PHOENIX – Five stakes led by the meet’s marquee event on Saturday puts a cherry on top of the stand at Turf Paradise. The $50,000 Phoenix Gold Cup Handicap at six furlongs has lured a 10-horse field full of speed, headed by dangerous shippers Book Smart and Augusta Melody and hot local sprinter Mission Beach. It goes as finale on an eight-race card. The other stakes are the $50,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons Handicap at a mile on turf (race 7), $30,000 Turf Paradise Derby at 1 1/16 miles (race 5), $30,000 Arizona Oaks at a mile (race 6), and $30,000 Queen of the Green at a mile on turf for fillies and mares (race 4). But the Gold Cup remains the primary focus, just as it has since its inaugural running in 1960. Book Smart and Augusta Melody are the co-highweights at 124 pounds. Book Smart, a 7-year-old California-bred gelding owned by Jeffrey Lambert and trained by Bob Hess Jr., has been knocking heads with stakes sprinters in Southern California and has more than held his own. He has the speed to be in it from the start. Augusta Melody, a 9-year-old gelding owned by Clayton, Rick, and Lana Weist and trained by Robertino Diodoro, won a sprint stakes Jan. 18 at Sunland Park. He looks to bounce back after dueling and tiring to fifth in another stakes there Feb. 15. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Mission Beach, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Kirk Sutherland and trained by Jose Silva Jr., comes in sharp having won three of his last four. Those three wins are his only tries over this track, so he obviously likes Turf Paradise. The lone loss in that stretch came when he finished fourth in the January stakes at Sunland Park won by Augusta Melody. Another invader who could be dangerous is See Through It, a 9-year-old gelding owned by Rooster Coup Racing and trained by Peter Miller. He’s been competitive in some tough optional claimers in Southern California the past couple seasons. Cotton Fitzsimmons Kennebec is back to defend his title as the 124-pound highweight against eight in the Cotton Fitzsimmons Handicap over a mile on turf. The 9-year-old, owned by Sutherland and trained by Silva, won this event easily last year and looks primed to repeat off an impressive allowance/optional-claiming win here March 3. He is stuck with the outside post. Kennebec’s main competition includes old rival and last year’s runner-up Saline River; Bodi Zafa, a Southern California raider; and Maltese Falcon, who comes off a smart optional-claiming win on this course at this trip March 11. Turf Paradise Derby Independence Rise looms a heavy favorite in the Turf Paradise Derby, a 1 1/16-mile main-track event with a field of seven. The son of Independence Hall has won 2 of 3, all over this track, including a 12-length romp in the one-mile, off-the-turf Luke Kruytbosch on Feb. 18. Independence Rise could face a challenge from Pick It Up, who after racing in Southern California came here Feb. 16 and flourished, blasting maidens by 11 1/2 lengths; and Robin Racer, the top juvenile male in Seattle last year having romped in the Gottstein Futurity at this trip Sept. 7, though he hasn’t run since. Arizona Oaks Tiz Grace might be the one to beat as she faces six in the Arizona Oaks over a mile on the main track. She was a smart maiden winner in a dirt sprint March 1 at Sunland, her first start in five months. Last summer and fall, Tiz Grace showed route ability, albeit on turf, in Southern California. A recent bullet work at Sunland encourages. Tiz Grace faces Ones On the Way, a laughingly easy winner of her sprint debut here Jan. 24; and Lexithea, an easy winner of her sprint debut here Feb. 5 and then a good second against older in an allowance/optional-claiming sprint here March 2. ◗ Rosie Jeeks appears the one to beat in the Queen of the Green, a mile turf contest that drew a field of six. She won two turf routes at Monmouth Park last spring and was last seen running sixth in the Grade 3 Las Cienegas going down the hill on Jan. 11 at Santa Anita. The main local hopes are Sayucan and Fugitive Star, the one-two finishers of the Molly P at this type of trip here Feb. 12. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.