Illinois Derby J

AMERICAN

GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

A surprisingly compact field of seven will go postward in the $500,000

Illinois Derby (G2) at Hawthorne on Saturday. Likely favorite DENIS OF CORK

(Harlan's Holiday) has been brilliant in running his unbeaten streak to three,

and we feel that the David Carroll charge will be too tough for this group. The

bay sophomore was impressive in taking his debut at Churchill last autumn and

returned with a gritty allowance score, prior to a visually impressive 2

1/4-length romp in the Southwest S. (G3). The Florida-bred has good tactical

speed and has trained well leading up to this event, so we see no reason why he

won't keep his perfect mark intact under Julien Leparoux.

Z HUMOR (Distorted Humor), winner of the Delta Jackpot S. (G3) last December

for conditioner Bill Mott, will be making his third start in 2008 and could post

a big effort in this 1 1/8-mile contest. The talented bay began this campaign with a poor

fifth-place effort in the Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa but rebounded with a useful

closing run in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2) to be fourth, and he should build

on that showing. The Kentucky-bred shows three bullet works in advance of this

and should endure a dream trip from just off the pace under Rene Douglas.

Remsen S. (G2) runner-up ATONED (Repent) returned off the bench with a game

second-place showing in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) most recently and will be a big

threat with his best for Todd Pletcher. The Florida-bred has been first or

second in seven of eight career tries and should love the added ground in

here, but we're not sure about the decision of jockey John Velazquez, who has

ridden him in his last two starts, to ride

elsewhere on this day, so we'll keep this one in third against this group. Joe

Bravo has the assignment.

REAL APPEAL (Successful Appeal) returned from a layoff to soundly defeat his

rivals in the Texas Heritage S., and now steps up in class for Tom Amoss. The

gray colt was a solid fourth in the Kentucky Jockey Club S. (G2) to conclude his

juvenile campaign, and although that race hasn't been the strongest going

forward, it proved that this three-year-old could fire against solid

competition. We don't envision the Kentucky-bred winning this race, but the

right scenario could find him sneaking into the top three beneath James Graham.

GOLDEN SPIKES (Seeking the Gold) is bred for greatness but has yet to live up

to his lineage to this point for Marty Wolfson. The bay colt was a good second

to subsequent Grade 2 winner Cool Coal Man (Mineshaft) two races back, but was

too headstrong when tiring to fifth in the Fountain of Youth most

recently. The sophomore will remove blinkers for this test in hopes of settling

early, and if he does, he could be in the mix late at a square price. Timothy

Thornton has the call.

RECAPTURETHEGLORY (Cherokee Run) is still eligible for a first-level

allowance race and would need vast improvement to have a say in this outcome.

Illinois stakes winner INSTILL (Proud Citizen) comes into this race in

questionable form and would be a major surprise for John Wainwright.