Excelsior

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

The second leg of the all-stakes pick four at Aqueduct on Saturday is the

$200,000 Excelsior H. (G3) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles, and bettors might

decide to go several deep here. Our choice to post a mild upset is the South

American import KURBAT (Chi) (Mon Pote Le Gitan), who made a strong impression

when making his American debut in early February.

Winner of his native land's St Leger (Chi-G1) equivalent in late 2007, Kurbat

made only three more starts there prior to his importation some time last year.

His stateside debut ultimately came in an allowance/optional claimer at Laurel,

and the gelding was up to the task in winning by three lengths while setting a

new track record for the little-used distance of about 1 1/16 miles. We like how

he rated close to the pace that day, and with a dearth of speed in the

Excelsior, that ability could give him the jump on many of his rivals.

BARRIER REEF (Mizzen Mast) exits victories in the Evening Attire H. and

Stymie H. on the inner dirt, and might go favored here. His recent form has been

excellent, though one hard-to-overlook fact is that all five of his career wins

have come on the inner dirt, and not all form is easily transferred from that

surface to the main dirt oval. Thus, he's probably worth trying to beat at short

odds.

REAL MERCHANT (Chi) (Merchant of Venice) was a distant second to Barrier Reef

in the Stymie. Like Kurbat, he hails from Chile, and the Stymie was only his

second start in this country. He encountered slop in his American debut in

November when a distant third in the Alysheba S. at the Meadowlands, but

improved considerably last time. Interestingly, Kurbat and Real Merchant faced

each other at least three times down in Chile, with Kurbat gaining the upper

hand in their last two meetings.

TRUE RESURGENCE (Yes It's True) was on or near the lead in the Stymie before

tiring to third, and should be one of the few attending the pace here. Indeed,

GIANT MOON (Giant's Causeway) appears to be the only other confirmed speed. We

prefer True Resurgence to outlast that rival, and with the Aqueduct surface

typically playing fast on Wood Memorial Day, he might very well last well into

the stretch.

This is the kind of placement ATONED (Repent) should excel at, but the

four-year-old has a history of falling short and settling for minor awards. That

was not the case in the Pegasus S. (G3) last fall, though we'd be surprised if

the pace will be as swift as what he saw that evening. COOL COAL MAN

(Mineshaft), another with back class, has won at a lot of places, but has shown

a particular affinity for Gulfstream Park, where he captured the 2008 Fountain

of Youth S. (G2). His previous attempts in New York leave something to be

desired, though. ALAAZO (A.P. Indy) makes his fourth start since moving to the

Todd Pletcher barn, and the four-year-old just passed his second allowance

condition by rallying from off a slow pace to win by two lengths. He garnered an

impressive 115 BRIS Late Pace rating for that, so he's not a total tossout if

the fractions are tepid.