Sneak Preview

- A lot of great races coming up at Keeneland this week, with Grade 2 stakes every day, and some familiar names, present and past, appearing there on Friday. Showing Up makes his return to the races in the Grade 2 Makers Mark. It a one mile race, and remember last fall we were discussing whether the Breeders Cup Mile was too for short for him (and the Turf too long). He has a bad post, the eight, with the short run-up to the turn, and some tough horses well inside of him, such as Bayeux and Sky Conqueror. And he has a little company nearby, as he's flanked by Angel Penna's tough and speedy Remarkable News just to his inside, and the fleet Kip Deville to his outside.

He had a bullet six furlong work at GP last week, but it will be interesting to see if he's fully cranked, as he was for his career debut. It's kind of unusual to look at the past performances of such a classy animal who's raced just one year and see so many running lines - he ran nine times in 2006, and was in training virtually non-stop from February until late November, with just a couple of six week breaks as a breather.

In the 5th race on Friday, we have Jazil making his turf debut, and man, my eyes light up when I see stuff like that. I get excited any time he's running less than a mile and a half - he's been beaten at 1-2 and 4-5 in his two starts this year - but this time on the turf to boot. I haven't finished handicapping the race yet, but there seems to be at least two capable opponents in Lemon Law, from the Frankel barn, and Friar, who has come on strong for Al Stall, Jr.

And in the third, a baby race for fillies, Miss Red Delicious is the first starter that I've seen from the legendary-in-some-minds Empire Maker. Trained by Mark Hubley, she's out of a stakes placed Clever Trick mare. While there's not much else to see in her immediate distaff family, it's worth noting that her fifth dam is Won't Tell You (Crafty Admiral), the dam of the amazing, legendary, and perhaps the last Triple Crown winner ever, Affirmed.