Supah Blitz finally ready to win

MIAMI - has not won a race in 10 months, but despite the drought he is expected to be the favorite in Monday's $100,000 Memorial Day Handicap at Calder.

Supah Blitz's last victory came on July 26 in the Roman Brother Stakes, a race taken off the turf and moved to the main track due to rain. His performance that day was sensational as he rallied to an easy 4 3/4-length triumph over The Name's Bond while earning a career-best 110 Beyer Speed Figure.

Supah Blitz, who finished 13th in the 2003 Kentucky Derby, has started eight times since the Roman Brother, and while winless during that span has turned in some solid efforts and appears to be rounding back to his best form. Supah Blitz finished second in each of his last four starts, including the Skip Away Handicap and Texas Mile, both Grade 3 races.

Supah Blitz, who carries co-high weight of 116 pounds in the 1 1/16-mile Memorial Day Handicap, is a stretch-running colt, and therefore will need some help up front to show his best. Help figures to come from Predawn Raid and Hear No Evil, two speedsters who will break abreast of one another from the outside posts, as well Twilight Road, who stretches out around two turns and should show speed from his inside post.

Predawn Raid, who will also carry 116 pounds, led throughout to upset favored Best of the Rest in the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper Handicap in his 2003 finale. He used similar tactics for his first victory this season, under allowance conditions April 27.

, another at his best when loose on the lead, returns to the dirt for the first time since finishing fifth in the Miami Mile Handicap in September. A son of Carson City, he won the Unbridled Stakes in gate-to-wire fashion over the main track here last summer.

Perhaps the two most intriguing members of the field are veterans Kiss a Native and Dancing Guy. Kiss a Native returns to the scene of one of his most noteworthy victories, which came as a juvenile in the 1999 In Reality Stakes. Kiss a Native, 7, was trained by Bill White for owner-breeder John Franks at the time but is currently owned and trained by Carrol Castille.

Dancing Guy is the defending Memorial Day Handicap champion, winning the race for the second time last year, when he outfinished Shotgun Fire by a neck. He also won this race in 2000.