Saratoga Special

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

KANTHAROS (Lion Heart) is the one to beat in Monday's $150,000 Saratoga

Special S. (G2) and we can't pick against the talented juvenile. Trained by

Steve Asmussen, the chestnut colt captured his initial two starts by a combined

21 1/4 lengths, with the most recent coming in the Bashford Manor S. (G3) at

Churchill Downs. He earned a nice 96 BRIS Speed rating for his maiden victory,

but bumped that number up to 100 when taking his stakes bow last out. Kantharos

should find no trouble in adding this 6 1/2-furlong Spa test to his resume.

Garrett Gomez will take over riding duties from the injured Robby Albarado.

Trainer Richard Violette Jr. has two -- SOVEREIGN DEFAULT (Northern Afleet)

and BAIL OUT THE CAT (Tale of the Cat) -- entered in the Saratoga Special, with

Alan Garcia named on both, so one is expected to scratch. Sovereign Default is

our choice to fill out the exacta if he runs. The bay colt scored in his maiden

debut at Belmont Park on July 15, posting a two-length victory and garnering a

99 BRIS Speed figure. He's been working well over the track and should be able

to handle the extra furlong here.

Bail Out the Cat sped a sharp half-mile on August 8 over the track and earned

a 102 Speed rating for his maiden bow victory. The bay had plenty of excuses when

trying stakes rivals in the Sanford S. (G2) last out.

The juvenile acted up in the gate and hit the doors when the race started,

conceding many lengths to the rest of the field. If Violette starts Bail Out the

Cat here, he could easily revert back to his initial form and give Kantharos a

run for his money.

WETZEL (Successful Appeal) is yet another who could scratch out of this race

following a five-furlong move in 1:01 2/5 at Aqueduct on Saturday. Trainer

Richard Dutrow could have been just tightening the screws on the bay colt,

though, so we'll tab for the top three. Wetzel broke his maiden over Keeneland's

Polytrack for

Asmussen, but was transferred to Dutrow for his next start, the Kentucky

Juvenile S. (G3) at Churchill Downs. The colt tired to fourth in that

five-furlong event, but hopefully exited the race with some valuable experience.

Ramon Dominguez has the call.

We can't see BLUE RIGHT BY (Bluegrass Cat) factoring in this one based on his

numbers. The Dallas Stewart runner has yet to earn above an 86 Speed rating and

has been well beaten in all but his maiden win. We'll let him beat us beneath

Calvin Borel. MANCHURIAN HIGH (The Daddy) has picked a tough spot to make his

career bow. We'll watch to see how he performs.