Beach Patrol (Lemon Drop Kid) looks like the one to beat following a solid string of efforts leading up to this. Victorious last summer in Arlington's GI Secretariat S. in his third start after moving to the Chad Brown barn, Beach Patrol came up a head short in his next outing in the GIII Hill Prince at Belmont Oct. 8. He had to settle for another runner-up placing behind Annals of Time (Temple City) in the Dec. 3 GI Hollywood Derby before being given a freshener following that cross-country effort. The dark bay kicked off his four-year-old season with a solid second-place effort behind stablemate Almanaar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Feb. 11 GI Gulfstream Park Turf H., a race that is turning out to be a key race after Gulfstream Park Turf third and fourth-place finishers–All Included and War Correspondent–both came back to win at the graded level in their next starts. The 2014 Brazilian Triple Crown winner Bal a Bali (Brz) (Put It Back) has proven a model of consistency during his time in the U.S. Launching his 2016 campaign with a trio of thirds in stakes company on the West Coast–including the eight-furlong GI Frank Kilroe in March–the Brazilian bred found the 10-furlong distance of the GII Charles Whittingham in May a little too taxing and wilted to finish fourth after failing to settle in the early going. Given a shot on the dirt in the 1 1/4-mile GI Gold Cup June 25, the dark bay trailed the field home in eighth and was granted the remainder of the season off. Trainer Richard Mandella was given the task of deciding whether the dark bay would resume his racing career at seven or commence his stud career at Calumet instead. The Hall of Famer's instinct to bring Bal a Bali back proved spot on when he brought the veteran back to record a narrow winner in the Mar. 11 renewal of the Kilroe. Turf Classic defending champ Divisidero (Kitten's Joy) has failed to visit the winner's circle since that effort, but managed to finish a close-up second last time out in a Keeneland allowance Apr. 9 and should appreciate the return to his favored Churchill Downs turf.
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