Sophomores battle in Palm Beach

A contentious field of sophomore turf runners will vie in Saturday's $150,000 Palm Beach S.

(G3) on the Florida Derby (G1) undercard at Gulfstream Park. A case can be made

for almost all of the 11 entrants in the 1 1/8-mile event.

SPORTING ART (Doneraile Court), who just missed catching RUN SULLY RUN

(Cherokee Run) in a second-level allowance when making his American debut for

conditioner Christophe Clement, could vie for favoritism under Javier

Castellano.

Other contenders include MORAL COMPASS (Grand Slam), who finished a close

third to CELESTIAL COMET (Smart Strike) in his last start, and FLYING DISMOUNT

(Proud Citizen), who comes off two straight grass victories at Tampa Bay Downs.

Multiple stakes winner WISE ANSWER (Wised Up) also merits respect. The bay

colt finished seventh in the grassy Tropical Park Derby (G3) and most recently

ran sixth in the Sam F. Davis S.

The field, in post position order, with jockeys and weights, consists of

Celestial Comet, Kent Desormeaux, 120; PRIME REALESTATE (Prime Timber), Jose

Lezcano, 118; TITAN OF INDUSTRY (Giant's Causeway), Cornelio Velasquez, 120;

Moral Compass, Eibar Coa, 120; CHEROKEE FOCUS (Cherokee Run), Eddie Castro, 118;

Wise Answer, Jorge Chavez, 120; Flying Dismount, Rene Douglas, 116; Sporting

Art, 116; DYNAMALT (Dynaformer), John Velazquez, 116; VICTORY CAFE (Victory

Gallop), Ariel Smith, 116; and Run Sully Run, Joe Bravo, 118.