The first intense match up of the Triple Crown prep season will take place on Saturday at Santa Anita as seven sophomore colts line up for the $200,000 Sham Stakes (gr III) over 1 1/8 miles. Solid prospects such as Victory Pete, Coast Guard, and Trevor's Clever flesh out a field that will pit Colonel John, once the Southern California favorite for the Derby, against the undefeated and impressive El Gato Malo.

Distance questions surround the Craig Dollase-trained El Gato Malo, a son of star sprinter and miler El Corredor. However, in his previous race, the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, El Gato Malo won with such controlled ease, drawing away from the field to win by 6 1/4, that an extra half furlong should not deter bettors.

Colonel John, a son of two time Breeders' Cup Classic champion Tiznow, does not have any apparent distance concerns. After winning the Real Quiet Stakes by three lengths in the fall, Colonel John inherited the title of leading West Coast Derby candidate, praise he held briefly before finishing second by a length and a quarter behind Into Mischief in the Cash Call Futurity (gr. 1). Trained by Eion Harty for WinStar Farm, Colonel John should relish the distance and he is obviously comfortable on synthetic surfaces, having raced on them in each of his four career starts, resulting in two wins and two second place finishes.

While most of the attention on the race is being given to the top two, the Japanese-bred Reflect Times could spring a mild upset. The son of French Deputy was ultra impressive while dominating in his first two starts for trainer John Shirreffs and owner Koji Maeda, and will be stretching out and adding blinkers on Saturday.
The question mark horse in the field is Success Fee, a New York bred maiden for trainer Doug O'Neill, who has used the tactic of entering maidens in Derby preps before with little success.