Palos Verdes

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) upsetter DANCING IN SILKS (Black Minnaloushe) will

make his seasonal bow over his favorite track in Saturday's $150,000 Palos

Verdes H. (G2) at Santa Anita. Conditioned by Carla Gaines, the consistently

good speedster drew the rail in here, and the six-furlong specialist will

actually drop three pounds from the 126 pounds he carried in the Breeders' Cup.

A bullet five-furlong work, along with the fact that Joel Rosario retains the mount,

is enough for us to tab the likely favorite.

We loved the closing punch displayed by PAUL'S HOPE (Lake Austin) in a recent

allowance tussle, and we think it's the right time for the Jerry Hollendorfer

pupil to try graded foes. The gelded six-year-old loves this oval and placed in

a pair of graded sprints over this strip last season, earning top-notch BRIS

Speed ratings in the process, and we expect another big showing from him. The

bay's affinity for settling for minor awards makes him more likely to grab a

small piece rather than the big prize, so we'll select him for the bottom of the

exacta.

SUPREME SUMMIT (Cactus Ridge) was somewhat unlucky not to be in the money in

the recent Malibu S. (G1) after a poor break for Doug O'Neill, and a clean start

might be all the four-year-old needs in order to get a clear run on the leaders

late beneath Rafael Bejarano. The lightly-raced talent won the first two starts

of his career in impressive fashion on this oval and should be poised for a big

showing. We'll include the dark bay in everything.

Malibu star M ONE RIFLE (One Man Army) was a close second to our top pick on

California Cup Day and certainly has the ability to be a big player in here. The

Bruce Headley trainee has very good early speed but might revert to rating

tactics in here as the horse to his inside, EZ DREAMER (In Excess [Ire]),

figures to go from the opening bell. We're not as thrilled about the gelding as

a pace presser, as this field will not allow him to loaf on the front, and would

like him better at seven furlongs as well (winless in two attempts at this

distance). We'll take a stand against him on the win end.

The aforementioned EZ Dreamer, who is cross-entered to Saturday's G Malleah

H. at Turf Paradise, could be in the right spot to take this field

a long way on the front for Kory Owens. The talented and versatile Arizona-bred

finished a commendable third in his lone all-weather attempt and comes in off

a sharp score. Speed hasn't been holding well during this meeting, but he may be

good enough presently to be close at the wire. Alex Solis will be aboard. Vernon

O. Underwood S. (G3) upsetter KINSALE KING (Yankee Victor) will make his first

start since earning his first graded score in December and returns to the site

that saw him break his maiden. The fleet five-year-old has gotten away with some

moderate splits in each of his last two victories, and with little chance of

that occurring in here, we're not sure if the gelding can beat this field from

well off the early splits. Martin Garcia will ride.

Smile Sprint H. (G2) upsetter EATON'S GIFT (Johannesburg) has not raced since

August and could be part of a furious early tempo with the addition of blinkers

in his first go for Mike Mitchell. We will go against him in this demanding

spot. The Jack Carava-trained QUIETLY MINE (Belong to Me) has never been worse

than second in a trio of synthetic tries, but he looks a cut below these to us.

VENTANA (Toccet) would be a big surprise from the outside post.