM (Awesome Again) took the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1)
over this surface two back, and we can dismiss his poor finish position in the
Pacific Classic (G1) most recently. The gelded chestnut is far from a win
machine, but he intrigues us in here and we might toss him in some of our
multi-race tickets.

DAKOTA PHONE (Zavata) finally broke through two back with a graded win when
capturing the San Diego H. (G2) for conditioner Jerry Hollendorfer. The gelding
has essentially become a one-run closer, and in a field with little early pace,
we think he’ll have a tough time running down the whole group. The bay must be
used in the gimmicks, though. Pacific Classic runner-up CROWDED HOUSE (GB) (Rainbow Quest) seems to be
rounding into peak form and should appreciate this trip, but his lack of career
wins combined with his late running style have us looking elsewhere.

Two-time Pacific Classic hero RICHARD’S KID (Lemon Drop Kid)
was a very solid third in this race last season, earning a whopping 123 BRIS
Late Pace number in the process. The synthetic-loving five-year-old has not
earned very strong BRIS Speed numbers in his last three and we’d prefer his
inclusion to the exotics. Grade 2 winner INFORMED (Tiznow) has failed to hit the board in
three consecutive outings but likes this oval and is well drawn to save ground
on the rail for trainer Doug O’Neill. The six-year-old will likely be involved
from the outset in here, and if he endures a comfortable trip, he could be a
danger in the lane.