​Aqueduct Racetrack Notes 4.2.21

by NYRA Press Office

• Prosperous Gulfstream meet gives Alvarado momentum on return to New York
• Souper Stonehenge looks to kick off Casse’s 2021 New York campaign in G1 Carter
• Weyburn enters G2 Wood Memorial off Wednesday morning blowout
• Limonite returns to graded company in G3 Excelsior
• South Florida invaders Prevalence, Drain the Clock and Mischevious Alex get acclimated to chillier elements; Belmont main track opens for training

Following a successful winter in South Florida, a determined Junior Alvarado will resume riding in New York on Friday at Aqueduct Racetrack.

After many years of staying in New York for the Big A winter meet, Alvarado, 34, instead took his tack to Gulfstream Park for their championship meet where he finished sixth in the jockey standings with 53 wins, including seven stakes scores. 

“For a long time, I’ve waited for this opportunity and it felt like the right time, so I took advantage of it and I thought it went better than expected,” Alvarado said. “The first couple of weeks were a little slow, but that was a lot of people getting to know me and trying to figure out the track and knowing when and where to make your move. Things began picking up after that.”

Much of Alvarado’s success this winter came on the turf for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. He guided Annex, a sophomore Constitution colt, to stakes scores in the Palm Beach and Cutler Bay as well as capturing the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant with White Frost, a 3-year-old Candy Ride filly. 

Both Mott trainees could be contenders this summer in NYRA’s lucrative Turf Triple series, implemented in 2019 as the turf equivalent of the Triple Crown, with all legs contested at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.

Alvarado also picked up Gulfstream stakes wins with Venezuelan Hug in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf for trainer Danny Gargan; Gray’s Fable for Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield in the Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy; and Pacific Gale in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie for John Kimmel. 

Alvarado’s mounts banked more than $2.3 million in earnings at the Gulfstream meet, where he boasted a record of 377-53-75-48 while finishing in the money at a 47 percent clip.

“This is the first year where I’ve started things off with this much success,” Alvarado said. “Coming back to New York, I’ve been riding a lot of good horses that I picked up down in Florida. Coming into the spring, I don’t know that I’ve ever had this many good horses lined up, so I am very confident moving forward. It gives me a lot of confidence in the decisions I make in riding.”

Alvarado departed for Florida after a strong fall campaign in New York, notching five stakes wins during the Big A fall meet and six stakes victories during the Belmont fall meet, including Grade 1 scores aboard Dayoutoftheoffice in the Frizette and Gufo in the Belmont Derby Invitational.

On Saturday, Alvarado will have the chance to parlay his South Florida prosperity to the Empire State, with mounts in four of the five graded stakes on a lucrative card. 

In the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, Alvarado will pilot Frank Fletcher Racing Operations’ Candy Man Rocket, who will try to make amends after an off-the-board effort as the beaten favorite in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 6. 

The Mott-trained son of Candy Ride tasted sweet victory in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on February 6 but did not get the most favorable of runs into the first turn of the Tampa Bay Derby, where he broke awkwardly and was shuffled to mid pack in between horses.

Alvarado, in search of his first Wood Memorial win, will guide Candy Man Rocket from post 7 in a field of 9. He said the outside post in Saturday’s nine-furlong event will be beneficial.

“Things just didn’t go our way that day,” Alvarado said of the Tampa Bay Derby effort. “There was some bumping going into the first turn and we had to start over and go to the outside. I would draw a line through that race. We have a good post to the outside on Saturday. Hopefully, he breaks well and gets a race similar to what he did in the Sam Davis, when he was in the clear on the outside.”

The Wood Memorial offers 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers and a good result on Saturday would propel Candy Man Rocket, currently 32nd on the leaderboard with 10 points, into the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

Alvarado’s previous Derby mounts include Mohaymen [4th, 2016], Enticed [14th, 2018] and Tax [14th, 2019].

Alvarado’s stakes lineup on Saturday incudes mounts aboard multiple Grade 1-winner Mind Control in the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter [Race 6]; Modernist in the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior [Race 8]; and Mia Martina in the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle [Race 9], which offers 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. He will also partner Lady Sansa in her North American debut in a turf allowance in Race 7 for trainer Christophe Clement.

Alvarado formally returns to action on Thursday at the Big A, and is named to ride Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Paris Lights in the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff [Race 7]. He also is scheduled aboard Olympique [Race 1], Runabout [Race 2], and Box N Score [Race 6].

