Palomar BC

A field of 12, including two also-eligibles, is set to line up in Saturday's

$200,000 Palomar Breeders' Cup H. (G2) at Del Mar, and most appear to have a

chance in this 8 1/2-furlong turf test. Considering that, we're going with MEA DOMINA (Dance Brightly) to come out on top here.

The lightly raced five-year-old mare has won six of her 12 lifetime starts,

and placed in four others. In her most recent effort, the Osunitas H., the bay

returned off a nine-month layoff to finish third, just missing second by a nose.

She ended her four-year-old season with an easy, front-running victory in the

Las Palmas H. (G2) at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet, and has won on the Del

Mar grass before. The Ron McAnally-trained Grade 1 winner owns the numbers to

get the job done here against these rivals, and will keep Tyler Baze aboard.

Trained by Darrell Vienna, STAR PARADE (Arg) (Parade Marshal) has finished

in the money in her past three races, including a 1 3/4-length victory in the

Hawthorne H. (G3) at Hollywood Park. Those races did come over the main track,

but Star Parade posted a sharp third in the Las Palmas against Mea Domina and

could challenge with the extra bit of ground here considering she owns six wins

at 8 1/2 furlongs on the dirt. The seven-year-old mare has been working very

well over Del Mar's turf, getting six furlongs in 1:12 2/5 last Saturday, and

might surprise at a fair price. Regular rider Martin Pedroza has the call.

After a four-month freshening, BERBATIM (Bernstein) returns to the longer distances she seems to prefer

here. The dark bay miss captured the Providencia S. (G3) last year at nine

furlongs before running a good fourth in the Del Mar Oaks (G1). She was switched

to the main track and cut back to seven furlongs to end her sophomore season,

and made her 2006 bow in a 6 1/2-furlong turf event at Santa Anita. Berbatim

then stretched out to a mile in her next two, running a close

fifth after dueling early and then taking her most recent race in April on the front by 2

1/4 lengths. If the Richard Mandella charge gets away unchallenged on the front

end in this one, she could find herself in the winner's circle under Aaron

Gryder.

POLYFIRST (Fr) (Poliglote) will be making her U.S. graded debut in this spot,

but captured the Osunitas last out over our top pick with a game late bid. Also

trained by Mandella, the five-year-old bay has been competitive in all of her

starts since coming stateside and seems to have a found a good place to add more

black-type to her record. ISLAND FASHION (Petionville) was tough racing against

her own gender last year, and returned under a new trainer for this season. Most

recently, the now Julio Canani-trained gray was third by just a neck in the John

C. Mabee H. (G1) and could threaten for it all while making her second start off

a break.

SHINING ENERGY (Rahy) captured the Gamely Breeders' Cup S. (G1) in May and

was sixth by just three lengths in the CashCall Mile Invitational S. (G3) in her

last one. The Canani charge owns a win over the course, and has been going well

of late. She'll be a menace in the top three. THREE DEGREES (Ire) (Singspiel

[Ire]) has run second in both of her starts at Del Mar, including the Osunitas

most recently. Second by a half-length in the Del Mar Oaks last year, the Paddy

Gallagher trainee will be tough to deny in the exotics here. AMORAMA (Fr) (Sri Pekan)

has been a close fourth in her past three races, and could finally get back into

the gimmicks here.

SINGALONG (GB) (Singspiel [Ire]) has won four of her past five, including the

Redondo Beach S., and will be making her graded debut here. She could earn part,

but might need a race off the slight layoff before taking this jump in class.

SHARP LISA (Dixieland Band) has proven she can handle both surfaces, but might

not be quite up to this level on the turf. We'll let her beat us.

BOND DEAL (Ire) (Pivotal) and LOCK AND KEY (Ire) (Key of Luck) will have to

draw in to this race. Both own the numbers to challenge, but Bond Deal might

have a better chance of getting into the exotics than Lock and Key, who will be

stretching out past a mile here for the first time.