Woodford Reserve Turf Classic

Saturday's $400,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S. (G1) at Churchill Downs

has drawn an accomplished field of 11. There doesn't appear to be an abundance

of early pace in this 1 1/8-mile turf affair, so contenders with some degree of

tactical speed may hold the upper hand.

ENGLISH CHANNEL (Smart Strike), a top-class colt from the Todd Pletcher barn,

figures to enjoy an ideal stalk-and-pounce trip beneath Garrett Gomez. In his

only outing of 2006, he captured the Canadian Turf H. at Gulfstream Park,

defeating subsequent Maker's Mark Mile S. (G2) hero Miesque's Approval (Miesque's

Son). Last year as a three-year-old, the chestnut showed impressive acceleration

when scoring in the Virginia Derby (G3) and great courage when bravely battling

the older Shakespeare (Theatrical [Ire]) to fall short by only a head in the Joe

Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational S. (G1) at Belmont. English Channel rounded out

the season with a respectable fifth in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1), the best

finish by an American-based horse, garnering a gaudy 113 BRIS Speed rating. He

should get first run on a classy group of closers here, and his scintillating

turn of foot will make him difficult to catch once he's flown.

Group 2 winner CACIQUE (Ire) (Danehill) will be charging from the back, as he

did in his U.S. debut in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1), when he was pushed

out absurdly wide on the turn and then exploded in the stretch. Despite losing

acres of ground that day, the full brother to last year's champion turf female

Intercontinental (GB) was beaten a grand total of a neck in fourth. The Bobby

Frankel charge will appreciate the extra furlong. He ran well at about nine

furlongs in Europe, winning a French Group 3, placing second to the supremely

talented Bago (Fr) in the 2004 Prix Jean Prat (Fr-G1) and third in the 2005 Prix

d'Ispahan (Fr-G1) to multiple Group 1 winners Valixir (Ire) (Trempolino) and

Elvstroem. Cacique's winning chances could be compromised by the projected lack

of pace, but he should finish well enough for the place. Pat Valenzuela reunites

with the Juddmonte homebred.

We suspect that EINSTEIN (Brz) (Spend a Buck) will revert to the

front-running tactics that resulted in his victory in the Gulfstream Park

Breeders' Cup S. (G1) in February. Last time out in the Pan American H. (G3), he

was reserved several lengths behind a pace that slowed in the middle stages, and

by the time he tried to launch a bid, the leading pair were long gone beyond

recall. Einstein's right up there as far as Speed figures are concerned, having

turned in 105, 103 and 104 ratings in his last three starts. With a more

tactically advantageous trip under Rafael Bejarano, the Helen Pitts trainee can

stay on stoutly enough to hit the board at juicy morning line odds of 20-1.

GORELLA (Fr) (Grape Tree Road [GB]) gets a break in the weights at 117 pounds

as a filly taking on males for horseman Patrick Biancone. She definitely proved

she belongs in elite male company when finishing a close third in the Breeders'

Cup Mile (G1) last fall despite a troubled trip, as well as posting a strong second

in the Prix du Moulin (Fr-G1) when Cacique was unplaced. In her recent

four-year-old bow over nine furlongs at Keeneland, Gorella outclassed a distaff

allowance field to win comfortably by 1 1/4 lengths, and she's turned in a solid

five-furlong move on the Polytrack at Turfway Park since then. Although she has

a terrific chance to land the spoils, and she deserves serious consideration for

the top three, Gorella figures to go off at a fairly short price. In this salty

a group, we'd prefer to have a bit more value with a filly tackling males, and

that's one reason we'll try to beat her.

It shows just how deep a field this is that a horse the caliber of COOL

CONDUCTOR (Stravinsky), who's won or placed in four of five tries at the

distance, is relegated to 20-1 in the morning line. In his first start since

switching to the barn of Ralph Nicks in the spring of 2005, he outdueled

subsequent Breeders' Cup Mile winner Artie Schiller (El Prado [Ire]) to

land the 1 1/8-mile Dixie S. (G2) at Pimlico, earning a stratospheric 123 BRIS

Late Pace figure. The five-year-old hasn't raced since finishing a subpar last

of 10 in the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland last October, and although he

has been working steadily, he'll probably need the race. Still, Cool Conductor

could crack the superfecta. Regular rider Cornelio Velasquez will be in the

irons.

GOOD REWARD (Storm Cat) is exiting a third in the Maker's Mark Mile, in which

he made a big move to threaten in the upper stretch only to flatten out in the

drive. Since both of his Grade 1 wins have come at 10 furlongs, the Shug

McGaughey trainee certainly could use the added distance here. Although it would

be no surprise to see him turn in a big effort, we're slightly put off by the

fact that he hasn't been part of the exacta in his last four outings. MILK IT

MICK (GB) (Millkom [GB]) posted a narrow victory in the Kilroe and followed up

with a third in the Arcadia H. (G2). He's worked well for James Cassidy since

and is eligible to benefit from the extra furlong here. We're hesitant because

he was a rather opportunistic winner in the Kilroe, capitalizing on others'

problems and benefiting from a dream trip, and he'll probably find this a

tougher task. We can see another honest third-place effort like the Arcadia, but

we don't fancy him to win.  FORT PRADO (El Prado [Ire]) is on a three-race

winning streak, having taken the Fair Grounds Breeders' Cup H. (G3), Tampa Bay

Breeders' Cup S. and, most recently, the John B. Connally Breeders' Cup Turf H.

(G3). The Jeff Trosclair charge can unleash a tremendous late kick, as his six

straight century-topping Late Pace figures attest, but he's a hostage to what's

going on up front early. In this kind of company, without a strong early pace,

he's at a disadvantage.

The Bill Mott-trained SILVER TREE (Hennessy) is coming off a victory in the

Turf Classic S. at Tampa Bay Downs, and he has a strong record at this trip

(11-3-4-1), including a valiant runner-up effort to Artie Schiller in last

year's Bernard Baruch H. (G2).  Our concern is twofold: he was easily

dispatched by English Channel two starts back, and he hasn't shown much early

foot since the Bernard Baruch. As admirable as Silver Tree is, if he rates and

then tries to outkick this bunch, he could be up against it. If he takes a

forward position under new rider Javier Castellano, though, he could well hang

on for a minor award. HONOR IN WAR (Lord at War [Arg]) is a grand old battler,

but his Speed ratings don't top the century mark as often as those of his

rivals. PERFECT DRIFT (Dynaformer) is a lovable veteran, as genuine as they

come, but he's vastly better on the dirt and will find this job, on this surface

against this group, difficult.