***

Souper Stonehenge looks to kick off Casse’s 2021 New York campaign in G1 Carter

Live Oak Plantation’s Souper Stonehenge rebounded from an eventful return to the main track with a strong showing as the runner-up in the six-furlong Pelican on February 13 at Tampa Bay Downs. 

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said he’s optimistic the 5-year-old gelded son of Speightstown can build on that effort when stretched out to seven furlongs and against more challenging competition in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct.

The seven-furlong Carter, the first Grade 1 of 2021 on the NYRA circuit as part of a five-stakes Wood Memorial Day card, features a compact-but-accomplished five-horse field of 4-year-olds and up in the prestigious sprint. 

Souper Stonehenge is the longest shot on the board at 15-1 on the morning line but enters after a Pelican effort in which he pressured Zenden on the lead throughout before finishing second by a head, earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure. Zenden followed with a Group 1 win in the Dubai Golden Shaheen on March 27 at Meydan Racecourse before suffering a fatal injury after a track record-setting time of 1:09.01.

Souper Stonehenge, who shipped to New York from his Florida training base at Palm Meadows, will be making his first start in the Big Apple.

“He’s training really well and his last race was pretty good,” Casse said. “The last race speaks well for our horse. It’s a small field but it’s tough tomorrow. We’re ready to kick off our 2021 season in New York.”

Pressuring the pace was a change of tactics for Souper Stonehenge in that contest, who has usually found success as a closer, including coming from fourth to win the Grade 2 Kennedy Road in his stakes debut on November 21 at Woodbine. In the Carter, jockey Tyler Gaffalione will have the call from post 2 carrying the field-low weight of 118 pounds.

“I actually think he’s better when you let him just settle a little bit,” Casse said. “But he can do a bit of anything. Tyler will just have to let him figure out wherever he’s comfortable.”

Other contenders in the Carter include the co 123-pound highweights in 6-5 favorite Mischevious Alex and 4-1 Mind Control, with Chateau at 8-5 [carrying 120 pounds] and 5-1 Shoplifted [carrying 119 pounds] also looking to be in the mix.

After making seven consecutive starts at Woodbine from May 2019 to November 2020, racing over both the Tapeta track and two starts on turf, Casse returned Souper Stonehenge to the main track in his 2021 bow in the six-furlong Sunshine Sprint on January 16 at Gulfstream Park.

John Velazquez was in the irons, and the Hall of Fame jockey needed every bit of his ample experience to steady Souper Stonehenge after he bumped and clipped heels early on. Despite the hellacious trip, Souper Stonehenge still finished strong for a fourth-place finish and parlayed that experience into stakes blacktype next out.

“He clipped heels and nearly fell, I don’t know how he ran as well as he did,” Casse said. “About a sixteenth of a mile out of the gate, he clipped heels and nearly fell. But he’s come back well. He’s a classy horse.”

Souper Stonehenge will see the first of what could be multiple Casse runners in New York stakes, with the conditioner saying his barn at Belmont Park will see an influx in preparation for the upcoming 48-day spring/summer meet that runs from Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, July 11.

If those horses run well, it could make for an even more special year for Casse, who was elected to the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 2020 but will be officially inducted this year after COVID-19 concerns canceled last year’s ceremony. 

Belmont Park has been the site of some of the top moments of Casse’s career that earned him Hall of Fame status, including Sir Winston’s victory in the 2019 Belmont Stakes that earned him a second career American Classic victory after War of Will won him his first in the Preakness just a month prior.

“We started shipping horses up and this was our first one to ship there,” said Casse. “We’re shipping more this week. We’re not going to have a huge contingency there. But we’ll have a fair amount of starts at Belmont if things go right in the stakes. I just made my reservations for Saratoga, too.” 

Representing him in New York will be assistant trainer Shane Tripp, a long-time Casse employee who will take over the day-to-day responsibilities from Jamie Begg, who went out on his own as a trainer late in 2020. Begg earned his first career victory with Stuy Town Baby in February at Tampa Bay.

“Shane’s been with me on and off for about 25 years and he’s been coming with me to Saratoga the last few seasons. He’ll be the [lead assistant] now,” Casse said. “Jamie did a great job for me.”

