Silver Max, Summer Front square off in Virginia Derby

While Silver Max is unbeaten on turf this season, Summer Front in unbeaten on

turf, period. The Christophe Clement-trained son of War Front pushed his grass

record to four-for-four with a heart-thumping rally in the Grade 3 Hill Prince

at Belmont on June 16, overcoming traffic and a lack of racing room to prevail

by a half-length as the 6-5 favorite. With nowhere to go with just over a

sixteenth remaining, Summer Front ultimately found the needed space and darted

clear while under virtually no encouragement from Ramon Dominguez.

In addition to the Hill Prince, Summer Front also registered stakes wins last

season in the King Cugat at Aqueduct and the Dania Beach at Gulfstream. His

first two starts this term were on the main track -- a second in the Grade 3

Lexington on Keeneland's Polytrack and an unplaced effort in the Grade 2 Peter

Pan on the Belmont dirt.

Lucky Chappy, a stakes winner in Italy and multiple Grade 3-placed in the

U.S., makes his return to action Saturday after nearly four months on the

sidelines. The Team Valor-owned colt was last seen in Dubai, in the Group 2

U.A.E. Derby, where he failed to muster a rally in a seventh-place finish.

Optimizer, a son of grass champion and 2005 Virginia Derby winner English

Channel, should fare better on his return to turf. A debut winner on the

Saratoga grass last summer, he later finished a close second in the Grade 3 With

Anticipation. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas kept the colt on the main track for his

next 10 starts, with a second in the Grade 2 Rebel being his best finish. He was

unplaced in all three legs of the Triple Crown this spring.

The remainder of the field, all of whom figure to be big longshots, include

the multiple stakes-placed Easy Crossing and Mr. Handsome, and Grade 3-placed

Finnegans Wake.

The Grade 3, $150,000

Virginia Oaks

at nine furlongs on the turf features a field of seven three-year-old fillies,

four of whom are exiting maiden wins. Zultanite figures to be a strong favorite

off recent placings in the Grade 3 Boiling Springs and Grade 2 Sands Point.

The Saturday program also features three other $50,000 grass stakes: the

Chenery

for two-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs; the

Tippett

for juvenile fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs; and the

Kitten's

Joy for older horses at 1 1/16 miles.

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