Chelsea Durand Photo

Mischief Joke stands up to challenge in $100K Rego Park

by Mary Eddy

Paradise Farms Corp., Parkland Thoroughbreds, Barry Fowler and Angelo Carlesimo’s Mischief Joke turned back the late rush of stakes-winner Antonio of Venice to capture his first stakes by one length in Sunday’s $100,000 Rego Park, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for New York-bred sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The son of Practical Joke provided conditioner Mike Maker with a sweep of Sunday’s stakes events at the Big A, adding to a win in the $100,000 Say Florida Sandy in Race 4 with the graded stakes-placed Rotknee.

Detective Tom was away sharpest in the field of five and took brief command from his four bunched up rivals, but settled in second when Mischief Joke slipped up the rail under Dylan Davis to take charge and mark an opening quarter-mile in 23.47 seconds over the sloppy and sealed main track.

Post-time favorite Antonio of Venice, who was squeezed at the start, came under strong urging from Manny Franco approaching the turn from third position while racing three-wide as Detective Tom inched closer to Mischief Joke, who marked the half-mile in 47.54 and remained in-hand to the top of the lane.

Mischief Joke had a 2 1/2-length advantage in the stretch while an all-out Antonio of Venice steadily inched clear of a fulyl-extended Detective Tom at the quarter pole to set his sights on the leader. But Mischief Joke ran on strongly under right-handed encouragement from Davis to keep his foe at bay and cross the wire first in a final time of 1:19.76.

Antonio of Venice took place honors five lengths ahead of Detective Tom with the filly Thirteen Red Flags completing the superfecta and Always a Warrior rounding out the order of finish. Allied Attack was scratched.

Davis, who piloted Mischief Joke to a strong runner-up effort from just off the pace in a December allowance last out here, said the dark bay found his best stride a bit sooner today.

“Last time, I broke him well and once I got him to the outside he kept running – so he was more of a steady moving type. Today, I just wanted to break well so he could get into his stride,” said Davis. “After that, I found myself on the lead which I was happy with - I would have taken second or third. Turning for home, I just wanted to get his stride going because I knew I had a lot of horse to finish up with based off his last effort.”

Davis added Mischief Joke took the lead from the Trevor McCarthy-piloted Detective Tom with ease on the backstretch.

“It looked like Manny’s horse didn’t have the best of breaks and Trevor’s horse was struggling a little bit there a sixteenth after the gate,” said Davis. “After that, he [Mischief Joke] just took control. He got happy up there and I punched him a little early before they could get to him and he kept on going.”

Bred in the Empire State by Pine Ridge Stables, Mischief Joke has hit the board in 9-of-10 outings, including a sixth-out graduation in September here and a third-place effort in the New York Breeders’ Futurity in October at Finger Lakes Racetrack. He banked $55,000 for his Rego Park victory while returning $5.90 on a $2 win bet.

Rudy Rodriguez, trainer of Antonio of Venice, said the poor break hindered the bay son of Laoban, who won the $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way last out.

“He got squeezed out of the gate and lost a couple lengths. Now, he [Franco] has to grab him and you have to be in contention to be able to go,” said Rodriguez. “He took him back and got him outside and the other horse got the jump on us. I thought he was OK. A little disappointed, but we’ll re-group. He was trying.”

Live racing resumes Friday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.