Clash in Southwest

Old fashioned and Silver city, the top two contendors for the Southwest Stakes, will face off Monday. They have much in common such as being athletically built colts with quickness of foot. Natural speed from sprinters close up in their pedigrees also is true for both grays. They also share the same sire Unbridled's song. This gives them an advantage over the other horses. Nimble horses, like them tend to do better at Oaklawn because it allows them to get over the surface unlike taller, heavier horses that would sink into the surface. Smarty Jones and Lawyer Ron swept the Rebel, Southwest and Arkansas Derby, while Afleet Alex won the Mountain Valley and Arkansas Derby."He's a horse that's very light on his feet and he's just got a very efficient way of going," Jones said of Old Fashioned. "He's what you always look for in a horse, and that you can't just get because nothing is 100 percent scientific on breeding. This is what you hope to get a horse that's got this speed and got the distance capabilities that he showed at 2 in the Remsen."

Stardom Bound's connections announced that she will be targeting the Santa Anita Oaks and Derby. “What [Frankel] feels is that he needs another real good race in her before he feels comfortable enough that she could fire her best shot,” said Iavarone. “She went into the race very fresh and she came out of it very fresh, so I’m not going to question Bobby in that regard.”

Four weeks seperate the two premier races at Santa Anita. Iavarone was afraid of "squeezing the lemon" but Frankel says "the lemon hasn't even been juiced."

In other filly related news, Evita Argentina(Candy Ride) is looking to make history in the $150,000 San Vincente Stakes. Other colts entered into the race include, Gallant son, Congor Bay, Point Attended, Cut the Check, Ventana. Wall street Wonder, Gato go win, Leadstheway, and Smokey Lonesome.

Have a great day everyone!

Kirsten