Hello and welcome back to Aqueduct for the first Thursday of the Winter 2020 meet! We are going to try and get hot and have a very solid meet here!
Race 1: 2-1-3
#2 CAPTAIN FROST had a couple stinkers at Finger Lakes but had a decent bounce back performance here on New Years Day with a 60 Beyer which rivaled the best of his career. The colt is now taking a step down to the lowest level of his career today and Linda rice has some very solid stats in races such as this one. The pacesetter should be him and he should get to the wire first.
Race 2: 4-2-6
#4 PETALITE is a front runner and gets blinkers on today for David Donk and Manny Franco. Jockey/Trainer at Aqueduct was 23% during the 2019 winter meet. There shouldn’t be too much pace pressure for this filly and that should prove to be what is key in this race.
Race 3: 3-2-1
#3 KITTY THERAPY is a bit of a shot but I’m willing to take it for a few reasons. First because in to dirt races we see a first and a second, but the Beyer’s aren’t really there. I’m willing to look over that and we also see the win that she has over this Aqueduct track last race out. Manny Franco stays up here which is encouraging and the trainer is 20% with horses who have won their last start and 20% with Manny, 26% together at Aqueduct during the 2019 winter meet.
Race 4: 2-6-3
#2 FREUDIAN FATE ran a very solid race last time out and that earned him a 75 Beyer which is the Beyer par for this race. He hardly lost to the 7-5 ML favorite and my second choice. He’s a good value play at 7/2 ML and looks like he can have a very solid race here. He should be stalking a decent pace and that should give him a good shot to win this race today.
Race 5: 5-6-1
#5 SPECTATOR SPORT ran a very solid race last time out and swung right by the entire field from dead last on a muddy track. Today Linda decides to mover her up in class a bit after that lifetime best performance. The extra distance shouldn’t be an issue, if anything it may help his closing style and Eric Cancel stays up today for a colt who is ITM in every race here at Aqueduct.