Scottsbluff good fit in Bullet

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Last May, Scottsbluff won the Bullet Stakes on turf in world-record time of 1:00.26 for 5 1/2 furlongs at Hollywood Park. It turned out to be his last start of the year, a season lost to a cannon bone injury.

Scottsbluff is back in the $60,000 Bullet Stakes on Friday night, and the restricted stakes provides an excellent opportunity for Scottsbluff to win his first race of the year.

Trained by Jeff Mullins for Dennis Weir, Scottsbluff is winless in two races this year - a second in the Crystal Water Handicap over a mile on turf at Santa Anita in March and an eighth in the Tiznow Stakes over Hollywood Park's synthetic track last month.

The Tiznow Stakes was over 7 1/2 furlongs. Scottsbluff was with the leaders for the first half-mile before fading.

"He was awful rank the other day and he may not have liked" the synthetic surface, Mullins said. "I think he'll settle going six furlongs. He might be a touch better on the turf. He's a good little horse."

The Bullet Stakes is run over a new distance this year, six furlongs on turf. The change occurred after Hollywood Park remodeled its turf course last summer, allowing for longer sprints.

Scottsbluff is making his 11th consecutive stakes appearance, a span that includes races in Arizona and Southern California.

Scottsbluff has drawn the outside post in a field of five and should be near the front throughout.

Australian import Parmar Day, a winner of 6 of 17 starts, makes his United States debut. Now trained by John Sadler, Parmar Day has been in the U.S. for three months. A 6-year-old gelding, Parmar Day has not started since November.

"I think he's a turf sprinter, definitely," Sadler said. "He does have a little speed for a foreign horse; usually you think they have to come from behind."

Parmar Day won from about five furlongs to about seven furlongs in Australia in 2006.

The race Friday marks the first start in more than 30 months for Exceeding, the winner of the 2005 California Turf Sprint Championship at Bay Meadows. Owned by Double Bar S Ranch, Exceeding was sidelined by a suspensory injury, according to trainer Brian Koriner. The Bullet Stakes will be Exceeding's first start for Koriner; the 7-year-old gelding was previously trained by John Martin.

"We need to give him a start," Koriner said. "We'll run him and see where we're at."