Bold Rosetti must be caught

Bold Rosetti will try and carry his speed the whole way when he faces a solid group of older sprinters in the third race at Northlands Park on Friday. The $22,000 claiming race drew six horses, and it is pretty clear that Bold Rosetti will be the one leading the way early in the six-furlong feature.

Trained by Ernie Keller, Bold Rosetti set honest fractions before tiring to finish fourth in the $49,000 Sales Stakes on May 23, and he should appreciate the move back to the claiming ranks. In his initial start this year he finished second in a $30,000 claiming race at 3 1/2 furlongs, and both of his wins in 2008 were in claiming races. Bold Rosetti had an abbreviated campaign in 2008, starting only three times, all at Stampede Park. After knocking off wins for $22,000 and $30,000, he finished second to Teagues Fight in the Sales Stakes on April 12.

Bold Rosetti, who will run on Lasix for the first time, could face early pressure from Plagerist. If he doesn't, he will be very tough to beat with Stephan Heiler aboard.

Plagerist, who is trained by Jim Meyaard, set the pace and held on well to finish second in a similar race on May 16. He will be racing without blinkers for the first time in his 30-race career, and it will be interesting to see if his jockey, Rico Walcott, will try to ease him off the pace. Walcott and Meyaard have won all six races they have teamed up for at the meet.

If a speed duel does develop between Bold Rosetti and Plagerist, it could set up nicely for Alarico, Shpeen, or Nechako.