Honeybee

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

The $100,000 Honeybee S. (G3) for three-year-old fillies, the Palm Sunday

feature at Oaklawn Park, offers an intriguing clash between the vastly improved

EIGHT BELLES (Unbridled's Song) and the undefeated Grade 2-winning PURE CLAN (Pure Prize). Though Eight Belles enters off an Oaklawn

record-breaking 13 1/2-length score in the second division of the Martha Washington S. on February 17,

the raw talent and versatility displayed by Pure Clan during her two-year-old

campaign suggest she is unlikely to go down without a fight in the 1 1/16-mile

contest.

Like Proper Reality and Lawyer Ron, Pure Clan is another in a long line of

solid young runners hailing from the Bob Holthus barn. The chestnut miss has

answered every question asked of her, winning all four career starts ranging

from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, on turf as well as dirt. She's also

overcome significant trouble in several starts, including bobbled starts and

wide trips. Perhaps most impressive is Pure Clan's ability to overcome a slow

pace. She earned a 103 BRIS Late Pace rating in winning a first-level allowance

over the Keeneland turf last autumn, and later earned a 107 Late Pace figure in winning the

Golden Rod S. (G2) at Churchill Downs going the Honeybee's 1 1/16-mile distance.

Pure Clan enters the Honeybee with a solid foundation of works and will get

the services of Julien Leparoux, who was aboard for her last three outings. The

Honeybee has attracted several fillies stretching out from sprints, so it

appears the pace will be sensible enough to give Pure Clan a fighting chance in

the stretch.

Enjoying a recency edge over Pure Clan is Eight Belles, who also demolished a

Fair Grounds allowance field by 15 lengths prior to her Martha Washington score.

The gray lass is undoubtedly at the top of her game now, and enters this race

with a :59 4/5 bullet five-furlong work over the Oaklawn strip on Monday.

Trainer Larry Jones already has Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) winner Proud Spell

(Proud Citizen) in his barn, and it would be no surprise if Eight Belles

enhances Jones's Kentucky Oaks (G1) prospects by notching her first graded

stakes win Sunday.

COZY MESA (Sky Mesa) ships to Oaklawn off two disappointing efforts against

graded stakes company at Gulfstream, but might have found those sprint races too

short for her liking. Her two wins last year in Kentucky were at a mile or

longer, so the added ground of the Honeybee might be all she needs to run an

improved race.

Three-time stakes winner KADIRA (Kafwain) is the likely pacesetter in the

Honeybee, but has done all of her best work in sprints. Her black-type triumphs

in the Bassinet S., Gowell S. and Dixie Belle S. all came at six furlongs, and

while it appears she can avoid an oppressively fast pace, she'll likely find the

top two difficult to fend off late.

The versatile VANCY PANTS (Van Nistelrooy) has run well on dirt, turf and synthetic, but will be tested for class in this spot. Her tendency to

drop far back early will leave her with much work to do.

Stakes-placed SALOMEA (Milwaukee Brew), a respectable third in her Oaklawn

debut in a second-level allowance, has surprisingly run her best races in

sprints despite being a daughter of a two-time Santa Anita H. (G1) winner. She

can crash the trifecta with improvement, but as is the case with others, she

appears a cut below the top players from a class perspective.