Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas, Gary West column: LONE STAR PARK ENTRIES.

Publication: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX)

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COPYRIGHT 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Byline: Gary West

Jun. 30--Post time: 6:35 P.M. Star-Telegram horse racing writer Gary West highlights his picks for today's races. Odds are provided by Lone Star Park with program number, post position (where different), weight and jockey. West can be reached at gwest@star-telegram.com.

9th If Candy Ball wins here, she could be ready to venture into stakes competition soon. And that "if" isn't especially large; as "ifs" go, it's the runt of the conditional-clause litter. Candy Ball had been improving steadily when she made her turf debut April 19, and then she began to improve with leaps so that she's now unbeaten in two races on the grass. The improvement wasn't a total surprise. Her dam, Merry Festival, raced exclusively on the turf in Europe, and Candy Ball has two siblings that have won on grass. All the other fillies in today's featured race have more turf experience than Candy Ball. Some have competed in stakes company, and High Pioneer is a stakes winner on turf. But Candy Ball has shown both versatility and talent, and so she seems ready for this sort of company, maybe even stakes company. Her trainer, veteran Andy Leggio, has developed many outstanding turf horses over...

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