Vagrancy: Watch out for Bear Fan

The morning of the Genuine Risk Handicap, was outfitted with a patch for a quarter crack in a hind foot she had sustained a week before. With the patch in place, Bear Fan ran a monstrous race to win the Grade 2 Genuine Risk at Belmont Park by five lengths on May 9.

Bear Fan's trainer, Wesley Ward, believes the 5-year-old mare he bred and co-owns is ready for another super effort in the $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap.

"She's coming out of her skin," Ward said. "I think she will run the race of her life."

If Ward is correct, Bear Fan's eight rivals will have their work cut out for them in the 6 1/2-furlong stakes. The Grade 2 Vagrancy is the first race in the $1 million-guaranteed pick six, and Bear Fan figures to be a single on many tickets.

could be a bet-against as the probable second choice. The 5-year-old, trained by Todd Pletcher, has won the majority of her races around two turns.

Pletcher had planned on running the mare in the 1 1/16-mile Pimlico Breeders' Cup Distaff on May 14, but scratched her because of a bruised foot. She subsequently missed a couple of days of training.

Pletcher pointed out that Smok'n Frolic ran very well last year at Saratoga in a sprint, finishing a close-up third in the Grade 3 Honorable Miss and earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 104.

Edgar Prado rides Smok'n Frolic from post 3.

Beauty Halo, one of three front-runners in the field, makes her first start since finishing second to Randaroo in the Top Flight at Aqueduct in November.