Tannery, Hyper square off in Red Smith

Fresh off a victory in the October 27 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, Tannery will

be out to make a little history against the boys in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000

Red Smith

Handicap at Aqueduct.

The 1 3/8-mile Red Smith, the final graded turf stakes of the New York

season, has not been won by a filly or mare since Drumtop took back-to-back

renewals in 1970-71 when the race was known as the Edgemere Handicap.

Tannery, who also captured the Sheepshead Bay in May, has tried males once

already this season. In the August 17 Sword Dancer Invitational at Saratoga, the

four-year-old had one horse beaten with a quarter-mile remaining, made a

seven-wide move turning for home and rallied to finish fourth behind Big Blue

Kitten.

Subsequently second to loose-on-the-lead stablemate Laughing in the Flower

Bowl Invitational, Tannery shipped north for last month's E.P. Taylor, where she

overcame a dawdling pace to win by a head. Alex Solis will ride Tannery, who

prefers yielding-to-soft ground.

Hyper, who also competed at Woodbine on October 27, is the probable favorite.

Hero of the 1 1/4-mile Bowling Green Handicap at Belmont in September, the Ken

and Sarah Ramsey homebred next took on leading foreign invaders in the Canadian

International, where he fell three parts of a length short of globetrotting

Joshua Tree, who was winning that 12-furlong test for a third time.

The Phipps Stable homebred Imagining seeks the biggest win of his career in

the Red Smith. Following a second in the 2011 Hollywood Derby, the talented

five-year-old has not been a factor in subsequent graded attempts. However, the

chestnut has won a pair of overnight stakes in his last three starts: the

$100,000 Idle Rich at Saratoga and the $100,000 Bowl Game at Belmont.

Nutello, third in the Sword Dancer in his U.S. debut, ran well below par in

the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic last time and is capable of better, while Howe Great

seeks his first stakes win of the year after placing in quartet of Grade 3

events this year: the Poker, Oceanport, Cliff Hanger, and Knickerbocker.

Others of note are Mission Approved, the 2011 Manhattan Handicap winner

making just his second start off a 23-month layoff, and Slip and Drive, who

upset last Saturday's $100,000 Japan Racing Association at Laurel at odds of

22-1.

Marvin's Miracle, third in the With Anticipation at Saratoga in late August,

takes a drop in class in Saturday's $100,000

Vigro

Libra for New York-bred juveniles. The gray made an early lead before

faltering to seventh in the Pilgrim at Belmont last time.

The one-mile grass test has also attracted the top three finishers from last

month's $100,000 Island Sun. The filly May Shares beat her male rivals by a

widening 4 1/2 lengths in that one-mile feature at Belmont.

The $100,000

Move It Now,

a one-mile dash for older New York-breds features divisional mainstays Bond

Vigilante, Moneyinyour Pocket, Brigand, Spa City Fever, Zetterholm, and Awesome

Vision.

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