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Inaugural runnings of Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship and Forever Together bolster Saturday's card

by Brian Bohl and Heather Pettinger

Ironhorse Racing Stable's Bucchero will be running for the first time since a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint as part of a field of 11 3-year-olds and up in Saturday's $125,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship.

Contested at six furlongs on the Big A's new outer turf course, the race's inaugural edition will feature Bucchero looking to win for the third time in four starts after capturing the Brickyard on September 14 at Indiana Grand Race Course and rallying to win the Grade 2 Woodford on October 7 at Keeneland.

That set up the Tim Glyshaw trainee's appearance in the Turf Sprint, where he finished just a half-length behind Disco Partner for third in his Grade 1 debut on November 4 at Del Mar.

Regular rider Fernando De La Cruz will make the trip and ride the French bred from the outside post.

Robert Evans' White Flag recorded three straight wins, including edging Big Handsome by a neck in the Allied Forces on September 10, before running third in his first graded stakes start in the Grade 2 Nearctic on October 15 at Woodbine.

Trained by Christophe Clement, White Flag has two wins and a third-place finish in three career starts at the Turf Sprint Championship distance.

"White Flag is training well and came out of the race in Woodbine in good shape," Clement said. "There isn't supposed to be rain, so the weather should be good. I'm excited to see him run over the weekend. The distance should be good for him."

Joel Rosario will ride the 3-year-old War Front colt from post 3.

Conquest Panthera ran fourth in dropping down in class against optional claimers on November 12 at Woodbine. The 5-year-old Kitten's Joy gelding will now be returning to stakes company for the first time since a fourth-place finish in the Woodford. Trained by Mark Casse, Conquest Panthera earned a personal-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his win by a neck over Dowse's Beach at seven furlongs in the Grade 2 Play the King on August 19 at Woodbine.

Dylan Davis will have the call from post 5.

After dropping down in class to win an optional claimer October 5 at Belmont at six furlongs, Blind Ambition will look to replicate his sprinting success, which he showed in a half-length win in the 5 ½-furlong Quick Call on August 9 at Saratoga.

A 3-year-old Tapit colt, Blind Ambition is trained by Todd Pletcher and will break from post 8 in tandem with Jose Ortiz.

A group of veteran horses rounds out the field, including Spring to the Sky, an 8-year-old multiple stakes winner who is set to make his 47th career start, drawing post 6 for trainer Bruce Brown, and Dowse's Beach, a 6-year-old who was second in the Play the King for trainer Brad Cox, who will leave from post 10.

Snowday, who ran third in the Belmont Turf Sprint for trainer J.W. Thompson, will break from post 1; Dubini, trained by Kathleen Demasi, will exit post 7; and a pair of Jason Servis trainees in Summation Time and Rainbow Heir will round out the field from posts 9 and 4, respectively.

Ready for Rye, who is also entered in the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight on Thanksgiving Day for trainer Tom Albertrani, is cross-entered as well and drew post 2.

Summer Revolution and Cerro are entered for the main track only.

Also on Saturday, trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of contenders in Elysea's World and Penjade to lead a field of seven in the first running of the $150,000 Forever Together for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the outer turf, kicking off the day's stakes action in Race 4.

Last time out, Elysea's World and Penjade finished a respective third and fourth behind fellow Brown trainee Off Limits in the Grade 3 Athenia on October 28. Elysea's World, a 4-year-old filly by Champs Elysees, has hit the board in seven starts in 2017, including runner-up finishes in the Grade 2 Hillsborough and Grade Canadian, and is still looking for her first win of the year. Prior to the Athenia, Penjade, a 4-year-old French-bred daughter of Air Chief Marshal, put together a three-race win streak facing allowance company, including a half-length victory at Belmont in September.

Owned by Sheep Pond Partners and All Pro Racing, Elysea's World will be ridden by Joel Rosario from post 3. Penjade will break from post 5 bearing the colors of Amerman Racing with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard.

Athenia runner-up My Impression will try for her third win over the Big A turf for owner-breeder Stuart S. Janney III and Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Winner of the 2016 Winter Memories at Aqueduct, the 4-year-old Sky Mesa filly posted a 1 ½-length victory in the One Dreamer in September at Kentucky Downs before finishing a neck short of Off Limits in the Athenia. My Impression will be ridden by Jose Ortiz from the outside post.

Also entered in the Forever Together are Not Taken, a half-length optional-claiming winner last time out for the John Terranova barn; Winter, trying turf for the first time in 16 months for trainer Cal Lynch; Jason Servis-trained Bishop's Pond, making her first start since finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Beldame Invitational on September 30 at Belmont; and Sweet Sandy, exiting a fifth-place finish in the Brookmede at Laurel Park for trainer Danielle Hodsdon.