By Alan Carasso
Most handicappers will view Saturday's GIII Mr. Prospector S. as a two-horse race between a pair of this country's top sprinters–Imperial Hint (Imperialism) and X Y Jet (Kantharos), winner of the race in 2015 and 2017. While they are clearly the standouts on class, they are each likely to be using the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector as a means to an end over a distance not optimal for either runner and that opens the door a bit–if ever so slightly.
Gary and Mary West's Lasting Legacy (Tapizar) could prove the chief beneficiary, assuming he classes up. Two-for-three under the care of Jason Servis as a 3-year-old in 2017, the chestnut was unplaced in two runs for Steve Asmussen last season. Returned to Servis's care this term, he is a perfect three-for-three, with determined Monmouth allowance scores in June and August ahead of a 1 1/2-length success in that track's version of the Mr. Prospector Sept. 28.
Imperial Hint turned in one of the more buzz-worthy performances of 2019 in winning the GI A. G. Vanderbilt S. at Saratoga July 27, effortlessly besting Diamond Oops (Lookin At Lucky) and likely champion Mitole (Eskendereya) by four lengths. Ultra-game in defending his title in the GI Vosburgh S. Sept. 28, the 6-year-old was scratched out of the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in early November, but has since trained brilliantly at Tampa. A good performance Saturday could send the Florida-bred to Saudi Arabia and/or Dubai in early 2020.
X Y Jet, whose Mr. Prospector wins came when the race was contested over six furlongs, makes his first start since beating Imperial Hint soundly into third in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen last March and a fourth trip to the desert in the last five years looms should he come back running. Whereas Imperial Hint has three wins at Saturday's trip under his belt, the speedy X Y Jet has yet to post a victory in three tries at seven-eighths of a mile.
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