Twirling Candy faces Baffert duo, Awesome Gem in Gold Cup

by James Scully

The handicap division has been in disarray most of the year, but Saturday's

$500,000

Hollywood Gold Cup provides the opportunity for some clarity. The 1

1/4-mile event will feature several top horses in the division, including the

notable Twirling Candy, who could wind up as a heavy favorite

among eight rivals.

Seven-for-nine in his career, the four-year-old colt has been brilliant

performer on a variety of surfaces and distances for trainer John Sadler,

posting a superb victory in the Grade 2 Californian most recently

following a troubled trip. The Grade 1-winning Twirling Candy is the horse to

beat Saturday, but critics will point to his setbacks -- the Grade 1 Santa Anita

Handicap in March and the Grade 1 Goodwood last October -- and question the competition

he's beaten in a pair of stakes wins going two turns on the main track. He can

dismiss those aspersions and confirm his status as a leading contender for the

Breeders' Cup Classic with a Gold Cup victory.

The 122-pound highweight will break from the rail with regular rider Joel

Rosario and Twirling Candy figures to be forwardly placed from the start in a

field lacking much speed.

Game on Dude, a 14-1 upset winner of the Big 'Cap three

starts back, comes next on the scale of weights at 118 pounds. One of two

runners trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, the four-year-old gelding recorded

a second in the $1 million Charles Town Classic prior to a third-place finish as

the 1-2 favorite in the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap on May 30. Chantal Sutherland,

who missed his last two starts, will regain the mount on the front runner.

Awesome Gem, last year's Gold Cup winner, will wheel back off

a two-week rest following his runner-up in the Grade 3 Cornhusker at Prairie

Meadows. The Craig Dollase-trained gelding is showing no signs of slowing down

at age eight, registering a 107 BRIS Speed rating for his win in the Lone Star

Park Handicap two back, and he'll regain the services of David Flores, who piloted him

to a half-length victory 12 months ago.

First Dude, who will tote a 116-pound impost along with

Awesome Gem, is arguably the stronger of Baffert entrants. Beaten less than a

length by eventual champion Lookin at Lucky when second in the Preakness Stakes,

First Dude went on to place in the Belmont Stakes, Grade 1 Travers Stakes and

Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby, but his winless streak reached 10 following a fourth in

the Sunshine Millions Classic earlier this year and the bay colt was transferred

from Dale Romans. He dropped the first start for his new conditioner, finishing

sixth in the Big 'Cap, but has rebounded in his last two outings, posting a

convincing win over allowance rivals at Santa Anita prior to his first stakes

tally in the Grade 3 Alysheba at Churchill Downs. Martin Garcia has the assignment.

Setsuko, who missed by only a nose in the Big 'Cap after

being interfered with in upper stretch, came back with a solid runner-up in the

Californian off a three-month freshening and is eligible to move forward off the

tightener for Richard Mandella. Regular Victor Espinoza will return on the

maiden winner. Dark Cove, who is two-for-two on synthetic

tracks, will try the Cushion Track for Kenny McPeek following a third in the

Colonial Turf Cup, and California Cup Classic winner Soul Candy is a late-running outsider from the Paddy O'Gallagher shedrow.

Miss Matched, a close third in the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap last

out, completes the line-up. An upset winner of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita three

back, the six-year-old mare will take an ambitious class hike against male

rivals for trainer Neil Drysdale.

Hollywood Park will also offer the $150,000, Grade 2

Swaps

Stakes on the undercard, and all eyes will be on the promising Coil, who threatens to make a major impact in a maligned three-year-old

division. Trained by Baffert, who will be seeking a record fifth victory in this

event, the chestnut broke his maiden by 3 1/4 lengths in his second start last

November, but he wasn't seen again until May 6, returning with a sharp 1

1/4-length score over allowance rivals. He continued to assert his superiority

when making his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Affirmed Handicap last out, winning easily by

a length, and figures to go heavily favored in the 1 1/8-mile Swaps beneath

Garcia.

Coil worked six furlongs in a bullet 1:11 2/5 last Sunday in

preparation.

Affirmed runner-up Runflatout and Alydar Stakes second Uncle Sam are also part of the six-horse Swaps field.