***

Weyburn enters G2 Wood Memorial off Wednesday morning blowout

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens gave Grade 3 Gotham winner Weyburn a stiff three-eighths blowout on Wednesday morning over the Belmont Park training track in preparation for his nine-furlong debut in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino. 

After two easy works following the Gotham, Chiefswood Stables’ son of Pioneerof the Nile covered the three furlongs in 36.20 – the second fastest of 18 recorded works at the distance. Weyburn worked six-furlongs 1:16.60 five days earlier. 

“If I’m running a horse that’s going further than they ever have, I like to give them a little something close to the race just to open up their lungs a bit,” Jerkens said. “It was pretty close to his work before that, but he didn’t go all that fast that day, so I didn’t think it was a big deal with the five days, plus we had a lot of rain the next day.”

In upsetting the Gotham at 46-1 odds, Weyburn displayed tactical speed and fought gamely along the rail to get a nose to the better of fellow Wood Memorial aspirant Crowded Trade. He also earned 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, currently standing 10th on the leaderboard. 

Despite qualifying for the ‘Run for the Roses’, Jerkens said he might be more inclined to train Weyburn up to the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 5. His best finish in the 12-furlong "Test of a Champion" was Thomas Jo, who finished third behind a thrilling stretch run in 1998 where Victory Gallop infamously spoiled the Triple Crown bid of Real Quiet.

“We kind of have that in the back of our head that we’d more apt to aim for something like that than the Derby,” Jerkens said. “He’s a horse that takes some time to get used to new places. He’s high maintenance in that regard. We’d like to stretch the year out a little more.”

Jerkens seeks a second Wood Memorial triumph, having saddled Centennial Farms’ Wicked Strong to victory in the 2014 edition. 

Centennial Farms, graded stakes-winner Rocketry has been back to the work tab since getting some winter rest at the outfits Middleburg, Virginia facility. The veteran son of Hard Spun is possible for the $100,000 Flat Out on April 30 at Belmont Park. 

After going three furlongs in 38.21 on March 21, he went an easy half-mile in 50.09 seconds. 

“We’ll try to make the Flat Out,” Jerkens said. “We were debating on whether to keep him here all winter because he always does well when he’s with the rest of us. Sometimes when he gets turned out, he can get a little bored and then he comes back, and it takes a while to get into the rhythm of things.”

Rocketry, a three-time stakes winner, was last seen ending a nine-race slump when coming from ten lengths off the pace to win the 1 5/8-mile Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on November 6 at Keeneland.

***

Limonite returns to graded company in G3 Excelsior

Claimed for $40,000 out of a runner-up effort on January 30 by trainer Amira Chichakly, Novak Stable's Limonite looks live in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior, a nine-furlong test in Race 8 at the Big A. 

The Excelsior boasts a solid collection of older horses with 6-of-7 in the field aged 5-years-old and up, including 9-year-old Backsideofthemoon and 7-year-old New York-bred Mr. Buff, who is installed as the 4-5 mutuel favorite.

Chichakly won a five-way shake to halter Limonite, who has posted a record of 4-2-1 in his last eight starts and enters Saturday’s test having paired up career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figures for his new connections.

Limonite won first out for Chichakly on February 8 at the Big A, drawing clear by five lengths in a nine-furlong optional-claiming event with Backsideofthemoon in third. He followed last out with a dynamite effort, closing from 11 lengths off the pace to finish second to Excelsior-rival Mr. Buff in the one-turn mile Stymie on a sloppy and sealed Big A main track.

“At 5-years-old, he might just be hitting his prime and he's showed that in his last two starts,” said Chichakly. “He's a mid-sized horse. He's kind of like a pit bull, he's got a little bit of grit. He's what you’d expect of a nicer Kentucky-bred older horse.”

Limonite began his career as a highly promising 2-year-old, finishing third in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill, ahead of a foray on the Kentucky Derby trail at Fair Grounds as a sophomore that saw Limonite run fifth in the Grade 2 Risen Star before a flat tenth in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. A winner of an optional-claiming event on the Kentucky Derby undercard, the Excelsior will mark Limonite's first graded event since finishing seventh in the 2019 Grade 2 Hall of Fame on the Saratoga turf.

Chichakly said Limonite is flourishing in his new surroundings.

“Just in the time that I've had him, I've seen him brighten up and fill out a little bit and just become more solid and engaged as a racehorse,” said Chichakly. “Obviously, the goal is to let him keep moving forward in the same way.”

