Setup looks good for Benny the Bull

MIAMI - The last time trainer Rick Dutrow saw south Florida was in late April as he boarded the flight transporting Big Brown to Kentucky to begin the incredible journey and roller-coaster ride of emotions that embodied the pair's Triple Crown quest.

When Dutrow returns to the Sunshine State on Saturday he'll be without Big Brown but with the horses to beat in both main events on Calder's $1.4 million Summit of Speed program - Benny the Bull in the $400,000 Smile Sprint Handicap and Looky Yonder in the $400,000 Princess Rooney.

The Grade 2 Smile, designated a Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, will share top billing here Saturday with the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap on a card that offers four other stakes, including the Grade 2 Carry Back and Grade 3 Azalea. The four graded stakes make up a special pick-four wager. Calder also will debut the Super High Five wager on the last race of the day. The wager asks bettors to select the order of finish for the first five horses.

HRTV will air live coverage of all four graded stakes on the Summit of Speed card, with Jon White the on-site analyst.

Benny the Bull has been unbeatable since finishing fourth in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Sprint. A son of Lucky Lionel, Benny the Bull has posted four consecutive victories since the Breeders' Cup, including tallies in the Grade 1 De Francis Memorial Dash, the Dubai Golden Shaheen, and most recently the True North Handicap at Belmont. He overcame a wide trip and speed-biased track to register a neck decision over Man of Danger in the True North.

"He trained very well after returning from Dubai, and I didn't see any reason why he wouldn't run a big race the last time in New York and I feel the same way about this race on Saturday," Dutrow said. "I know the Calder track can be a little different, but he has travelled around and won over just about every track we've tried him on, so I don't see that as a problem. And there surely is a lot of speed in the field, which should set him up perfectly."

Benny the Bull carries high weight of 124 pounds in the six-furlong Smile, one more than he toted to victory in the True North but two less than his impost in Dubai. He concedes his opposition from seven to 13 pounds.

"He carried 126 in Dubai and will have to do it again in the Breeders' Cup," Dutrow said. "He's supposed to be spotting weight, with all that he's accomplished this year, and we knew what we were looking at going in. I'm not going to cry about the weight if he gets beat."

Regular rider Edgar Prado will again be aboard Benny the Bull in the Smile.

The speed in the Smile will all break to Benny the Bull's inside and includes Man of Danger, Indian Chant, Blue Pepsi Lodge, Ravalo, and Finallymadeit.

Man of Danger led until the final strides of the True North, and trainer Bruce Levine knows he'll have an even tougher task Saturday considering the other speed in the lineup and the fact that his horse must break from the rail.

"This race will probably set up even better for Benny the Bull than the last one," Levine said. "Not that he needs the help."

Indian Chant is coming off a pair of wins at Churchill Downs, including the Grade 3 Aristides, in which he outgamed Noonmark by a head. But like Man of Danger and Ravalo, he, too, does his best running on the lead.

Ravalo brings a three-race winning streak into the Smile, each of them front-running stakes victories including a track-record performance at Presque Isle Downs on June 1.

Along with Benny the Bull, the one member of the field who could benefit most from a sizzling pace would be Rockerfeller, who appears to have a distinct home-court advantage in the Smile.

Rockerfeller has shown remarkable improvement since shipping to Calder and trainer Marty Wolfson earlier this year, having registered a pair of one-sided victories in his two local appearances, including a dominant seven-length triumph in the Ponche Handicap for which he earned a career-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

"I never thought I'd be in this position, but I love my post and this horse has a real explosive move when you let him go," Wolfson said. "I'm just hoping I can get the early jump on Benny the Bull."