Tuesday, January 17, 2012

SATURDAY’S GRADE II PALOS VERDES

SPRINT SPECIALIST COURTSIDE SET FOR GRADE II PALOS VERDES



Courtside is scheduled to make his first graded stakes start when he runs in Saturday’s Grade II Palos Verdes Stakes for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs.
Joel Rosario thinks he’s up to the task.
“He’s easy to handle and his specialty is sprinting,” said Rosario, who has ridden the gray son of Cindago in eig



Seven runners will line up to challenge the heavy favorite Amazombie , including Grade 1 winner Euroears. A smart 2 1/4-length winner of last year's Palos Verdes, the chestnut followed it with a good second in the lucrative Group 1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai and an easy 1 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby. Unfortunately for his connections, the Bob Baffert-trained speedster went off form after the Crosby, trailing in both the Grade 1 Vosburgh and Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the eight-year-old son of Langfuhr exits a disappointing fourth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Vernon O. Underwood on November 26. Euroears will make his career finale Saturday before venturing to Oklahoma to begin his stud career.



Courtside will enter the Palos Verdes in good form for John Sadler, leading wire to wire in the California Cup Sprint last out, but the former claimer faces a difficult assignment in this spot. Mensa Heat, who was haltered for a $25,000 tag last April, also brings respectable recent form into the race. Beaten less than a length when third in the Ancient Title, the Ted West charge rolled to a 1 1/2-length decision in the On Trust Handicap in last appearance.



M One Rifle, the third-place finisher in both the Underwood and California Cup Sprint, will look to snap a six-race losing skid in graded stakes. The six-year-old has posted only one victory since taking the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in 2009. Galientos, who exits a pair of allowance wins at Churchill Downs and Parx Racing, is set to make his stakes bow for Steve Asmussen here. Longshots Canonize and Fruminous round out the field

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