Chichakly said a return to nine furlongs on Saturday will benefit Limonite in trying to reel in the prominent Mr. Buff.

“He's happier with the mile and an eighth but the mile didn't limit him,” said Chichakly. “The way that last race set up is maybe why we ended up just short at the wire. If the race had played even slightly differently, he would have been right there.”

A longtime assistant to trainer Gary Contessa in New York, Chichakly went out on her own last year and picked up her first win on June 11 when Wild Northscored a maiden claiming win under Eric Cancel on June 11 at Belmont.

Chichakly and Cancel reunited following the claim of Limonite.

“He was on my first winner as a trainer and we lost touch a little bit in the fall and I wanted to circle back around with him,” said Chichakly. “We put him up on this horse and they just clicked immediately, obviously because of how they won but also how he rides the horse and how the horse responds to him. We're very happy to have him back.”

Fresh off his first NYRA jockey title at the Aqueduct winter meet, Cancel will be aboard Limonite from post 4.

Chichakly said she is optimistic about Limonite’s chances on Saturday and was overwhelmed by his closing effort in the Stymie where he fell just a half-length short of the millionaire multiple stakes winner Mr. Buff and a half-length in front of the Rob Atras-trained multiple stakes placed 6-year-old Musical Heart.

"After I got over the initial shock of how great he ran and the joy and gratefulness I had for that - because it felt like a win for me - within 10 minutes I was back in the competitive mindset of we're going to get him next time," said Chichakly. "I was saying to Brittney Atras after the Stymie how it was such a cool race. The top-three finishers were horses we knew and we're fans of all of them. It was such a nice group of horses. Obviously, you're wanting to win but you're able to root for everybody else, too."

Chichakly said she will bring Limonite to the paddock on Saturday with every intention of turning the tables on the popular New York-bred chestnut.

"You can't help but love Mr. Buff," said Chichakly. "Here in New York, you always have a desire to root for him. He's easy to be a fan of.

"But this horse doesn’t care what the class level is or who is around him," she added regarding Limonite. "He just wants to do it."

***

South Florida invaders Prevalence, Drain the Clock and Mischevious Alex get acclimated to chillier elements; Belmont main track opens for training

Horses shipped in from South Florida for Saturday’s lucrative Wood Memorial Day cared were treated to crisp and winter-like weather in the Nassau County area on Friday morning. 

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 30’s, Godolphin’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial contender Prevalence, unbeaten in two starts, visited the Belmont training track around 8 a.m. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the talented son of Medaglia d’Oro shined going seven furlongs on debut on January 23 at Gulfstream Park, which he won by 8 ½ lengths in paid workout-like fashion. He followed with a victory against winners at the South Florida oval on March 11. 

Walsh assistant Roger Horgan described Prevalence as ‘fantastic’ heading into his stakes debut. 

“I think the fresh air and cool weather perks everyone up,” Horgan said. “He felt fantastic out there. He has great energy to him. He’s fresh and I could not be any happier with him.”

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. sent out a pair of stakes contenders on Saturday, including Grade 2 Fountain of Youth runner-up Drain the Clock, who cuts back in distance for the Grade 3 Bay Shore at seven furlongs. He will also saddle last year’s Grade 3 Gotham winner Mischevious Alex for the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap. 

Both horses, along with maiden Michael’s Bad Boy [entered in a claiming event in Race 11 on Saturday], visited the Belmont training track on Friday morning and jogged a mile and galloped a mile and an eighth under assistant trainer Sabine Langvad. 

“All three of them are definitely feeling the colder weather, so they were feeling good,” Langvad said. “They handled the trip up well. They’re eating their food and they seem very happy.”

After asserting dominance on the South Florida circuit for the past few years, Joseph, Jr. will be giving New York a try will fill 12 stalls on the Belmont Park backstretch.

Friday was also the first morning of training on the Belmont Park main track, with multiple trainers sending horses out for exercise, including Jimmy Jerkens and Big A winter meet leading trainer Rudy Rodriguez.

“It looked fine this morning,” Jerkens said. “With the wind it was drying out quickly on the top.”

Rodriguez, a multiple leading trainer at Aqueduct, also used the main track for morning training. 

“I liked the way the track was this morning,” Rodriguez said. “Everything looks good.”

The 48-day Belmont spring/summer meet will run Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, July 11.