With its Grade 3 status restored this year, Thursday’s $100,000
Fall Highweight H. (G3) serves as a useful appetizer before Aqueduct race fans go
home to their turkey and dressing. Though defending champion Fabulous Strike
(Smart Strike) was not nominated for the six-furlong dash, a rival who made him
work for his money in the August 9 Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (G2), GO GO SHOOT
(Songandaprayer), will make a go of it under 134 pounds and John Velazquez.
Go Go Shoot earned BRIS Speed ratings of 106 and 102, respectively, when
taking the Longfellow S. and Mr. Prospector S. at Monmouth over the summer, then
earned a stellar 113 when second by a length in the Vanderbilt. A 15-1 chance
that day, Go Go Shoot zipped through fractions of :22 and :44 2/5 and appeared
to have plenty left until the final sixteenth when Fabulous Strike finally wore
him down. The two faced each other again in the October 3 Vosburgh S. (G1) in
the slop, but
Go Go Shoot readily caved at the top of the stretch and trailed the field of
four, 12 lengths behind the winning Kodiak Kowboy (Posse), who edged Fabulous
Strike by a half-length.
Two making their respective stakes debuts could attract plenty of support in
the Fall Highweight. The three-year-old SEAN AVERY (Cherokee Run) was assigned a
feathery 124 pounds following a course-and-distance allowance score on November
8. Assigned a 107 Speed rating for that effort, Sean Avery will be piloted by
Edgar Prado for the hot Michael Hushion barn. Shipping in from Maryland is the
Christopher Grove-trained GREENSPRING (Orientate), who has won four of five
career starts with one second. He passed his third-level allowance condition at
Laurel in late October, earning a 105 Speed rating.
AH DAY (Malibu Moon) is winless in two starts over the Aqueduct main track,
but did take the March 7 Toboggan H. (G3) by a head over the inner dirt with a
stellar last-to-first move. He exits a fifth in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial
Dash (G1), where he started slow over a sloppy, sealed track.
The multiple Grade 2-placed entrant RILEY TUCKER (Harlan’s Holiday) fits
with these on his best day. His best efforts of the year occurred last spring
when he captured an allowance in the Churchill slop by more than six lengths,
finished a close fifth in the Metropolitan H. (G1) and second to Munnings (Speightstown)
in the Tom Fool H. (G2). The Allen Jerkens-trained FORMIDABLE (Sky Mesa) showed
promise last winter at Gulfstream when placing in the Gulfstream Park H. (G2),
but has disappointed during the New York leg of his campaign. He should be
prominent from the opening bell under a 124-pound impost.