Clement L. Hirsch J

AMERICAN

GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

Undefeated four-year-old ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]) has dominated the West

Coast distaff division this year, and even traveled to Oaklawn Park to take the

Apple Blossom H. (G1) in her first start on a conventional dirt surface.

However, her last two wins didn't appear as easy as her previous victories and

we're going to take a shot at beating her in Saturday's $300,000 Clement L.

Hirsch H. (G2) going 1 1/16 miles over Del Mar's Polytrack.

TOUGH TIZ'S SIS (Tiznow) just missed by a half-length to Zenyatta in the

Vanity H. (G1) last out, and entered that one off wins in the eight-furlong

Harry Henson S. and 1 1/16-mile Hawthorne H. (G3). Heroine of last year's Lady's

Secret S. (G1), the Bob Baffert-trained four-year-old started the year with

seconds in the El Encino S. (G2) and Santa Maria H. (G1). Though she's never run

at Del Mar, Tough Tiz's Sis has posted a 5-3-0 line from eight tries at the

distance and she owns respectable BRIS numbers. The bay lass could be the

spoiler on Saturday with Aaron Gryder back in the irons.

Zenyatta has repelled all comers so far during her six-race career, including

reigning champion Ginger Punch (Awesome Again) in the Apple Blossom. She's held

off Tough Tiz's Sis both times they've met, but the margin of victory has been

greatly reduced. The John Shirreffs-conditioned dark bay could be vulnerable in

this spot, but would still need to regress a bit more to suffer her first

defeat. Nonetheless, we'll just tab for second under regular rider Mike Smith.

ROMANCE IS DIANE (In Excess [Ire]) held off Tough Tiz's Sis in the Bayakoa H.

(G2) in December, but has fallen short in her three races this year, two of

which came against Zenyatta. In her most recent race, the Grade 1-winning filly

rallied four and five wide to be third in the seven-furlong A Gleam H. (G2) and

could use the extra ground here to be closer at the end. The Mike Mitchell

charge will keep Rafael Bejarano aboard Saturday.

DAWN AFTER DAWN (Successful Appeal), SILVER SWALLOW (Alphabet Soup) and

SILVER Z (Cee's Tizzy) all have legitimate shots at the top three. Dawn After

Dawn added the La Canada S. (G2) to her line earlier in the season and placed in

her three subsequent efforts, including the nine-furlong Santa Margarita

Invitational H. (G1) and Hawthorne against Tough Tiz's Sis. Silver Swallow was

third in the Torrey Pines S. last September over Del Mar's Polytrack, and

was going well at the end to take down third in the Vanity last out. Silver Z

led by as much as 10 lengths in the Vanity but

weakened late to finish fourth. She could stick around again here for a share.

WEST COAST SWING (Gone West) has captured four of her five lifetime starts,

two of which came on Arlington Park's Polytrack, but has yet to face competition

of this caliber. We'll just watch for now. Both MODEL (Giant's Causeway) and

PLACID LAKE (Greenwood Lake) are taking class jumps in this spot and appear out

of their league. We can't recommend either.