Advantage to City Number

City Number appears to be the fastest horse in Saturday's featured eighth race at Hawthorne Race Course, a $30,000 second-level allowance.

He also seems to be the sharpest. He is the only one of eight entrants with a start at Hawthorne this year, and is one of just three entrants with a race anywhere in 2007.

Not that City Number needs a fitness edge. He stands out in the six-furlong race on the basis of form and speed figures.

City Number ran a close second at Hawthorne on March 16 in his only race this year. He had a productive year in 2006, winning 3 of 9 starts. He won an optional claimer at Hawthorne in March of last year, and a couple months later won back-to-back races at Arlington Park.

The wins at Arlington earned him a pair of 93 Beyer Speed Figures, easily the highest numbers earned by any horse in the field.

In his runner-up finish March 16, which marked his first start since September, he earned an 85 Beyer, the top last-race figure in the field.

Chris Emigh rides City Number, who is trained by Hugh Robertson.

Shock N Storm heads the opposition. A 2 1/4-length winner of a five-furlong turf race at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 21, he comes off a sixth-place finish at Fair Grounds in a second-level allowance on grass March 16. He has won 2 of 12 dirt starts.