Joe Labozzetta Photo

Please Flatter Me looks to stay undefeated in competing in the Busher Invitational

by NYRA Press Office

• Always Shopping set to take next step forward in Busher
• Oxy Lady gearing up to compete in Busher on Gotham Day
• Asmussen barn looking forward to stretching out Tikhvin Flew in Gotham
• Manny Franco eyes second straight Aqueduct winter meet riding title
• Post-time adjustments in March at the Big A

Please Flatter Me remains on target for the $250,000 Busher Invitational on Gotham Day March 9, as trainer Mark Reid said the undefeated Munnings filly remains scheduled for one final workout at Pimlico before shipping to Aqueduct Racetrack.

After starting her career 3-for-3, including a 5 ¾-length win in the seven-furlong Gin Talking last out on December 29 at Laurel, Please Flatter Me will look to make an impression in her 3-year-old debut when she competes in the Busher, offering 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the top-four finishers towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

She breezed a bullet five furlongs in 58.60 seconds in her previous work at Pimlico on February 16.

"She's training phenomenally and had a great work last week," Reid said. "She'll probably have one more breeze and a blowout, but we're planning on coming."

Owned by Madaket Stables and the Heider Family, Please Flatter Me has successfully stretched out in distance in every race, winning her debut in a five-furlong maiden special weight by 8 ½ lengths on October 13 at Penn National.

Stepping up in class, she won the six-furlong Blue Mountain Juvenile Fillies by four lengths on November 21 at Penn before earning a personal-best 78 Beyer in the Gin Talking. Reid said the one-turn Busher mile could suit her style.

"You never know about two turns, but I'm very confident that a mile around one turn, she'll be murder because she has plenty of natural speed and will dial it down a notch anytime you ask her," Reid said.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Mary Katherine Haire, Please Flatter Me has grown into her sizable frame, according to her connections. She also has been comfortable shipping.

"She's putting on the muscle now," Reid said. "She's 16.1 [hands] and well over a thousand pounds. There's enough of her there. She's going to be able to stand the gap.

"Her first two races, I shipped her from Pimlico two hours to Penn, and she never picked her head up," he added. "She has that attitude of, 'OK, is this what we're doing? All right.' It's never a problem."

Reid, who saddled his first winner in 1976, according to Equibase, has won more than 1,700 races in his career but did not train from 2001-13, working as a bloodstock agent in the interim before returning to training with two starters in 2014.

Reid has five graded stakes win to his record, with the last coming in the 1992 Grade 3 Vineland. Please Flatter Me has the potential to end the 27-year drought.

"I'm sure if it was back in the day, I'd be a bundle of nerves, but I'm just enjoying it," Reid said. "She's easy to train, which makes my job easier. The main thing is the [winning or losing] won't change my life one way or another. But it's going to give me great joy to do something I love; that's why I got back into training.

"To be honest, I didn't think I'd stumble across one of these [potential stakes winners]. I was fortunate enough to do it and I'm tickled pink to be training her. She's so good. She's such a nice filly."

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Always Shopping set to take next step forward in Busher

After breaking her maiden in the $100,000 Busanda at 1 1/8 miles in her fourth career start to earn 10 qualifying points to the Kentucky Oaks, Repole Stable's Always Shopping will take the next step towards the premier race for 3-year-old fillies by targeting the $250,000 Busher Invitational on March 9.

A Repole Stable homebred sired by multiple graded stakes winner Awesome Again and out of multiple graded stakes placed mare Stopshoppingmaria, Always Shopping made an inauspicious debut on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course, where she ran fifth.

Following a pair of seconds in the fall at Belmont and Aqueduct, she stalked a field of nine to win the Busanda by 1 ¼ lengths.

"She came out of her race in the Busanda in good shape," said Byron Hughes, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher. "She's back to the track galloping and her energy is good. We're happy with her overall appearance so far."

With one win and two seconds in three starts at a mile or more, Hughes thinks Always Shopping just needed some distance to begin to show the best of her ability.

"It took her a little time to get acclimated to racing, but she's always been wanting to go two-turns," said Hughes. "Timing wise, things worked out taking a shot in the Busanda and thankfully things worked out, so we'll look to take the next step here targeting the Busher."

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Oxy Lady gearing up to compete in Busher on Gotham Day

Calumet Farm's Oxy Lady looks poised to shrug off her last effort as she readies for the $250,000 Busher Invitational trainer Jack Sisterson said.

