Sing Baby Sing will need his best

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - There's a mid-card surprise Sunday at Lone Star Park.

The sixth race will serve as the first start of the year for both Sing Baby Sing and Golden Yank, who are among the best older horses on the grounds. Orphan Brigade is also part of the field for the allowance sprint, which comes a month after the 9-year-old put up one of the year's best Beyer Figures.

"It turned up very tough for just an overnight allowance," said Jack Bruner, who trains Sing Baby Sing for the meet's leading owner, Tom Durant.

Sing Baby Sing has long been one of the best sprinters in the Mid-South region. He spent part of last summer and fall based at Remington Park, and from there shipped to Aqueduct and ran third in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap in his last start Oct. 31.

"We usually freshen our horses after the Remington meet, and decided to freshen him and be ready for here," Bruner said of the layoff. "He's doing great."

Sing Baby Sing has turned in a series of strong works for his return. Adding to his cause is the fact that Bruner wins at an outstanding 29 percent rate with horses returning from layoffs of 180 days or more.

"I don't like to give a horse a race," Bruner said. "I don't feel like you need to. I feel like if you've done your job in the mornings, they'll run well in the afternoons.

"A lot of times if you try and give a horse a race, they have a chance of injuring themselves just because they're not at their optimum fitness level."

Chris Landeros has the mount from post 3.

Golden Yank has not raced since May 24, when he finished a close fourth in a $100,000 optional claiming race at a mile and a sixteenth at Churchill Downs. He makes a rare sprint appearance on Sunday, but is 1 for 1 in sprint races. Junior Chacaltana has the mount on Golden Yank, a four-time stakes winner for trainer Gary Thomas.

Orphan Brigade won a $20,000 optional claiming sprint here April 8 with a Beyer of 104, which is one of the best numbers for a sprint distance so far in 2010.