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TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS
A well-matched field of eight will line up to contest the $150,000 Matchmaker S. (G3) over the Monmouth Park turf course on Sunday. This 1 1/8-mile affair lacks a clear-cut choice, and we'll side with the improving MASSEUSE (Dynaformer) for the top spot. Trained by turf wizard James Toner, the four-year-old filly impressed in her seasonal bow when overcoming traffic issues to take an allowance race at Belmont and should be more fit for this one. Excluding her debut, the well-bred lass has won three of four turf starts, with a narrow defeat coming in the Virginia Oaks. Edgar Prado retains the mount, only adding to the positives. READY'S GAL (More Than Ready) hails from top connections and is the clear speed of the field, leading us to believe that she'll be there with a fighting chance in the end. The Todd Pletcher charge exits a decent third in the Miss Liberty S. at Meadowlands, but really impressed three back with an authoritative tally in the Hillsborough S. (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs. The chestnut four-year-old will be piloted by John Velazquez and is surely one to watch from the outset. HUMORISTIC (Sefapiano) has been settling for minor awards as of late but faces a slightly easier field than she's been accustomed to in recent outings. The five-year-old bay drew the rail and owns handy tactical speed, meaning she should enjoy an excellent trip beneath Jose Velez Jr. Conditioned by Hamilton Smith, the Bluegrass-bred mare should be in the mix from the outset, and possibly could get her picture taken with her best. SMART N CLASSY (Smart Strike) is essentially a one-run closer and finds a field with not much early pace to set up her late kick. Nonetheless, the six-year-old has been in the money in seven of eight lifetime starts over this lawn and appears to be in solid form for trainer John Tammaro III. We're not high on slotting this horse in the win spot, but we do endorse her chances to complete the exotic wagers. TISKET A TASKET (Broad Brush) was a strong closing second in the aforementioned Miss Liberty S. for trainer Stanley Hough but will need to improve off that effort to challenge this bunch. The dark bay has faced some nice horses in recent starts and held her own, but lacks the affinity for crossing the wire first. The five-year-old could be used on the lower rungs of the gimmicks. MARCHONIN (Dixieland Band) has displayed inconsistency in 2006 following a superb sophomore campaign, so we'll have to wait for this one to round back into a positive form cycle. FRAMBOISE (GB) (Diesis [GB]) has never faced this type and is drawn on the far outside, leading us to believe she'll be hard pressed to finish in the top four. PROP ME UP (Reparations) has the services of perennial leading Monmouth rider Joe Bravo but is making just her second lifetime grass outing. We like the connections and the current form of the miss, but we'll leave her off our tickets.
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