Sunday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Sweetest Princess's prowess at distance an edge over rivals

Aqueduct | Race 4 | Post Time 2:33 p.m. (ET)

Fade to Grey (#6) will likely inherit the favorite's role after the scratch of Tipple. She earned one of the fastest TimeformUS Speed Figures in this field last time, but that was over a muddy track. She's generally run her better races around two turns, and figures to get another wide trip from this outside post. She's obviously a contender, but I didn't want to settle for a short price on her.

Barbratina (#3) is an intriguing new face as she makes her first start for the Rick Dutrow barn. She showed talent for Brad Cox last year, and I don't mind her turning back to a mile given her early success in one-turn races as a 2-year-old. I just wonder if she needs a start given Rick Dutrow's poor statistics with horses returning from layoffs.

My top pick is Sweetest Princess (#2). She lacks the upside of some others in this field, but she's another who is getting some class relief in this spot. She faced a tougher field at the level last time and didn't run as badly as the fifth-place result might suggest. She traveled well-in behind the leaders, seemingly wanting to do more behind a slow pace before flattening out late. She had no chance two back when always wide against a very strong rail bias. She's now back in a realistic spot, and should stack up favorably against this field if she runs as well as she did in her first couple of starts for this barn.