Joe Labozzetta Photo

Juvenile fillies compete in Friday's Key Cents; Secretary At War looks to battle in Gio Ponti

by NYRA Press Office

Graded stakes veteran Pure Silver will look to recapture the form she showed in starting her career 3-for-3 in headlining a field of eight state-bred juvenile fillies in the $100,000 Key Cents on Friday at Aqueduct Racetrack.

One of three stakes on the day, including the Grade 3, $250,000 Comely for 3-year-old fillies, the Key Cents, carded as Race 3, will feature Pure Silver looking to rebound off a seventh-place finish in the Maid of the Mist on October 21 at Belmont.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Pure Silver started her career impressively, winning her debut on June 22 before capturing the Lynbrook on July 16 at Belmont and her first graded stakes start with a 9 ½-length score in the Grade 2 Adirondack on August 12 at Saratoga Race Course.

The Mission Impazible filly ran fourth in the Grade 1 Spinaway before faltering in stretching out to a mile in the Maid of the Mist. Cutting back to six furlongs, Pure Silver drew post 7 with Hall of Famer Javier Castellano in the irons.

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart will saddle a pair in Indy's Lady and I Still Miss You. A daughter of Take Charge Indy, Indy's Lady has two wins in three starts, will make her first New York start after winning the Shesastonecoldfox on October 23 at Finger Lakes.

Indy's Lady earned a 70 Beyer Speed Figure for the 2 ¼-length win. Jose Ortiz will have the call from post 6.

"It was nice to see her rate last time, she's really maturing," Englehart said.

I Still Miss You won her first two races, including the Astoria on June 8, and ran second to Pure Silver in the Lynbrook before finishing out of the money in her last two starts, both against stakes company. Jockey Manny Franco will ride from post 5.

"I'm really happy with how both fillies have looked this week," said Englehart after both breezed Friday on Belmont's training track.

Cause We Are Loyal, the winner of the Seeking the Ante on August 25 at Saratoga, ran fifth in the Maid of the Mist, will be running for the first time since Mark Hennig took over the training duties. Junior Alvarado will exit post 1.

Newport Breeze, the fourth-place finisher in the Maid of the Mist, has placed twice stakes races, running second in the Seeking the Ante and third in the Joseph A. Gimma. Trained by Peter Eurton, Newport Breeze will break from post 4 with jockey Luis Saez aboard.

Rounding out the field is Tayler's the Boss, who will be making her first start for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen from post 8; Miss Mystique, looking for her first stakes win for trainer Leah Gyarmati out of post 2; and Stone Cold Flirt, who will break from post 3 for trainer Carlos Martin.

Carded as Race 8, the $150,000 Gio Ponti for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on outer turf course features a talented field of 10 runners.

Looking to rebound off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 3 Hill Prince on October 7 at Belmont is Allen Stable's Secretary At War. A son of War Front trained by Jimmy Jerkens, Secretary At War has two wins, one second-place running and a pair of third-place finishes from nine starts this year.

Recording a field-high 92 Beyer in the Hill Prince, Secretary At War will look to move forward with Castellano in the irons when the pair leaves from post 4.

Finishing seventh in the Hill Prince and aiming to get back on track for Englehart and August Dawn Farm is Small Bear. Sired by Macho Uno, the gelding made his first start on the turf last May at Belmont in which he finished third in the Paradise Creek. Prior to the Hill Prince, he ran a strong second to lose by a neck in the Better Talk Now.

With Rajiv Maragh aboard, Small Bear will leave from post 2.

Harold Lerner, AWC Stables, and Nehoc Stables' It's Your Nickel will enter off a seventh-month layoff. Trained by Ken McPeek, the 3-year-old will be running for the first time since finishing third in the Grade 3 Illinois Derby. The Dialed In colt will be returning to turf for the first time since breaking his maiden in 2016 at Saratoga.  

It's Your Nickel ran on dirt after that maiden win, collecting a second-place finish in an optional-claiming race at Fair Grounds on January 27 before winning the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park. He was sixth in the Grade 2 Blue Grass and following with a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland prior to the Illinois Derby on April 22 at Hawthorne on a synthetic racing surface.

Dylan Davis will be aboard and the pair leave from post 10.

Rounding out the field for the Gio Ponti are Lunaire for Woodslane Farm and trainer Tom Albertrani; Bootlegger for E.V. Racing Stable and trainer Naipaul Chatterpaul; Hieroglyphics for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Pletcher; Darlarna, for Gunpowder Farms and trainer Kelly Rubley; Harlan's Harmony for Curragh Stables and trainer John Terranova; Funtastic for Three Chimneys Farm and trainer Chad Brown and Fuel the Bern for trainer Danny Gargan and Three Diamonds Farm.