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Aqueduct Racetrack Notes 3.9.18

by NYRA Press Office

• ‘All systems go’ for McLaughlin’s G3 Gotham contender Enticed 
• Jacobson, Davis looking to team up for more success on Saturday
• Old Time Revival heads north for graded stakes debut in Gotham
• Spartiatis looks to repeat as G3 Tom Fool winner

Godolphin’s Kentucky Derby hopeful Enticed has settled in to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s barn at Belmont Park for his bid in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham at a mile, and went out for an easy gallop over the training track Friday morning.

Originally scheduled to arrive in New York on Wednesday along with fellow Gotham entrants Whereshetoldmetogo and Dale Romans trainees Free Drop Billy and Cove Blue, Enticed’s trip from Florida was delayed a day due to a winter storm in the Northeast, but McLaughlin said Thursday’s sojourn was smooth sailing for the Medaglia d’Oro colt.

“It was up to Mother Nature whether we got there or not, but it all worked out,” said McLaughlin by phone. “Tex Sutton did a very good job for us. It only took six hours to go from barn to barn, which is great. So, we’re happy we got there and he trained well this morning. We’re all systems go.”

Enticed, a game winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club in November at Churchill Downs, will be making his second start of the year in the Gotham. In his seasonal bow, he turned in a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles on February 3 at Gulfstream Park, where he raced mid-pack along the rail and failed to menace, finishing 14 ¾ lengths behind Audible.

Due to travel considerations, Enticed was cross-entered in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, also on Saturday, as a back-up plan, said McLaughlin.

“It was probably a jump ball,” he said. “Both races, the Tampa Bay Derby and the Gotham, are difficult, but we like our post position in the Gotham, we’re happy to have Junior [Alvarado] back and we think he’ll really like the cooler weather.”

Enticed, installed as the 7-2 third-choice on the morning line, has drawn the outside post 9 in the Gotham, contested around one turn and worth 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby on May 5 at Churchill. He will be ridden again by Alvarado, who was aboard for the colt’s first three starts, including his head victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club.

“The main thing is that we’re out in the clear and he can see what’s going on inside of him,” McLaughlin said of the post. “Whether we’re laying second or fifth, we can work out a good trip and hopefully he runs a big race. Even if we’re a little bit wide, there’s positives to that too if we can be clean-faced instead of being on the inside and taking all the dirt like he was in the Holy Bull, that’s what we hope. He had never been down inside taking dirt like he did that day, so we’re hoping that’s why he didn’t fire.”

Albaugh Family Stable’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity winner Free Drop Billy, second last time out in the Holy Bull, was a race-day scratch from last Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, won by longshot stablemate Promises Fulfilled, and was likewise entered in both the Gotham and Tampa Bay Derby. 

Stabled at Aqueduct Racetrack, the chestnut colt by Union Rags galloped over the local surface Friday with Cove Blue, a maiden winner by Ghostzapper, at 9:30 a.m. as they wrapped up their preparations for the Gotham.

Free Drop Billy is tabbed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite and will be ridden from post 6 by the current leading rider at Aqueduct, Dylan Davis. Jockey Chris Landeros will ship in to ride Cove Blue, 30-1, from post 2.

Albaugh and Romans teamed up to win last year’s Gotham with J Boy’s Echo, who turned three-wide into the stretch to edge clear in the stretch to win by 3 ½ lengths.

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A perennial force on the NYRA circuit, trainer David Jacobson has continued to have a good winter in New York this year, highlighted by 6-year-old Great Stuff’s victory in the Grade 3 Toboggan at Aqueduct on January 27. 

Great Stuff will be ridden again by jockey Dylan Davis, who currently leads the winter meet with 39 wins through last Sunday. The pair have teamed up for each of Jacobson’s six wins this winter from 31 starters and will look to keep their fruitful connection going Saturday with Great Stuff in the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap and Harlan Punch in the $150,000 Stymie.

By Quality Road, Great Stuff kicked off his year with a third-place finish in the Dave’s Friend on January 8 at Laurel Park and charging late returned to win the Toboggan by 2 ½ lengths. With Great Stuff named the 7-2 morning-line favorite for the six-furlong Tom Fool, Jacobson looks forward to seeing his charge’s late-running style again.

