Darley Debutante

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A full field of 12 juvenile fillies will square off in Saturday's $250,000

Darley Debutante S. (G1) and a heated pace duel appears likely. TELL A KELLY

(Tapit) launched a terrific rally on the far turn last time when breaking her

maiden at Del Mar, closing strongly past rivals in the stretch to win

going away by 2 1/2 lengths, and we'll tab the John Sadler-trained miss for top

honors here. The chestnut earned an encouraging 90 BRIS Speed rating for that

effort and will retain the services of Alonso Quinonez.

AVID (More Than Ready) is potentially the speed of the speed and looms as a

dangerous wire-to-wire contender. Trained by Richard Mandella, who doesn't often

crank up his debuters, the chestnut filly made an excellent first impression

when rolling on the front end at Del Mar on August 1, registering commendable

BRIS Speed and Pace numbers for the 2 1/4-length decision. She loses Rafael

Bejarano to likely favorite WICKEDLY PERFECT (Congrats), but Joel Rosario is a

more than capable replacement. We won't be surprised to see her lead all the

way.

Sorrento (G3) winner Wickedly Perfect is perfect from two starts, garnering

91 BRIS Speed ratings in both efforts, and shows a sharp six-furlong drill on

August 27 in

preparation for this start. Doug O'Neill excels with his youngsters

and his gray lass has the tactical speed to sit a perfect stalking trip before

pouncing. The probable favorite could prove us wrong.

IZSHELEGAL (Maria's Mon) has dropped both career starts, but she's given a

fine account of herself with a close second in the Landaluce S. and a third in the

Sorrento. The Terry Knight runner made up a lot of ground to finish a length

back of Wickedly Perfect last time and figures to be running late beneath Victor

Espinoza on Saturday. Consider for part. A Z WARRIOR (Bernardini) earned a top

BRIS Speed rating in her debut, a 91 for her wire-to-wire debut score at

Hollywood, and carried that form forward when second in the Sorrento last time,

offering a solid rally from just off the pace. The Bob Baffert-conditioned filly

figures to be forwardly placed from the start and could make her presence felt

turning for home.

SHE'LL HEIR (Wildcat Heir) has gained valuable stakes experience in her last

three starts and rates some exotics consideration at long odds. The Vladimir

Cerin trainee didn't receive the best draw at the rail, though.

SUGARINTHEMORNING (Candy Ride [Arg]) scored at first asking last time for Ron

McAnally, who rarely wins with firsters, and received a field-best 94 BRIS Speed

rating. She's eligible to outperform our expectations, but the California-bred

miss will face a serious class check in her first start against open rivals.

RIGOLETTA (Concerto) exits a nice win over maiden rivals on the Polytrack,

but we'll give her a race against stakes company. GONE REBEL (Macabe) will

likely add to the pace, but we can't envision her sustaining her speed. It would

be a surprise to see maidens RIGHTEOUS RENEE (Dixie Union), BIG TIZ (Tiznow) and

DISTANT GLOW (Decarchy) offer a serious challenge.