Oxy Lady ran sixth in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra, getting caught four-wide on the first turn and settling towards the rear in the 1 1/6-mile route at Fair Grounds on February 16. Cutting back to a mile in the 40th running of the Busher for 3-year-old fillies, Oxy Lady will look to recapture the form that saw her start her career with two wins through her first four starts.

"She came out of her last race in great shape," Sisterson said. "She seems a lot more focused. I think you can put a line through the Rachel Alexandra. She did everything right leading up to that race. I take the blame for not having her 100 percent ready."

Bred in Kentucky, Oxy Lady is 2-1-1 in six career starts, including 2-0-1 in three starts at the Busher distance. She will now be looking to earn points towards qualifying for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, with the Busher awarding 50-20-10-5 points to the top-four finishers.

Oxy Lady will be making her first appearance at Aqueduct since winning the Grade 3 Tempted at a mile on November 2, coming from off the speed to post a five-length win and a personal-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

"She has tactical speed and can be behind the pace. She's pretty versatile," Sisterson said.

The daughter of Oxbow gave Sisterson his first career graded stakes win in the Tempted. The 34-year-old native of England was an assistant to Doug O'Neill, including playing a key role during I'll Have Another's 2012 Triple Crown bid that included a victory in that year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness before a tendon injury forced his retirement.

Out on his own since 2018, Sisterson entered the weekend with six career wins in 67 starts. Earning him his first stakes trip to the winner's circle as a head trainer has created a special bond with Oxy Lady, according to her conditioner.

"It's great, she's done all the hard work," Sisterson said. "There's a bond there. My staff did a great job to have her ready. I can't take too much credit. She's a nice filly."

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Asmussen barn looking forward to stretching out Tikhvin Flew in Gotham

Bloom Racing Stable's Tikhvin Flew, a bay son of Street Sense purchased for $110,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and in the care of Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Asmussen, will look to make his graded stakes debut in the $300,000 Grade 3 Gotham at one-mile on Saturday, March 9 at Aqueduct.

As part of New York's Road to the Kentucky Derby series, the Gotham offers 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the first four finishers.

After impressively winning his debut going seven furlongs on January 4 at the Big A by 1 ¾-lengths, Tikhvin Flew followed up on that performance by finishing a game third in the Jimmy Winkfield, also going seven furlongs on February 9.

Set to stretch out to a mile for the first time in the Gotham, assistant trainer Toby Sheets, who oversees Asmussen's New York division, thinks the colt will appreciate the stretch out.

"I think he will stretch out well," said Sheets. "We're going to play it by ear until we get the entries for the race, but he's continued to look good in the mornings and we'll cross our fingers that he maintains his good form heading into the race."

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Manny Franco eyes second straight Aqueduct winter meet riding title

Jockey Manny Franco rode four winners on Thursday at Aqueduct, extending his meet-leading total to 64 entering Friday.

Franco won three of the day's first four races yesterday, piloting Run for Boston ($2.90) in Race 1, followed by Sweet Like Char ($6.50) and Avalina ($6) in Races 3 and 4, respectively. He then rode Regal Retort ($4.80), trained by Asmussen, for a rallying 4 ¼-length win in the day's penultimate contest in Race 7.

"I was on the right horses today," Franco said with a smile after dismounting Regal Retort in the paddock. "I just wanted them to be comfortable. They responded for me."

Franco continues to have success at the Big A, where he won the 22-day fall meet that concluded in December when he posted 25 victories. The 24-year-old native of Carolina, Puerto Rico was NYRA's year-end wins leader in 2018, posting a 244-207-221 record on 1,366 mounts with earnings just shy of $16 million.

The fall crown was his second NYRA circuit riding title, including the 2018 Aqueduct winter meet. Franco is on pace to repeat, with his win total 12 more than the next-closest jockey in Junior Alvarado.

"I'm here all-year, so I think that's helped me a lot, just riding for the same guys all year," Franco said. "It gives you a lot of confidence."

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Post-time adjustments in March at the Big A

From March 1 through March 9, all cards at Aqueduct Racetrack will feature a first post time of 12:50 p.m. Beginning on March 10th and continuing through March 31st, all remaining cards at the Big A will have a post time of 1:30 p.m.