Washington Park

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

A field of eight has been entered to go 1 3/16 miles in Saturday's Washington

Park H. (G2) over Arlington Park's Polytrack, and LEWIS MICHAEL (Rahy) is the

5-2 second choice on the morning line. The Wayne Catalano-trained four-year-old

has turned into a new animal since moving to the Polytrack, running second in

the Commonwealth Breeders' Cup S. (G2) and Hanshin Cup H. (G3) before breaking

through with a seven-length score in an allowance/optional claiming test most

recently. Lewis Michael is the one to beat in this event, but we're going with

MINISTER'S JOY (Deputy Minister) to come out on top.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, the bay five-year-old has spent most of his career

competing on the turf, but showed he could handle the Polytrack with a closing

nose second in the Ben Ali S. (G3) at Keeneland in late April. It was his second

try on the synthetic surface, as he also recorded a head runner-up finish in an

off-the-turf allowance at Keeneland last October. Minister's Joy earned a 101

BRIS Speed rating for his Ben Ali try and is used to competing at longer

distances. Considering how well turf horses have done on the Polytrack, we think

Minister's Joy will emulate those runners and earn the victory here. Rene

Douglas has the call.

Lewis Michael owns some of the best BRIS numbers in this field and definitely

loves Arlington's Polytrack. Our only knock against him is that he seems to

prefer shorter distances than Saturday's 9 1/2-furlong test and might not be

able to hold off the probable late charges here. The bay colt

could still add this one to his resume, but we're willing to take a shot

against under E.T. Baird.

MUSTANFAR (Unbridled) is another turf runner who's found new life on

synthetic tracks. The six-year-old was just a nose back of Minister's Joy while

third in the Ben Ali and most recently traveled to Woodbine to miss by a

half-length in the Dominion Day S. (Can-G3). Conditioned by Kiaran McLaughlin,

Mustanfar is looking for his first win since February of 2005 and could

challenge for it all with Jesse Campbell aboard on Saturday.

SAVE BIG MONEY (Storm Cat) might add some value to the exotics at 15-1 on the

morning line. The chestnut four-year-old loves the Polytrack, breaking his

maiden at Turfway Park and then running fifth by just 2 1/2 lengths over

Keeneland's version last fall. He tried the dirt for his next four starts and

was never close, but immediately returned to the winner's circle at Keeneland in

an allowance. His numbers aren't quite as high as others in here, but the Neil

Howard charge could jump up in a big way in this spot.

A. P. ARROW (A.P. Indy) is a graded contender on the dirt and listed as the

2-1 favorite on the morning line, but the Todd Pletcher trainee has shown a

dislike for synthetic tracks. The five-year-old captured the Skip Away H. (G3)

at Gulfstream Park in March, but was never in the race on Hollywood Park's

Cushion Track in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) last out and also couldn't keep

touch with the field in last year's Fayette S. (G3) at Keeneland. A. P. Arrow

was third in the Donn H. (G1) earlier in the season and would be a major threat

on any dirt track, but we can't back with any confidence here. Mark Guidry will

be aboard.

HIGH BLUES (High Yield) might earn a share in this spot, but the dark bay

four-year-old doesn't look fast enough to make an impact in the gimmicks. THRONG

(Silver Deputy) has spent his last four races competing on Polytrack, but didn't

do so well against graded company two back. He's probably out of his class

against these. REAL DANDY (Yankee Victor) did well on Arlington's old dirt

track, but has never tried a synthetic surface. We'll just watch for now.