by NYRA Press Office
Absatootly, Quezon face off in La Verdad Friday; Frost Wise tops Thursday’s Bay Ridge
Grade 3-placed Doyouknowsomething will make his second stakes start off the claim in a field of six lined up for the $100,000 Jazil for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles, carded as Race 3 on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack.
After being picked up for an $80,000 tag in November, Doyouknowsomething made
his debut for the Robertino Diodoro barn in the Queens County on December 23,
finishing a close fourth behind longshot winner Zanotti. Prior to the claim,
the 6-year-old Awesome Again gelding posted a front-running 6 ½-length victory
against optional-claiming company on October 9 at Belmont, where he earned a
101 Beyer Speed Figure.
Last spring, Doyouknowsomething hit the board in three straight stakes
attempts, including a third-place finish behind Send It In in the Grade 3
Excelsior at the Big A and a runner-up effort to Tu Brutus in the Flat Out at
Belmont Park.
Jockey Angel Arroyo, who was aboard for the Queens County, has the return call.
The pair will break from the rail.
Owner-trainer David Jacobson will send out Harlan Punch, who has finished in the
money in his last eight races. Three of those races produced wins going a mile,
including a head victory last time out on December 23. Stretching out to 1 1/8
miles, the 5-year-old gelding by Harlan’s Holiday will be ridden by Dylan Davis
from post 5.
Veteran distance runner Turco Bravo will look to rebound from his fourth-place
finish in the Claiming Crown Jewel for trainer David Cannizzo. The 9-year-old
Chilean-bred gelding was claimed for $32,000 in September and finished second
in the 1 5/8-mile Temperence Hill at Belmont and seventh in a one-mile optional
claimer this fall before shipping to Gulfstream Park for the Claiming Crown.
Joe Rocco, Jr. will ride Turco Bravo from the outside post 6.
Backsideofthemoon will return to stakes company after finishing third in an
optional-claimer behind Vulcan’s Forge and Classy Class on December 30 for
conditioner Leo O’Brien. Reuniting in the Jazil are two of the top three
finishers of a 1 ¼-mile allowance race on December 15 at Aqueduct in Clowney,
the 1 ¾-length victor for trainer Patricia Farro, and third-place runner
Unbridled Daddy for Gregory Sacco.
On Thursday, George and Stephanie Autry’s Frost Wise will look to build on a
career-best 88 Beyer, posted in a 16 ¼-length, wire-to-wire win in a mile
allowance race at Aqueduct Racetrack on November 30, as the filly headlines a
field of five in the $100,000 Bay Ridge, going off as Race 3.
Originally slated for December 29, the 1 ⅛-mile route race for older New
York-bred fillies and mares has been rescheduled twice because of a
cancellation of live racing.
Trained by Michael Dilger, the daughter of Frost Giant broke her maiden in her
sixth career start this summer at Saratoga Race Course at 6 ½ furlongs. She
followed up with a fifth-place effort in a six-furlong allowance race at
Belmont Park in October before stretching out to a mile at Aqueduct on November
8, where she finished third.
Frost Wise will break from post 2 with Kendrick Carmouche in the saddle.
Drawing the rail is Fortune Farm’s Might Be. The 4-year-old Posse filly is
making her second stakes appearance, after finishing second in the Empire
Distaff on Empire Showcase Day at Belmont Park. Trained by Chris Englehart,
Might Be will be ridden by jockey Dylan Davis.
Owned and trained by Charlie Baker, Riot Worthy will look to stretch out to 1 ⅛
miles for only the second time in her 24th start career. The Patriot Act mare will
break from post 4 with Manny Franco in the irons.
Rounding out the field are two more daughters of Frost Giant trained by Rudy
Rodriguez: Gabrielle Farm’s Frosty Margarita and Michael Imperio’s Frostie
Anne.
Friday’s feature, the first running of the $100,000 La Verdad at seven
furlongs, will see Newman Racing’s Absatootly and Mac Keller’s Quezon square
off for a fifth consecutive race as part of a field of seven older New
York-bred fillies and mares.
A well-rested Absatootly will look to build on a third-place finish in the
Garland of Roses on December 9 at Aqueduct, which Quezon won by three-quarters
of a length. That marked the fifth time in seven stakes starts that Absatootly
finished on the board last year, including a half-length score over Quezon in
the Iroquois on October 21 at Belmont Park.
Trained by Charlie Baker, Absatootly finished 2017 with Beyers of 80 or better
in her last four starts. Jockey Rafael Hernandez will have the call for the
first time from post 3.
Quezon rallied from last in the Garland of Roses to register her only stakes
win of 2017 in five attempts, including a third-place effort in the Grade 3
Vagrancy on May 5 at Belmont. The 6-year-old Tiz Wonderful mare earned a
personal-best 97 Beyer for running second in the Iroquois, which came one start
after running third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom on September 24.
The Bobby Ribaudo trainee drew post 2 with Joe Rocco, Jr. aboard.
Also on tap for the La Verdad, carded as Race 8, are Bee Noteworthy, Wonderment,
Holiday Disguise, Palladian Bridge, and She’s All Ready.