“He’s doing very good,” said Jacobson. “He’s at 100 percent and we’re expecting a big effort from him on Saturday. I only wish it was seven-eighths, but we’ll see how it plays out. I know he will be flying late. He’s definitely an improving horse and training as well I’ve seen him. Most likely, we’ll be in a stalking position, but Dylan and I will discuss it before the race and we’ll figure it out.”

In the $150,000 Stymie, the 5-year-old Harlan Punch, second-choice on the morning line at 3-1, will be making his second stakes start this year after finishing fourth in the Jazil on January 20. Since then, the son of Harlan’s Holiday finished third in an allowance optional claimer on February 2 and then notched a pair of AOC wins on February 15 and March 4, respectively.

“He’s in the same position as Great Stuff,” said Jacobson. “Doing very well coming back from short rest. Every race he’s improved and he has the ability to either be on the lead or stalk and come off the pace. That’s why we’ve got one of the top riders in New York. We’ll leave it up to him in each race. He’s been riding well and we’re also expecting a big effort from both horses.”

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The Fred J. Brei-owned colt Old Time Revival was being readied to ship up to Aqueduct from Maryland’s Laurel Park on Friday afternoon with a date in Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham. 

The sophomore son of Brethren will face his toughest competition yet in his sixth career start, but the chance to run against graded stakes company was a chance that trainer Kenneth Decker and his connections decided to make based on his recent improvement.

“He came out of his last race pretty well and he had a pretty sharp work the other day,” Decker said. “So, we’re hoping he’ll run pretty good up there, and we’ll see how it goes. All is well.”

The Florida-bred Old Time Revival launched his career at five furlongs on June 17 at Laurel, where he came with a strong finish for third among a field of nine at Laurel Park. He returned the following month and finished a fading fifth after getting bumped at the break. Decker stretched his colt out to seven furlongs in December, and a convincing front-end journey allowed him to break his maiden by 4 ¾ lengths.

His 2018 season began with a seventh-place finish in the $100,000 Frank Whiteley Jr., but the colt redeemed himself with a front running effort in the one mile $100,000 Miracle Wood, where he was caught by a neck at the wire at 34-1. That effort led Decker to come north and try his colt to see how he fares against tomorrow’s field.

“We’re hoping. It’s the first time running up there, and we figured we’d try to run someplace different. We’ll see what he’s got. We were nominated to the Jerome, but we didn’t get the opportunity to come up there, so we’ll run up there tomorrow, and just hope for the best. We’ll ship up today, van up, and go from there.”  

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C. Peter Beler’s homebred Spartiatis is training well heading into Saturday’s Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap, trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Friday morning.

Last year, Spartiatis rallied from fourth to win the Tom Fool by two lengths, marking the last time the Scat Daddy gelding earned a trip to the winner’s circle. After running sixth in Grade 1 Carter and the Diablo, he finished fifth in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on July 29 before finishing eighth in an optional claimer on August 26 at the Spa.

Rodriguez then took over the training duties, giving Spartiatis a six-month freshening. The 8-year-old responded by running second in a 6 ½-furlong optional claimer on February 15 at the Big A, earning a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. He will now cut back in distance to six furlongs.

“I wasn’t sure what happened before, but when I got him, it seemed like everything was clicking,” Rodriguez said. “It looks like the freshening worked, because everything looks good right now.”

Spartiatis drew the outside post in the 10-horse Tom Fool field, carrying 115 pounds with jockey Angel Arroyo in the irons for the first time. He is listed as 15-1 on the morning line.

“It’s a tough race and he’ll have to step up; I don’t really like the post outside for him, but we hope he shows up,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a solid horse, but there’s a lot of speed in the race, so hopefully we can be able to close.”

Rodriguez is hoping Spartiatis will help him reach a milestone, as the New York-based trainer entered Friday with 990 career wins. The 45-year-old entered the day as the Aqueduct Winter Meet’s leading trainer with 26 wins, four more than Linda Rice.

“I have 990? That’s still a long way from home,” Rodriguez said with a laugh. “I’ll just keep working hard and hopefully they come. I’m very proud of our team and my assistants and the whole group puts everything together.”

A native of Guanajuato, Mexico, Rodriguez earned his first career win with Aegean Breeze on March 31, 2010 at the Big A. Before training full-time, Rodriguez also was a jockey, earning 221 career wins, including a victory aboard Frost Giant in the 2008 Grade 1 Suburban Handicap.

“I got my first win at Aqueduct, so this has always been home for me,” Rodriguez said.