Sprint Division

ZENSATIONAL
Trainer: Bob Baffert

Oh dear, what do we do with this one? Bob Baffert has compared him favorably with all his superstars of the past and this 3-year-old looks guaranteed to get hammered in the pools. However, I am sure he could be one of THE underlays of the meeting. Not that his 2009 campaign hasn’t been impressive; he has won five of his six starts, picking up a trio of graded stakes events on his last three starts. He started his trio of wins in Grade 1 company by taking the Triple Bend over seven furlongs on the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park in July. The next month came the first of two wins on the Polytrack at Del Mar. Cutting back in trip to six furlongs in the Bing Crosby G1, the outcome was the same and, at the beginning of September, he added the Pat O’Brien Stakes over seven furlongs. In each of those three runs he wasn’t headed at any call, but he wasn’t required to blaze the quick early fractions that are likely in the Sprint. There isn’t much doubt that he is very talented runner but he will face much tougher opposition on the first Saturday in November and, at the odds currently available in Britain, I’d rather take Fatal Bullet, Gayego and Captain Candyman Can, whose combined odds are more slightly generous that the 3-2 offered on Zensational.