Top pick: #2 (AROUSAL) - Colt by "Malibu Moon" has good early speed and has run well in all three of his starts racing on synthetic surfaces. Latest effort was his best yet when he finished second at Hollywood at this distance Dec. 18 and is working nicely for this attempt and trainer Eoin Harty. Bred to handle the move to the turf and that's where this newly turned three-year-old will race this afternoon. The horse to beat.
2nd pick: #1 (Akkadian) - Well-bred and expensive colt by "Tiznow" is working very fast for his first start and trainer Julio Canani gets Garret Gomez to ride him in his initial outing. His works are too good to ignore and this field is weak for the level. Looks like the main danger.
3rd pick: #5 (Mr. Commons) - Raced evenly in his debut after he broke a bit slowly, runner will move to the grass and its a surface that his sire Artie Schiller loved. Working fast for this attempt, and in his first race he finished 4 1/2 lengths behind "Arousal".