Noble Tune aims to hit right note in American Turf

I'll Call, who made a visually impressive debut at Keeneland April 5, was

entered in an allowance at Churchill Thursday but might go in the American Turf

instead. The George Strawbridge homebred, a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Smart

Bid, was much the best in that one-mile affair and hardly seems out of place

despite the rise in class. I'll Call adds Lasix for the first while retaining

Edgar Prado in the saddle.

Admiral Kitten, who took the El Joven at Retama Park in his turf debut last

November, recently missed in a photo against allowance foes on the Keeneland

turf and is clearly headed in the right direction for the hot Mike Maker barn.

Admiral Kitten's sire, Kitten's Joy, captured the 2004 American Turf en route to

champion turf male honors.

Other notables in the field are Anyriderill Do, Bashaar and War Dancer, all

of whom exit allowance wins; Channel Isle, the only one in the field with a

victory on the Matt Winn turf course; and Positively, who placed last season in

the Bashford Manor and Iroquois on Churchill's main track and was most recently

second in his turf debut. Fire Guard, a homebred racing for Juddmonte Farms, is

capable of better after a dull eighth in the Transylvania at Keeneland last

month.

The filly companion to the American Turf, the $150,000

Edgewood,

attracted a field of 11. The likely favorites in the 1 1/16-mile heat are Tokyo

Time, a neck second in the Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream in early March, and

the Santa Anita stakes winners Judy in Disguise and Birdlover. Judy in Disguise

finished third as the favorite in the Beaumont at Keeneland over Polytrack most

recently, while Birdlover just failed to last nine furlongs in the April 6

Providencia at Santa Anita, finishing second by a half-length.

La Senorita winner Kitten's Dumplings, second in the Florida Oaks two back,

merits respect on her best day, as does the multiple stakes-placed Wave Theory.

Broken Spell could be a longshot to watch as the Grade 1-placed filly missed by

only a neck the last time she ran on grass, in the P.G. Johnson at Saratoga

August 29.

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