Blazing Rate looks ready

MIAMI - Locals will be well represented in each of the four graded stakes on Saturday's $1.96 million Summit of Speed program, most notably in the $300,000 Carry Back for 3-year-olds, which could attract as many as five Calder residents.

The home forces in the Carry Back may consist of Blazing Rate, Folk Festival, Mach Ride, R Fast Favorite, and Yes He's the Man. They will take on a group of invaders expected to include the multiple graded-stakes winner Too Much Bling, the undefeated Grade 2 winner Northern Soldier, and the Grade 2-placed Changing Weather.

Blazing Rate tuned up on Saturday morning by working five furlongs in 1:01.60 for trainer Richard Root. A son of Exchange Rate, Blazing Rate is trying to recapture the form that made him one of the top juveniles on the grounds here last season.

"I thought he worked well this morning and he's going into the Carry Back as good as he can get," said Root, who trains Blazing Rate for owner Ralph Sessa.

Blazing Rate won 3 of 4 starts at 2, including both the Foolish Pleasure and In Reality stakes, but in his first two starts this year finished far back in both the Grade 2 Hutcheson at Gulfstream and the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Root gave Blazing Rate some time off following the trip to Tampa, and brought him back to finish third behind Mach Ride in the six-furlong Valid Video Stakes, a race Root felt should serve as a perfect prep for the Carry Back.

"I thought his race coming back was excellent and he should move forward off that effort," said Root. "Too Much Bling and a couple of the others coming in for the race will be tough, as should Mach Ride, but at least there appears to be plenty of pace to the race, which should help us."

Leave Me Alone works again

Joining Blazing Rate out on the track during training hours on Saturday was Leave Me Alone, who worked five-eighths in 1:00.80. The work was the second in the last week here for the 4-year-old filly, who was the first of the invaders to ship to town for the Summit of Speed. Leave Me Alone, winless since capturing the Grade 1 Test Stakes last summer at Saratoga, will be among the starters in the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap.

B. B. Best, a candidate for the $500,000 Smile Sprint, also worked here Saturday, going five furlongs in 1:01.80 seconds.

Princess Rooney loses two

The Princess Rooney lost two potential starters over the weekend when the connections of both Smokey Glacken and Miss Storm Cat informed the racing office they were passing the race.

According to racing secretary Mike Anifantis, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Smokey Glacken had developed an infection, which forced her to miss some training earlier this month. Smokey Glacken was the leader of the filly and mare sprint division in south Florida last winter after scoring easy victories in both the Grade 3 First Lady and the Hurricane Bertie handicaps at Gulfstream Park.

Anifantis released his weights for the Summit of Speed on Saturday, assigning Dubai Escapade high weight of 122 pounds for the Princess Rooney and Lost in the Fog top weight of 125 pounds for the Grade 2 Smile.