Saturday February 12, 2000

The 15th Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap

2. Thesaurus...Velasquez/112...Seems to be rounding back to form as he too was gaining at the end of the Mac D. That could have been a top for him though and he might be better suited in lesser company this time. Velasquez and Dickey winning 16% from just 19 races but a +4.11 ROI. Tough to like his chances vs. these.

3. Shamrock City...Prado/114...Has run 4 nice efforts in a row, all in South Florida and 3 at this track. Key to this might be getting the hedge again as he did in the Canadian Turf. Sharp 3 furlong drill on Monday just to keep the edge. He'll have to step it up to score here. Not impossible though as Moubarak quite capable when bringing back a winner. (21% with a positive ROI) And, Prado and Moubarak combining for 27% wins and a +2.05 ROI. Has he got another in the tank?

4. Atiba...Nunez/112...Solid effort here on the 28th on the lead. Not to mention, winning on the lead at 80-1. That was a career best though and front runners who win are a rarity at this level on this course. His ROI is sky-high as of late as he also won on the weeds at Calder in November at 40-1. A bit of a challenge, but expect him to try and steal it.

 5. Band Is Passing...Sellers/116...Appleton winner is shooting for his 4th straight and  6 of his last 7. It's not likely that Atiba will get away with fractions that could win it with this guy pressing him. Distance might be a question though as he has never gone this long. He did draw off impressively at 1 1/16, but that's not 1 3/8. He'll have 3 turns to contend with as well. That could be his undoing.

6. Royal Anthem...Bailey/121...Mott has put steady works in him since the layoff to insure he hold that Breeders' Cup form. An effort like that would likely smash this field. There's no Daylami here though. No one even in the same area code. That should spell an easy outing here. Stranger things have happened and Jerry could come up short off the layoff. First time lasix adds a twist as well. Expected favorite, and should run like it.

7. Beautiful Dancer...Migliore/114...Interesting layoff player here, and Violette plays them well. 26% at 90+ days away with a gaudy +8.88 ROI. Hard to tell what the deal was in the Canadian International. He looked okay early but just chunked it in. Totally disinterested. Was it the surface? Hard to like for the win here but definitely an exotics threat.

      This race didn't draw the field I thought it would. As it is, it will be hard to top Royal Anthem here. But again, off the layoff, anything could happen.

     Band Is Passing is a question at the distance but could surprise here if he takes to it. I'll use him as well.

     For the token price, why not Unite's BIG Red. He loves this course and is withing striking distance of the exotics.

1. Royal Anthem

2. Band Is Passing

3. Unite's BIG Red