Grimm, Cocoa Latte bring best form to Caballos del Sol

Two of the finest sprinters on the circuit knock heads in Saturday's $40,000 Caballos del Sol Handicap at Turf Paradise. Grimm and Cocoa Latte, the 123-pound highweights in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up, each is at the top of his game.

Grimm is a 6-year-old who shows no signs of slowing down. He has won 11 of 23 in his fine career, including numerous stakes on this track. Last season here he won the Cactus Wren sprinting on the main track as well as two turf races: the Cotton Fitzsimmons at a mile and the Glen W. Johnson at 4 1/2 furlongs. He finished third in this race last year.

After the season closed here in May, the Eric Kruljac-trained Grimm shipped to California and won at 5 1/2 furlongs on the Hollywood Park turf against some tough optional claimers. In his two subsequent starts he finished second in Del Mar turf races, once at a mile and the last time at five furlongs on Sept. 2. Scott Stevens rides.

Cocoa Latte comes here off a super meet at Arapahoe Park in Colorado. The 4-year-old Cocoa Latte won the Rocket Bar here last December and the Honor the Hero here by over 11 lengths. He ended his Turf Paradise meet with a solid fourth in the Phoenix Gold Cup March 19. Cocoa Latte was freshened for a couple months and resurfaced at Arapahoe, where he won 4 of his 5 starts including 2 stakes. Glen Corbett rides for trainer Don Mills.

The most likely upset candidate among the four others in the race is the 3-year-old Scottsbluff. He was second to Lost in the Fog in the Arizona Juvenile here last December and then second when beaten a nose by Lead for Speed in the Rattlesnake here at a mile in January. He didn't race again until July 30 at Del Mar where he was third in an optional claimer and second to the talented 3-year-old Thor's Echo in the Real Good Deal for California-breds. In his last race, Scottsbluff finished fourth in the one-mile El Cajon at Del Mar on Sept. 3. Scottsbluff, making his first start for trainer Dan Morgan, will be ridden by Miguel Hernandez at 116 pounds.