Lane's End probables include West Side Bernie, Bittel Road

The list of three-year-olds probable for Saturday's $500,000 Lane's End S.

(G2) at Turfway Park has taken shape, according to Turfway Stakes Coordinator

Tia Borgemenke. Entries will be drawn Wednesday during the annual Call to the

Post Luncheon.

Appearing likely for the Kentucky Derby (G1) prep going 1 1/8 miles are A. P.

CARDINAL (A.P. Indy), BITTEL ROAD (Stormy Atlantic), DYNAMITE BOB (Malabar

Gold), FLYING PRIVATE (Fusaichi Pegasus), HOLD ME BACK (Giant's Causeway), JACK

SPRATT (Candy Ride [Arg]), LOCH DUBH (Friends Lake), ORTHODOX (Pulpit), PARADE

CLOWN (Distorted Humor) and WEST SIDE BERNIE (Bernstein). PROCEED BEE

(Bernstein), who won the February 28 John Battaglia Memorial over Turfway's

Polytrack, is on the fence between the Lane's End and the undercard Rushaway S.,

run at 1 1/16 miles.

West Side Bernie won the Kentucky Cup Juvenile (G3) at Turfway Park in

September and comes into the Lane's End off a third-place finish in the January

31 Holy Bull S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

"(In the Holy Bull), two longshots got out there and kept on running,"

trainer Kelly Breen said. "Bernie came from next to last, so he ran his race,

but nobody that day came from worse than third to win, so if you take that into

consideration, he ran a pretty powerful race that day."

If all goes according to plan, West Side Bernie will go straight from the

Lane's End to the Kentucky Derby.

"I think running well at Delta Downs (runner-up finish in the $750,000 Delta

Jackpot S. [G3]) gave him enough earnings that I could take my time with him,"

Breen explained. "His next race for me would be the Kentucky Derby. I would not

run him again. I would save him, and I think that would help him. I'm looking

for him to run a big race on Saturday. He's matured a lot. He's more focused

now. He's running straight."

West Side Bernie vanned up from Florida on Friday, arrived at Turfway

Saturday morning, and jogged over the track on Sunday.

"We wanted to make sure he got over the trip and get his body moving," Breen

explained. "He looks good, eating well -- all the things you want them to do

coming out of a trip."

With Breen aboard, West Side Bernie galloped a little over a mile Monday

morning, a routine he will continue through the week. He worked four furlongs in

:48 4/5 last Thursday at Palm Meadows, fourth fastest of 21 at the distance, and

will not breeze again before the race.

Edgar Prado, who won the Lane's End last year with Adriano (A.P. Indy), has

the mount on West Side Bernie.

While the Lane's End will serve as a key test for several entrants, Bittel

Road comes to Turfway having already tangled with two of the best horses on the

West Coast. The dark bay exits solid fourth-place finishes in the CashCall

Futurity (G1) last December and the Robert B. Lewis S. (G2) at Santa Anita on

February 7. In the Lewis, Bittel Road was beaten just two lengths by Pioneerof

the Nile (Empire Maker), who came back to capture the San Felipe S. (G2) on

Saturday. Third in the Lewis was I Want Revenge (Stephen Got Even), who followed

with a blowout 8 1/2-length win in Aqueduct's Gotham S. (G3) on March 7.

"The form of his races has been holding up well," trainer Todd Pletcher said.

"He's been racing against Pioneerof the Nile and I Want Revenge, but the key now

will be to see how he transfers his races at Hollywood and Santa Anita to what

is a little different synthetic surface at Turfway Park."

A good race in the Lane's End could keep Bittel Road firmly on the Kentucky

Derby trail. Pletcher has named Garrett Gomez, winner of the 2008 Eclipse Award

as outstanding jockey, to ride on Saturday.

"We're going to see how this race goes, and then we can decide whether to

train him up to the Kentucky Derby or run once more in the Lexington S. ([G2] at

Keeneland)," Pletcher said. "I think (Bittel Road) is versatile. He can adapt to

any pace scenario. We'll see how the race looks on paper, then put Garrett up

and let him make the decisions out there."

Bittel Road will ship from California to Kentucky on Wednesday.

After setting the early pace but tiring to fifth in the Sam F. Davis S. (G3)

at Tampa Bay Downs on February 14, A. P. Cardinal will try an all-weather

surface for the first time in the Lane's End.

"It's an unknown for sure," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin admitted. "We think he

has a high knee action and might like the Polytrack, so we're going to give it a

try. He didn't like Tampa -- he was spinning his wheels there. The timing of the

Lane's End is just right, so we're going to go there."

A. P. Cardinal will ship to Turfway from his Florida base on Thursday.

FITZ JUST RIGHT (Seattle Fitz [Arg]), who will compete in the $150,000

Bourbonette Oaks (G3) on the Lane's End undercard, will be on the same flight

to Kentucky as A. P. Cardinal. Winner of the O.B.S. Filly Championship at Ocala

on February 16, Fitz Just Right was backed at 22-1 in the recently concluded

Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.

The favorite in the Oaks advance wagering was Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union)

who, like Fitz Just Right, is trained by McLaughlin and owned by Terry Finley's

West Point Thoroughbreds. A good showing in the Bourbonette could see both

fillies going in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 1.

"It's possible, if Fitz Just Right were to win the Bourbonette and if Terry

Finley wants to run two in the Oaks," McLaughlin said. "She's three-for-four

lifetime and just won over a synthetic surface at OBS, so now we want to try and

get her some graded earnings."

A total of eight sophomore fillies are considered probable for the

Bourbonette at this stage. Undefeated INSTRUMENTALIST (Bernstein) will be making

her stakes debut in the mile test, while WALLOON (Alphabet Soup) will be looking

to build on her 3 1/4-length victory in the Valdale S. last out.

The $100,000 Rushaway will be held earlier on the card, and trainer Jimmy

Baker removed Grade 3-placed Gresham (Seeking the Gold) from consideration for

the 1 1/16-mile event on Tuesday.

The seven probables for the Rushaway are NO INFLATION (Repriced), a recent 4

1/4-length allowance scorer; John Battaglia Memorial third-placer TOCCET ROCKET

(Toccet); last-out maiden winner ZIEGFELD (Elusive Quality); DUELING ALEX

(Medaglia d'Oro); FITZALSEW (Seattle Fitz [Arg]); NINTH CLIENT (Malibu Moon);

and SUNDAY'S BABY GRAND (Sunday Break [Jpn]).