Champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) is four-for-four at Saratoga and three-for-three this year. The GII True North S. romper is the heavy favorite at 1-5 on the morning-line against five quite overmatched foes. The next closest on the morning-line is 6-1 shot Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic), who enters off a win in the Chocolate Town S. at Penn National June 17.

“You can't talk about Jackie's Warrior without thanking Kirk and Judy Robison for putting him back in training,” said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. “It's so rare in this day and age for a champion colt to have another year at the racetrack and for him to have another chance at Saratoga.”

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, a more evenly matched field of 10 seek a spot in the Breeders' Cup starting gate in the Bing Crosby. Three-time Crosby winner Bob Baffert saddles the lightly-raced Shaaz (Uncle Mo) Saturday. Two-for-four thus far, the $1.1-million EASMAY acquisition enters off a third in the GIII Steve Sexton Mile May 30 while under the temporary care of conditioner Sean McCarthy.

Last term's GI Woody Stephens S. winner Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music) avoids rival Jackie's Warrior by making his first start on the West Coast Saturday.

The top three finishers from Santa Anita's GII Triple Bend S. also resurface here: American Theorem (American Pharoah), Principe Carlo (Coil) and Get Her Number (Dialed In).

While this race has been won by some very talented horses, it has not produced a Breeders' Cup winner since Kona Gold in 2000. The last Alfred Vanderbilt winner to score at the World Championships was Speightstown in 2004.

Short, But Sweet Field Set For Jim Dandy

There may only be five colts set to line up for Saturday's GII Jim Dandy S., the local prep for next month's GI Runhappy Travers S., but it's quite a talented quintet.

The field is led by Epicenter (Not This Time), who went off as the Derby favorite after dominating the Fair Grounds preps. He was a valiant second beneath the Twin Spires after being run down late by longshot Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and rallied to fill the same spot last out in the GI Preakness S. May 21.

“He's training as well, or better, as he did throughout the Triple Crown races, so we'll see,” said Winchell Thoroughbreds manager David Fiske said. “It seems like everyone is getting better this time of year, and I don't know that he could be doing any better. Steve is pleased with him. He's a pretty straight forward horse. I think during the Triple Crown I characterized him as almost machine like. He just does what you want him to do, goes back to his stall and lays down.”

Preakness winner Early Voting (Gun Runner) also returns here, hoping to give his sensational young sire his second Grade I winner in as many Saturdays following Cyberknife's Haskell score. He is joined by stablemate and GI Toyota Blue Grass S. winner Zandon (Upstart), who completed the Derby trifecta.

“I really believe that they both have established themselves for quite some time now to be two of the top-five 3-year-old dirt colts in the country pretty consistently throughout most of the year,” trainer Chad Brown said. “The order might change around those top five and the fifth horse that's in that group might change a little bit, but they're consistently in that group. We're at the midway marker, so there's a lot more racing to take place and these horses are going to have to continue to maintain strong campaigns to stay in that group.”

Country Grammer Returns in the San Diego

Country Grammer (Tonalist) makes his first start since upsetting the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 26 Saturday in Del Mar's GII San Diego H. The 1 1/16-mile test is often used as a prep for the GI Pacific Classic, which is the next target for undefeated MGISW Flightline (Tapit).

John Velazquez ships in from Saratoga to ride for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. It is Country Grammer's first start on American soil this year, having kicked off the season with a second in the G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 26.

“It's going to be tight, you know, he's more of a mile and a quarter type of horse,” Baffert said, “but it's nice to have a race into him. We sent him to the farm for a couple of months, Winstar Farm, and they sent him back looking great.”

Baffert pursued a similar path with Dubai World Cup winner Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), who also made his first start after Meydan in the San Diego. He finished fourth that day and went on to be second in the Pac Classic before losing his title defense in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

Mandaloun (Into Mischief), named GI Kentucky Derby and GI Haskell S. winner last year via DQ, ships west to run in this spot rather than facing the aforementioned Life Is Good in the GI Whitney S. next weekend. He enters off a well-beaten fourth in the GII Stephen Foster S. July 2.

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10th-GP, $63K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 5:14 p.m. ET

'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) makes his 4-year-old debut against a relatively accomplished field here. The $1.5-million FTSAUG yearling kicked off his career three-for-three, annexing the one-turn-mile GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont in July. He has been off since finishing third as the favorite in Saratoga's restricted nine-panel Curlin S. later that month, and trainer Shug McGaughey told TDN's Steve Sherack recently that the son of MGSW and MGISP America (A.P. Indy) was given a freshening without a specific issue or injury.

“There really wasn't anything the matter with him, I just wasn't altogether pleased of where I stood with him, so I thought, 'Well, let's just give him some time,'” McGaughey said. “Time helped him a lot. He was at Barry Eisaman's and he did a great job with him. He got out here and had a really good bottom in him and he's been breezing ever since.”

