Kelso

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

West Coast invader AFTER MARKET (Storm Cat) will lead a field of 11 to post

in the $250,000 Kelso H. (G2) over the Belmont lawn on Saturday. The multiple

Grade 1 star, who has reeled off four wins in succession, towers over this group

from a class standpoint and we have no reason to look elsewhere for the winner.

Conditioned by John Shirreffs, the streaking four-year-old has been simply

dominant on the West Coast in 2007 and should have little trouble with this

overmatched group. The dark bay is using this race as a prep for the

Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) on October 27, but it's likely that something even a

little less than his best will be good enough here. Expect a stalk-and-pounce

trip under Alex Solis.

ENGLISH COLONY (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]) has posted four wins in a row

and will be the recipient of an 11-pound weight break from the sure favorite,

but it's hard to envision him with anything better than a runner-up effort in

this spot. The Angel Penna pupil has won his four starts sprinting on the green

versus mainly three-year-olds, but his convincing wins and tactical speed should

set him up nicely in this one-turn event. Cornelio Velasquez will pilot the

sophomore.

TRIPPI'S STORM (Trippi) has really improved with the switch to the lawn for

Stanley Hough, and the in-form gelding could challenge for a top three slot on

this occasion. The four-year-old, who was second in the Bowling Green H. (G2)

and third in the Sword Dancer Invitational S. (G1), will be cutting back to

one-turn racing after contesting marathon events in his last few outings,

but we see that as a positive on this day. Javier Castellano will guide the

likely stalker.

STRIKE A DEAL (Smart Strike) has never been worse than third on the green,

never finishing more than 1 1/2 lengths shy of the win, for Alan Goldberg. The

bay colt will face elders for the initial time, something that we're not fond

of, but he's maintained excellent form while proving he can handle various

distances. The sophomore was a game winner of the Straight Deal S. over this

course, so he's a top three candidate. Ramon Dominguez will be in the irons.

KAVAFI (Ire) (Zafonic) exits a Group 3 tally at Deauville for a smart

conditioner, but we can't get a true gauge on how talented the five-year-old is

until we see him run on this soil. An average horse for much of his career, the

dark bay has captured three of six events in 2007 and could be reaching his peak

in advance of this. With that said, we can't get too overzealous on him in this

spot beneath Eibar Coa.

PALACE EPISODE (Machivellian) has not regained the swagger that earned him

Group 1 glory in 2005, and although he was fairly impressive in defeating

allowance/optional claiming foes at Saratoga last out, we can't endorse him for anything but a

minor check in here. JET PROPULSION (Double Honor) is almost surely going to

have the lead early and could hang around for a while if allowed to dictate a

tepid pace, but his chances at a win seem small.

WOODLANDER (Forestry) was second in the Poker over this surface three back at

big odds and faces a much deeper group on this occasion. The late runner has

failed to hit the board in his last two and will be hard pressed to do so in

this spot. ICY ATLANTIC (Stormy Atlantic) is winless in four tries at Belmont

and has had difficulty at times with lesser competition than this, so we'll take a firm

stand against the Grade 2 victor.

GOT THE LAST LAUGH (Distorted Humor) hails from impeccable connections (Zayat

Stables/Bill Mott) and

comes off a win on the green, but we'd be shocked if he beat half of the field

in here.

ART MASTER (Royal Academy) would have been a must-use in the

vertical exotics, but trainer Bobby Frankel indicated that he'd be scratched

after sustaining a setback.