Saratoga Sinner looks for old form

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - On Saturday, the 2010 Holy Bull champion will be crowned. On Sunday, the 2009 Holy Bull winner, Saratoga Sinner, will try to recapture his old form in the $51,000 allowance feature, to be decided out of the mile chute.

Saratoga Sinner briefly joined the Kentucky Derby trail following his three-quarter-length victory over Bear's Rocket in last year's Holy Bull. But those dreams quickly disintegrated when the son of Harlan's Holiday suffered a chip in a knee that kept him sidelined until August.

Saratoga Sinner has started five times since returning to action in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy, posting a pair of seconds this fall in Kentucky before returning to the scene of his finest hour to finish fifth under optional claiming conditions on opening day of the 2010 Gulfstream meet.

"He's doing well, training good, and we're just trying to get him back on track," said Eddie Kenneally who trains Saratoga Sinner for the Lally Stable. "He fell too far behind a slow pace on opening day, so we're hoping for a little better pace scenario this time."

Kenneally also will equip Saratoga Sinner with blinkers for the first time Sunday.

"He's trained in blinkers and worked sharp with blinkers," Kenneally said. "We're just trying to keep him a little more focused and hopefully a little closer to the pace as well."

A field of seven was entered for Sunday's main event, with Birdrun and Just a Coincidence likely to vie for favoritism and perhaps the early lead as well.

Birdrun rallied from midpack to finish second, five lengths in front of Saratoga Sinner, on opening day. A son of Birdstone, Birdrun has not finished worse than second in his last five starts against maiden or allowance competition, with his only poor effort since his maiden win on July 31 at Saratoga coming in the Grade 3 Discovery Handicap.

Just a Coincidence used a first-level allowance win here a year ago as a springboard to his third-place finish in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial. He has not started since finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Withers on April 25.

Just a Coincidence has worked steadily for trainer Nick Zito since arriving at Gulfstream two months earlier and will launch his comeback off a near-bullet 47-second half-mile drill on Jan. 14.