King's Bishop J

Two highly talented horses will go postward at Saratoga on Saturday as HENNY

HUGHES (Hennessy) and SONGSTER (Songandaprayer) face off in the $250,000 King's

Bishop S. (G1). Both look evenly matched, but Songster has more starts

under his girth while Henny Hughes has only one outing since last year's Breeders' Cup

Juvenile (G1). Because Songster is a little more battle tested, we'll give him

the slight edge here.

The winner of both the Woody Stephens Breeders' Cup S. (G2) and Hirsch Jacobs

S. (G3) this year, Songster comes off a 1 1/2-length second to COURT FOLLY (Royal Academy)

after being caught in the stretch of the Amsterdam S. (G2) last out. Since that

race was just a prep for the King's Bishop, we won't put a

whole lot of focus on that effort. The black colt drilled four furlongs in :47

1/5 on August 18 in his last workout for this, and the Tom Albertrani-conditioned

sophomore looks in good shape with Edgar Prado returning to the saddle.

Henny Hughes came back off his layoff in excellent form, easily capturing the

Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup S. (G3) by 10 lengths while earning a 110 BRIS Speed

figure. He has been training well for Kiaran McLaughlin and has never finished

worse than second in seven career starts. Henny Hughes will put up a good effort

in this seven-furlong affair as John Velazquez takes the irons for the first time.

Court Folly's wait-and-see running style should benefit him in a contest that

could open with quick fractions. He captured the Amsterdam in his

last effort after sitting off the pace and finishing strong in the straightaway.

Trainer Ian Wilkes brings back jockey Calvin Borel to pilot the bay gelding. Two

back, Court Folly finished up well after being taken seven wide in a Churchill Downs

allowance and could emulate that performance here.

Although STAR DABBLER (Saint Ballado) is making his stakes debut for trainer

Michael Hushion, the bay colt impressed when breaking his maiden two back by

seven lengths before turning around to defeat allowance/optional claiming rivals by

2 1/2 lengths last out. He earned Speed figures of 102 and 105, respectively, for those efforts

and, if he improves off those, should pay well at 10-1 on the morning line.

LEWIS MICHAEL (Rahy), who is cross-entered and expected to run in Saturday's

St. Louis Derby, would be racing at less than a mile for the first time in his career and

could be

another gunning for the early advantage, although he has had some

success in the past coming from off the pace. The Wayne Catalano-conditioned bay

has done well on the turf, but comes off a dominant 8 1/4-length victory against allowance company over Arlington Park's main track and would

be interesting to watch in this spot.

MASTER OF DISASTER (Dance Master) could try for the early lead, but the six-furlong specialist

might be hindered by the extra distance. Still, he

finished up well when scoring in a six-furlong allowance/optional claimer two back and could hold on to round out the exotics. MACH RIDE

(Pentelicus) exits a second to Too Much Bling (Rubiano) in the Carry Back S.

(G2) last out and posted a two-length score in the Valid Video prior to

that. However, this is a step up in class, and we will

overlook this time.

EL NINO (Storm Cat) got the early lead in the Amsterdam, but fell off as he

tired in the latter stages of the race. He still managed to hold on for third,

but looks overmatched here. QUIETLY GO (Real Quiet) switches back to the main

track after a disappointing seventh on the turf at Del Mar in his last start, but

lacks the qualifications for this Grade 1.

LAPTOP COMPUTER (Notebook) could attempt to make an early go of it, but should be

caught in the later stages of the race. GARIBALDI (Golden Missile) was claimed

off his last start and will be outclassed.