Summer Front bids for Grade 1 laurel in Eddie Read

Only six turf campaigners have signed on for Sunday's Grade 1, $300,000

Eddie

Read at Del Mar, which shapes up as a good opportunity for the East

Coast-based Summer Front to swoop in for an overdue score at the top level.

A half-brother to 2008 Hollywood Starlet heroine Laragh, Summer Front stamped

himself as an up-and-comer when going undefeated from three starts as a

juvenile. The Christophe Clement trainee has indeed developed into a solid

performer, taking such events as the 2012 Hill Prince, 2013 Miami Mile and Cliff

Hanger and the January 11 Ft. Lauderdale in his 2014 debut.

Yet a Grade 1 victory has so far eluded Summer Front. Third in the 1 1/4-mile

Secretariat that might have stretched his stamina, the son of War Front was an

unlucky third after traffic woes in the Jamaica later in his sophomore season.

Those were his best Grade 1 results until his latest attempt, the June 14

Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita, where he rallied strongly for second to the

defending champion, front-running Obviously. In the process, Summer Front gained

revenge on Silentio, who had denied him by a whisker in last November's Citation

Handicap.

In the absence of a standout at Del Mar, Summer Front can finally fill the

gap on his resume. Regular rider Joe Bravo will be back aboard the 121-pound

highweight.

Tom's Tribute is the biggest danger. The Jim Cassidy pupil also exits a fine

performance in the Shoemaker, closing to force a dead-heat for third with

Silentio. Best when allowed to settle early and make one run, Tom's Tribute

rolled to good-looking wins in the Uniformity on Santa Anita's downhill turf and

in the April 6 Thunder Road, in the latter equaling Wise Dan's course mark of

1:31.78 for a mile. Patient tactics similarly helped en route to a runner-up

effort to Winning Prize in the February 1 Arcadia. Tom's Tribute isn't so

effective when pressing the pace, as his unplaced finishes in last December's

Sir Beaufort and the March 8 Frank E. Kilroe Mile attest.

While Tom's Tribute has yet to try this 1 1/8-mile trip, his preferred

running style and pedigree suggest that he should handle it. Hall of Famer Mike

Smith, who engineered both of the colt's stakes victories, regains the mount.

Unbridled Command is the only Grade 1 winner in the field, having blown the

2012 Hollywood Derby open with a tremendous move to cap a five-race winning

streak. Left back in sixth that day was none other than Summer Front, again

displaying his vulnerability at 1 1/4 miles. Unfortunately, Unbridled Command

has raced just twice since then. After his third to Point of Entry and Animal

Kingdom in the 2013 Gulfstream Park Turf, he joined Ed Dunlop in England, but

suffered a setback that ended his international venture.

Transferred to trainer Peter Miller to revive his career, Unbridled Command

resurfaced from a 16-month layoff in a Santa Anita allowance and showed little

in eighth. The gray is eligible to improve with that comeback out of the way,

and over the added furlong on Sunday. But it remains to be seen whether the

five-year-old can recapture his former spark.

The John Sadler-trained Horizontalyspeakin will be the one that the main

players have to catch. Although he lasted by a head in a 1 1/8-mile allowance at

Santa Anita in March, the speedy gelding has since tired badly in his last two,

and must still prove his class. New rider Joe Talamo could help. Sadler will

also send out Spring Up, fifth in the Last Tycoon two back and most recently

successful in a starter handicap over Santa Anita's downhill turf.

Rounding out the short field is Cogito. Off for a year since his sixth in the

2013 Eddie Read, the five-year-old launches his comeback for new trainer Edward

Freeman.

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