By Alan Carasso
One race before sophomores take to the main track for the Fountain of Youth S., those that prefer the turf will get their chance in a well-matched renewal of the GIII Palm Beach S.
Urban Bourbon (City Zip) has turned in a pair of strong efforts since being stretched out to a distance of ground and gets the nod here as the lukewarm morning-line favorite at 4-1. Runner-up in dirt sprint maidens at Churchill in September and at Keeneland in October, the bay came with a rail rally to best Kismet's Heels (Tapit) in a 7 1/2-furlong test Dec. 12. He took the worst of it when stepped up to graded company in the GIII Dania Beach S. Jan. 2, as he was posted wide throughout, but nevertheless found the line with good energy to finish third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths behind perfect-trip Life Imitates Art (More Than Ready) while covering 62 more feet (about seven lengths) more than the winner.
Gimlet (Lemon Drop Kid) bombed the start of that aforementioned Dec. 12 maiden and was forced to go eight wide on the second turn before staying on reasonably well to finish fourth as the favorite, beaten just over two lengths. He was paired up again with stablemate Kismet's Heels in a Jan. 23 maiden and got first run on that rival before coming home to score by 3/4 of a length. That Kismet's Heels shows up here, having yet to win a race, is a high endorsement from the Todd Pletcher stable.
Giant Run (Giant's Causeway), a son of Jersey Derby winner Who Did It and Run (Polish Numbers) has run two big races on the grass, including a front-running defeat of Inspector Lynley (Lemon Drop Kid) Jan. 2, an effort flattered by an outstanding maiden score from the latter colt Feb. 6. His task will be made more difficult here by horses with similar running styles, including Ousby (Shakespeare), Space Mountain (Street Cry {Ire}) and Don't Be So Salty (Tiz Wonderful).
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