Pletcher Looks to Go Back-to-Back in Spiral

Trainer Todd Pletcher won his first GIII Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati Spiral S. with Balto Star (Glitterman) back in 2001 and followed up with Flower Alley (Distorted Humor) three years later in the dirt era at Turfway Park. We Miss Artie (Artie Schiller) provided the barn with a first Spiral win over the Polytrack, taking a blanket finish 12 months ago, and WinStar Farm’s Royal Son (Tiznow) looks to make it two in a row Saturday afternoon. 

The maternal grandson of champion Countess Diana (Deerhound) needed an assist from the Gulfstream stewards to graduate in his seasonal debut over a mile Jan. 8, but the homebred was nowhere to be found when a distant seventh in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. Jan. 31. Then came metamorphosis. Blinkers went on for his synthetic debut in the John Battaglia Memorial S. Feb. 28, and the handsome bay raced heads apart through the middle stages before kicking home 5 1/4 lengths to the good and earning a 97 Beyer Speed Figure, easily the best in this field in the absence of Imperia (Medaglia d’Oro). He’ll need to be even better here with a jump in class and a more contested pace likely. 

Metaboss (Street Boss) ships in from Northern California for the always dangerous Jeff Bonde barn. A maiden winner over the Santa Anita turf Jan. 4, one race after giving Bolo (Temple City) a tussle in his juvenile finale, the chestnut transitioned neatly to the Tapeta track at Golden Gate and overcame a pedestrian pace with a wide rally to score by 2 1/2 lengths, with beaten favorite Conquest Typhoon (Stormy Atlantic) in third in the GIII El Camino Real Derby Feb. 14. 

Another Lemon Drop (Lemon Drop Kid) looks capable of pulling a minor upset here. Third in the Nov. 29 Churchill allowance won by undefeated GISW and TDN Rising Star’ Dortmund (Big Brown), the dark bay crushed an off-turf Fair Grounds allowance field in the slop Dec. 19. He was a slightly disappointing fourth to International Star (Fusaichi Pegasus) in the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 19 and exits a fast-finishing second in the grassy Black Gold S. in New Orleans Feb. 28. The shape of the race should suit and he is nicely bred to take to the Polytrack.