Maryland Sprint

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A field of eight will vie for top honors in the $100,000 Maryland Sprint H.

(G3) at Pimlico on Saturday. There is very little early speed in this

six-furlong dash, and we love the chances of RAVALO (Mutakddim) leading at every

call. The Donald Barr trainee turned into a high-quality sprinter in 2008,

winning five of his nine starts, including tallies in a quintet of stakes

events. The gelded bay should do as he pleases from the outside under John

Velazquez.

The talented AH DAY (Malibu Moon) looks like the biggest threat to our top

pick in here for King Leatherbury. The gelded six-year-old was an impressive

winner of the Toboggan H. (G3) in his seasonal debut three back, and while he

has yet to progress off that showing, we would not be surprised in the least

if he were to run a big one under Garrett Gomez.

Hard-knocking CELTIC INNIS (Yarrow Brae) has been a staple of Maryland sprint

races for the better part of four years, racking up more than $510,000 in

earnings along the way. He was fifth in this event two years prior, and fourth

last year, so we will use him to complete the trifecta on this occasion.

SILVER EDITION (Silver Deputy) is the only other horse in the field capable

of leading early for D. Wayne Lukas, so we must respect the

four-year-old some on that basis alone. The colt ran arguably his best race to

date over this oval last campaign, recording a 104 BRIS Speed figure, and it

would be unwise to dismiss the bay beneath Julien Leparoux.

TORPEDO RUN (Langfuhr) is in career form, winning three straight, and the

four-year-old has posted respectable BRIS Speed numbers most recently, but he's

not a true sprinter and has never proven to be graded stakes quality for Gary

Capuano. While we'll dabble with the Kentucky-bred in the gimmicks, we can't see

him winning this. GRAND TRAVERSE (Pioneering) has run first or second in five straight and has

earned 100+ BRIS Speed numbers twice as of late, so we'll toss him in the

gimmicks.

WEST COAST FLIER (West Acre) drew the rail and will likely have to be sent

from the opening bell for trainer Gary Contessa. The $30,000 claim set a

pressured pace in the Toboggan two back before fading and he's in great form,

but we don't envision this one putting away our top pick in the lane. Edgar

Prado will be in the irons. SPORTY BOY (Behrens) was claimed in four straight races prior to his

third-place showing last out, and he simply can't be endorsed due to his low

Speed numbers and the weak foes that he has faced.