The Lead:
July comes in hot this year with Saturday's Summit of Speed event at Gulfstream Park. The Smile Sprint, inaugurated at Calder in 2000, will be featured for older horses at 6 furlongs on the main track. The race is named for the Florida-bred who won the 1986 Breeders' Cup Sprint and that year's Eclipse Award as the nation's top sprinter. The race's honor roll includes elite sprinters like Imperial Hint, Big Drama, Orientate, Benny the Bull and Glitterman. The Smile Sprint goes as Race 10 on Saturday with post time slated for 5:30 pm ET.

​Field Depth:
Defending champ WILLY BOI is a Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed. DEAN DELIVERS is Grade 3-placed. The rest are entering a proving ground with 5 of them stepping up out of allowance races last time. The aforementioned pair have kept the classiest running lines over time.

Pace:
It's not as front-heavy as you'd expect for a 6-furlong graded sprint. TODO FINO could make the front off a wire job at Santa Anita. Pressing him likely will be DEAN DELIVERS, DOC AMSTER and BIG AND CLASSY in some fashion. This race can be taken up front given the set-up.

Our Eyes:
Here are my horse-by-horse notes.

1-DEAN DELIVERS: Local Big Drama Stakes winner last out may not be as quick at 6 furlongs as 7 furlongs, but he's 4-4 in the exacta over this trip. The Smile will be the toughest race at this distance of his career, but his class and current form account for a lot. Big contender.

2-TODO FINO: Chilean 6-year-old was sharp in Del Mar and Santa Anita victories last year, but hasn't been seen since October. Those wins ran his winning streak to 5 and he won 10 of 12 starts between 2021-'22. He's firing a.m. bullets for this off the bench and should come out cooking. Catch him to win.

3-DOC AMSTER: Only hit the board once in his last 5 stakes bids and doesn't appear to have the finishing kick to deliver this. No lead, no pass is a tough recommendation for Belmont-winning trainer Jena Antonucci.

4-FIGURETI: Another Chilean export, this son of local Florida Derby winner Constitution has made 10 US starts since his arrival, but none on the Gulfstream main track. He's the late-running half of the uncoupled entry with TODO FINO trainer Amador Sanchez. Prefer others.

5-WILLY BOI: Five-year-old makes his third Smile Sprint appearance, winning this a year ago and finishing fourth in 2021. His local ledger also includes victory in the 2021 Hutcheson among his 5 wins in 8 Gulfstream dirt starts. He has been way off form in 2023 while racing at Tampa and Pimlico. He ships back south from his Monmouth summer base with a major turnaround needed. I'll make him prove it in a race that doesn't have a hot pace to come back to him.

6-STARSHIP RENEGADE: Distant runner-up to DEAN DELIVERS in the Big Drama will have to get some help to get there on time at a furlong shorter. He's rock-solid with 7 of 8 exacta finishes lifetime and showed last time that he belongs in the stakes discussion. Strong ROI and strike rate for this Miguel Vasquez-Steve Dwoskin jockey-trainer combo. In the mix.

7-SPANKSTER: Owner Willis Horton sends this one from D. Wayne Lukas to local trainer David Braddy, and the fringe spring Oaklawn stakes player has had 4 workouts at Gulfstream to ready for the assignment. He's got a bit of pace versatility and it will be interesting to see where he winds up in the race in terms of flow. Not impossible, but prefer others.

8-BIG AND CLASSY: What a difference a year makes. After an 0-5 campaign in 2022, he's won all 6 starts during the current season. Four of those came after a $20,000 claim in mid-March by trainer Bobby Dibona. He's won on dirt and Tapeta and mostly from a stalking kind of trip, though one did come wire-to-wire. This will be a tougher test than he's seen, but he doesn't appear overmatched. Consider.

Most Certain Exotics Contender:
DEAN DELIVERS has current form, class, a favorable race shape with some early speed and is 11-15 in the exacta lifetime.

Best Longshot Exotics Contender:
STARSHIP RENEGADE has been 5-2 or less in 3 straight starts, but should drift in price here.

Sending it in ($100 bankroll):
$60 exacta TODO FINO over DEAN DELIVERS. $20 exacta TODO FINO over STARSHIP RENEGADE and BIG AND CLASSY.