First Captain will take on the likes of GSWs Trophy Chaser (Twirling Candy) and Dennis' Moment (Tiznow) and stakes winners Real Talk (Gemologist) and Hello Hot Rod (Mosler). TJCIS PPs

7th-SA, $72K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 6:47 p.m. ET

The Bob Baffert barn has a pair of talented if lightly raced 4-year-olds signed on here in 'TDN Rising Star' Triple Tap (Tapit) and sale topper Shaaz (Uncle Mo). The former, a Summer Wind Equine homebred, is a half to none other than Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and a full to GISW juvenile Chasing Yesterday. He took his track-and-trip debut almost a year ago, and resurfaced on Breeders' Cup weekend at Del Mar to clear another condition. The chestnut was last seen finishing a distant fourth to fellow Summer Wind-bred Tapit colt and brilliant 'Rising Star' Flightline in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. Dec. 26.

Michael Lund Petersen's Shaaz (Uncle Mo), meanwhile, fetched $1.1 million at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale off a :10 flat breeze. The half-brother to Grade II-winning grasser Azar (Scat Daddy) from a very deep female family earned a gaudy 105 Beyer Speed Figure when besting another stablemate narrowly in a maiden event on the Malibu undercard. He crossed the line second at 3-10 in a first-level optional claimer Feb. 5, only to be put up by the stewards in a decision that yielded plenty of chatter on twitter. TJCIS PPs

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3rd-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 12:58 p.m. ET

The third-priciest juvenile to sell at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-year-old sale when he brought $1.3 million after working an eighth in :10, Palm Island (Uncle Mo) is unveiled for the partnership of Michael B. Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg Limited (Michael Kuessner). His full-sister Dream Tree won the first five of her career, including the 2017 GI Starlet S. and two other graded races. Palm Island has been working well for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, including a bullet 1:01 for five furlongs (1/9) at Palm Beach Downs Jan. 29. He'll have to get by Nitrous Channel (Nyquist), another pricey Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream grad trained by former Pletcher assistant George Weaver. The $625,000 FTFMAR buy (who also worked in :10 flat) debuts for R. A. Hill Stable (Raymond A. Hill), Reeves Thoroughbred Racing (Dean Reeves), and Spedale Family Racing, LLC (Salvatore A. Spedale). His third dam is a half to champion and blue hen Serena's Song (Rahy). Nitrous Channel is bred similarly to Palm Island as both are out of Afleet Alex mares and by a champion and leading sire father-son duo.

6th-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 1m70y (AWT), 2:27 p.m. ET

Robert and Lawana Low plucked My Romeo Lima (Malibu Moon) out of the 2020 Keeneland September yearling sale for $610,000–the most expensive yearling that year by the late Spendthrift sire–and turned him over to Pletcher. No doubt they're hoping lightning can strike twice, as their 2016 Malibu Moon purchase at the same sale, also trained by Pletcher, would go on to become 'TDN Rising Star' Magnum Moon, eventual winner of the GI Arkansas Derby. My Romeo Lima is out of 2013 GII Vagrancy H. runner-up Fantasy of Flight (Tiznow).

3rd-SA, $69K, Aoc, 4yo/up, 7f, 4:32 p.m. ET

Michael Lund Petersen's Shaaz (Uncle Mo) takes on fellow winners after a Dec. 26 green but triumphant debut over this surface, where he notched a gaudy 105 Beyer Speed Figure. The $1.1-million topper from the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale (an eighth in :10) gets blinkers and has fit in four works since his win, including a bullet five panels in :59 (1/17) Jan. 20. A Bob Baffert trainee, Shaaz is a half to GSW Azar (Scat Daddy) from the extended family of MGSW Coal Front (Stay Thirsty) and GISW Twilight Agenda (Devil's Bag).

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Like Beholder, he was bred by and is owned by Spendthrift Farm and is trained by Richard Mandella. Kyle Frey has been named to ride.

For now, Mandella's expectations for Q B One are rather modest.

“I wish we'd see a little more from him to get excited about,” he said. “But his works have been pretty good. I don't think we've seen anything great yet. It's time to throw him in the deep water and see what happens. He shows he might be good enough, but I'm not sure.”
Mandella is hopeful that Q B One will benefit from his debut and improve.

“I leave him a little room to improve because when it comes to his mind he's not yet 100% serious about the game yet,” he said. “I think a race will probably do him a lot of good. I think his mind is such that a race might make a man out of him, and then we can see the real deal. That's what I am hoping.”

Q B One had a five-furlong work in January and Mandella said at the time that he was just a few weeks way from making his first start.

“He had some bone bruising and needed a little time off, ” he explained. “So we had to start over.”
Mandella also trains Beholder's second foal, the 2-year-old filly Karin With an I (Curlin). She has yet to have a published workout.

“She's been fighting a virus,” he said. “She's just starting to breeze. She's a nice-looking filly. She's not too far along yet, but she does everything pretty nice.”

Beholder also has a yearling filly by War Front and a weanling filly by Bolt d'Oro. She was bred back to Curlin for 2022.
Q B One won't be the only one garnering attention in Sunday's race, as it includes a pair of pricey first-time starters from the Bob Baffert barn. Hopkins (Quality Road) was a $900,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, while Shaaz (Uncle Mo) was a $1.1-million seller at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training sale. Yet the one they might all have to beat is the $5,000 Keeneland January purchase Soy Tapatio (Not This Time). Trained by Doug O'Neill, he was third in his most recent start.

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