AQUEDUCT NOTEBOOK
MARCH 5, 2009
by Albie Johnson
March arrived like a lion, but the big storm on Sunday waited until the card
was completed. In that respect, the winter season here hasn’t had anywhere near
as many cancellations and “off” tracks as in previous years.
Saturday’s feature, the Stymie H., proved highly competitive with several
lead changes and as is the case in races run like this, the last move was the
winning one. BARRIER REEF (Mizzen Mast) trailed the field early, launched a
rally up the rail around the far turn and after swinging out turning for home,
proceeded to draw off to an easy score, winning by 3 1/4 lengths. Owned by the
Darley Stable and trained by Tom Albertrani, gray colt won the Whirlaway S. on
this surface in February 2008 and added the Evening Attire to his list of wins
in his previous start. Long-winded type went off a slight favorite and completed
1 1/8 miles in a respectable 1:50.57.
The leading ride this meet, Ramon Dominguez, contributed a well-timed ride,
and his patient style fits Barrier Reef perfectly. Earlier in the week, the
winning reinsman had announced that he will compete here on a permanent basis
instead of moving his tack to Delaware Park in April, which has been his
home-base for many years.
Track Conditions
Fast again for all five days with Sunday’s surface proving to be one of the
strangest of the whole meet. Sprint fractions were extremely slow, but there was
still a fine mix of front runners and closers that were successful. All sprints
that day were run with the first quarter-mile between :23 and :24, including a
small state-bred stakes race. Wind wasn’t responsible, so it may have just been
due to track maintenance.
A review of the stats through the first two months of this year again shows
that during this inner-dirt season the track has shown no strong bias as to
running style, and has not favored any post positions either in sprints or
routes.
Leaders: Dominguez has an insurmountable lead in the jockey standings,
leading C.C. Lopez 74 wins to 34, with his overall winning rate at 29.25
percent.
Amongst trainers, Gary Contessa leads Bruce Levine 29 wins to 18, with
Dominick Galluscio third at 17 victories. By the latter two’s standards, their
winning percentages of 12.39 percent and 16.67 percent, respectively, show how
competitive this winter season has been, as both are accustomed to much higher
numbers.
HORSES TO WATCH
Wednesday (2/25)
2ND — THE VIN MAN (Louis Quatorze) had a difficult task from the start. He
broke from an outside post, pressed the pace outside the heavy favorite and
eventual winner until the head of the lane, then gradually weakened to finish
third. He’ll make his next start for a new trainer (Rick Schosberg) who claimed
him for $20,000.
5TH — Favored TIS CACTUS BELLE (Cactus Ridge) hit the side of the gate at
the start and was away last. Projected as part of the pace, she was patiently
ridden and rallied strongly late to gain the place spot. Maiden should win soon,
but will do it for a new conditioner (Dominick Galluscio) who signed the claim
slip for $20,000.
6TH — Contessa dropped ROBYN’S PRADA (El Prado [Ire]) into a claimer and
added blinkers, but unfortunately she “bobbled” at the start and could do no
better than third with a mild late rally. The belief here is that after the poor
start, the jockey did not push her too hard.
Thursday (2/26)
4TH — Making her first start since her maiden win last July, SOFTLY SPOKEN
(Greatness) ran a very strong race. She broke a step slow, was quickly rushed up
to contest the pace and held well the whole race to be “nipped” right on the
wire. Should win next out even with a rise in price.
7TH — After an impressive maiden win last out, EL TAMBERITO (Well Noted)
tried state-bred allowance foes in his first against winners. He had an
extremely poor trip, being forced to steady, and after losing position on the
turn he proceeded to closing strongly to finish third. Wouldn’t be surprised if
his connections send him long next out.
Friday (2/27)
3RD — Trainer Steve Asmussen had claimed EARLY RESPONSE (Hook and Ladder)
earlier in the year and had freshened him up for the past seven weeks. Bay colt
had a poor journey here in a very small field (six runners). Rank during the
early stages, he rallied between runners on the far turn, then awaited room
approaching the eighth-pole and rallied strongly to finish a close second to a
very heavy favorite.
4TH — Favored for his debut, PRECIOUS PRIDE (Precise End) had a tough trip
from his inside post. The Levine-trained filly broke a bit slow, rushed up under
a stout hold, steadied approaching the stretch and rallied late for the show.
Nice first outing, and she got a good education in this one.
Saturday (2/28)
1ST — Thought that CHIEF OPERATOR (Elusive Quality) was a bit tentatively
ridden when a runner broke down in front of him, leaving him almost 15 lengths
back at that point in this six-furlong claimer. He closed very fast, but was no
threat to a long gone front-end winner. Should win next out at this $7,500 tag,
or maybe even a bit higher.
4TH — Trainer Chad Brown dropped JAYSTONE (Birdstone) in half off his
January debut, and he ran a much improved race off the seven-week freshening.
Chased the wire-to-wire winner from start to finish, and was gaining slowly on
him in the last sixteenth. State-bred should get his picture taken soon.
Sunday (3/1)
2ND — Heavily favored MUFFY (Tomorrow’s Cat) was very poorly ridden in this
spot. Allowed to lope along behind :24.45 and :48.61 splits in this sprint
allowance, it’s not surprising that the filly who set those fractions held on.
Muffy rallied in the late stages to finish second, beaten three-quarters of a
length. Look for a jockey switch next out.
Upcoming
This Saturday both the Gotham S. (G3) and the Toboggan H. (G3) will be
contested. Spring is just around the corner.
Have a nice week!!