Fall Highweight (G3)

The Fall Highweight H. (G3), which celebrates the era when all

good horses carried a lot more weight than they do today, was

cancelled Thursday and the 91st running will now be held on

Sunday with a field of nine sprinters carrying unusually lofty

weight assignments. We'll go with the improving THUNDER TOUCH (Gulch),

who gets in under an impost of 126 pounds.

Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, Thunder Touch has made steady

progress since returning from a freshening early in the summer,

recording a pair of wins, two seconds and a third from five

attempts in allowance company. He comes off a nice win at 6 1/2

furlongs in which he closed through the stretch for the half-length

score, and earned his third straight 102 BRIS Late Pace figure.

The improving three-year-old has earned BRIS Speed ratings of 104

in two of his last three outings and gets the dangerous Rafael

Bejarano in the saddle. Thunder Touch can parlay a stalk-and-pounce

trip into a win.

New York-bred FRIENDLY ISLAND (Crafty Friend) owns the Speed

ratings to be a serious factor but will be testing open stakes

company for the first time. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the

chestnut three-year-old has won his last four and has regular

pilot John Velazquez up. He should be a pace presence from the

start and could last a long way on the front end.

PAPUA (Louis Quatorze) should benefit from a pace battle up

front and jockey Javier Castellano will be able to get a good

position from the far outside post. The Michael Hushion trainee

owns some back class, recording a fast-finishing second in this

event last year, and comes off a solid late-running effort in his

last start. We'll use him in the exotics and respect him as a win

candidate.

PRIMARY SUSPECT (Hennessy) merits consideration for it all in

his first graded attempt. Never off the board in five starts (3-1-1),

he recorded a 109 Speed rating last time and has shown the

ability to rate effectively while displaying his high-class speed.

The Mark Hennig trainee owns terrific BRIS E2 Pace numbers, but

he has caught small fields in his last two and is light on

seasoning under a 126-pound impost. We respect his chances and

will use him on the bottom of some gimmicks, but we'll try to

beat him at possible underlaid odds.

DON SIX (Wild Escapade) likes the main track at the Big A and

will likely be on the fly from the start. He could prove tough at

long odds if able to clear on the front end. MEDALLIST (Touch

Gold) is a confirmed speedster but has been able to dominate on

the front end at longer distances. He faces some ultra-quick six-furlong

specialists here and might face too much early pressure.

EAVESDROPPER (Kingmambo) enters off some dull performances and is

unplaced in his only previous start over the Big A main track.

UNCLE CAMIE (Abaginone) will likely prompt the early going but

may find these rivals a little too salty in his graded bow. MAX'S

BUDDY (Irish River [Fr]) will need to improve significantly to

challenge.