Del Mar Derby

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Oceanside S. star TWIRLING CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]) heads the field for

Sunday's $300,000 Del Mar Derby (G2) and we have no choice but to side with the

likely heavy favorite in here. Conditioned by John Sadler, the mega-talented

dark bay is unbeaten in three career tries, the last pair by comfortable

margins, and has smoked a pair of morning bullets in preparation of his graded

debut. Joel Rosario has the call atop the top prospect.

La Jolla H. (G2) runner-up KID EDWARD (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]) has never run a

bad one and looms as the most likely danger to the top pick for trainer James

Cassidy. The steadily improving sophomore has improved his BRIS Speed number

with each start and owns a nice closing punch to go with a cozy rail impost.

If the favorite falters, we expect this one to be the winner for a barn that has

had a superb meeting.

Swaps S. (G2) third SUMMER MOVIE (Holy Bull) broke slowly and was a belated

fourth in the La Jolla H. (G2) on this turf course most recently, but he looks

like a live exotics threat in this field. The Art Sherman trainee has good

tactical speed and a nice turn of foot, so we think he'll be able to parlay a

nice trip into another graded placing.

ROYAL F J (Royal Academy) finally broke through last out, and did so in a big

way, when demolishing a maiden group for Jack Carava. The ultra-consistent

gelding has only been out of the top three on one occasion, never on the green,

and this rise in class might not be as big as it normally would be. We'll give

the chestnut a top-three chance with Rafael Bejarano.

FANTASTIC PICK (GB) (Fantastic Light) has won two in succession with the

addition of blinkers, but he still hasn't beaten much and would be a surprise in

here for James Lloyd. We won't completely discount the gelding for a minor award, though. JAIRZINHO's (GB) (Royal Applause [GB])

recent form doesn't elicit excitement.