Richter Scale

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A compact field of six will travel seven panels on the Gulfstream main oval

in Saturday's $150,000 Richter Scale Sprint S. (G2). The top attraction is Cigar Mile H. (G1) victor TALE OF EKATI (Tale of the Cat), and the

Barclay Tagg trainee looks like too much class for this field. The bay

Kentucky-bred, who grabbed the Wood Memorial S. (G1) last spring, has run

his best races around one turn and has been training forwardly in preparation

for

this. Tagg has been ice-cold at this meet and his colt might be a bit rusty off

the bench, but he's still the one to beat. Edgar Prado will retain the mount.

We've always liked BOLD START (Jump Start) and we feel that the five-year-old

will break though with a win in a race like this before long. The Ken McPeek

charge finished a solid second behind a good one in Cool Coal Man (Mineshaft) while readying for this start, and he shows a solid 6-2-2-1

mark at this venue. His tactical speed and ability to

run big at this trip make him a live player, especially if the top pick slips

up.

Grade 3 hero NOW A VICTOR (Yankee Victor) is way better than his

12th-place finish in the Hal's Hope H. (G3) indicates for trainer Michael Trombetta, and we expect vast improvement from the five-year-old. Prior to his

last, the dark bay was a neck shy of sporting a perfect mark from five career

outings and he likely got a lot of fitness from that contest. Julien Leparoux will be in the irons.

IKIGAI (Whywhywhy) went from maiden claimer to Grade 3 winner in five months

under the care of Marty Wolfson when the speedster annexed the Mr. Prospector S.

(G3) most recently. The promising chestnut earned a huge 110 BRIS Speed number

last out and ranks first in Prime Power (144.7), so he is an obvious threat with

his top showing. His ability to carry his speed another furlong is the key.

LING LING QI (Yonaguska) will make his debut for conditioner Todd Pletcher

fresh off an allowance win at this track and trip in his most recent showing. While

going to Pletcher is never viewed as a negative, Ling Ling Qi's former trainer

Ken McPeek is going so well at this meet that we can't see this one moving up

much under his new conditioner. While

this field is not the greatest, we'll still look elsewhere.

HOW'S YOUR HALO (Halo's Image) was no factor in the Mr. Prospector and will

need a quick form reversal in order to challenge these. The six-year-old was a

fine second to champion Benny the Bull (Lucky Lionel) in the Smile Sprint H. (G2) last campaign, signaling that he can run

with this type, but he will likely need a career best to make his presence felt

on this day.