Aqueduct: Kappa Kappa looks to cap her year in Comely

Kappa Kappa looks to cap her sophomore season with a graded stakes double in Sunday's Grade 3, $200,000 Comely, a nine-furlong test for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.

Trained by Butch Reid Jr., the Omaha Beach chestnut enters off a win when making her graded debut in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Raven Run on Oct. 18 at Keeneland. There, Kappa Kappa exited post 9 of 10 and dueled for command through an opening quarter-mile in 22.81 seconds and the half-mile in 45.94, was headed by Vodka With a Twist in the lane, but battled back to her inside to win by a head.

The victory, which came at odds of 27-1 with returning Hall of Famer John Velazquez up, earned a career and field-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form, for the final time of 1:23.90 over the fast track.

"A lot of them will show ability in the morning, but you can't ever measure gameness. When that horse came to her at the eighth pole, she dug right back in," Reid Jr. said. "Johnny said when she made the lead, she twitched her ears a little bit and said 'well, where's my competition?' And that horse came to her and she still had horse left and responded very well.

"She had to draw in off the also-eligibles. We weren't able to ship down there until two days before the race, and she handled all that well," Reid Jr. added.

Kappa Kappa, who drew post 5 for the Comely with Velazquez named to ride, contested the Raven Run off a pacesetting six-length win in a 6 1/2-furlong Pennsylvania-bred allowance versus elders in September at Parx Racing. She owns a record of 4: 3-1-0, her lone miss a 5 3/4-length second in an open optional claimer going a two-turn mile in August at Parx after a dominant debut win sprinting six furlongs in July there.

"I thought from the beginning that she's a two-turn horse," Reid Jr. said. "This is part of a longer-range plan to try and map out next year's schedule for her. We want to try her around two turns. I kind of threw it at her a little too quickly in her second start and she got a little confused and she wasn't sure what to do, like they do sometimes the first time going two turns, but I think she's a natural two-turn horse. This will give us some idea on what direction to go next year with her."

Kappa Kappa has trained forwardly for this stretch out, including a half-mile breeze in 47.71 seconds on Nov. 30 at Parx.

"She looks really good. I'm expecting a good effort. It's a big jump going from seven-eighths to a mile and an eighth, but it's the last race for 3-year-olds on the map, so we'll give it a go," Reid Jr. said. "We made sure to give her plenty of time before her next effort and that's why this race fits in perfectly."

Bred by Stone Jug Ranch, Kappa Kappa is a $65,000 purchase from the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Yearling Sale out of the winning Pioneerof the Nile mare Pharoah's Princess, a half-sister to Grade 2-winning New York-bred millionaire Pat On the Back.

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown looks for a third consecutive Comely victory as he sends out Fully Subscribed following scores with Raging Sea (2023) and Pretty Ana (2024).

Fully Subscribed, who drew post 6 with Flavien Prat named to ride, booked a win over course and distance last out in the Grade 2 Mother Goose on Nov. 8. The Tiz the Law chestnut traveled off the pace under Dylan Davis and made a middle move to get the jump on Grade 1-placed Drexel Hill, kicking clear to a 4 1/2-length victory over that rival in a final time of 1:49.73.

The performance earned a career-best 91 Beyer, one tick shy of Kappa Kappa's field-best mark. Like that rival, Fully Subscribed has made four career starts.

"I almost shut her down for the year and was pointing to bigger and better things next year, but she bounced out of her last race so well," Brown said. "I really got looking at how lightly raced she is this year – we had to wait so long for her to get healthy. I figured we'd run her one more time over a track she likes. I'm very pleased with her."

Fully Subscribed won her debut by four lengths sprinting seven furlongs last October at Aqueduct, returning almost a year later – after recovering from a reported tibial stress fracture – this September at Saratoga when third versus allowance elders going one mile from the Wilson Chute.

Fully Subscribed next was a neck second to Points Is Points over Sunday's course and distance less than one month following her return effort. Bred by Payson Stud, she is a $300,000 purchase from the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training out of the winning Candy Ride mare Sweetbaby. Her second dam is Grade 1-winning millionaire Rutherienne.

Quietside, a Kentucky homebred trained by John Ortiz, drew post 8 with Ricardo Santana Jr. named to ride. She was eighth last out in the Raven Run in her first effort since a sixth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks in May at Churchill Downs. The Malibu Moon bay had never missed the board in all seven efforts prior to the Kentucky Oaks.

Quietside's on-the-board streak included wins in the Grade 3 Honeybee and Grade 2 Fantasy, in February and March respectively, going 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn. She has made two starts in New York, including a dominant debut graduation last summer at Saratoga ahead of a second to subsequent Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Immersive in the Grade 1 Spinaway.

Yes It Tiz, who drew post 7 with Manny Franco named to ride, has never finished out of the exacta in five career starts and enters from two nine-furlong wins in Kentucky. Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the Tiz the Law bay defeated elders by a neck in an off-the-turf allowance in September at Churchill ahead of a last-out closing optional claiming score in October at Keeneland.

Yes It Tiz had made her three prior starts on turf, graduating in April at Gulfstream Park ahead of a pair of seconds at Ellis Park. Bred in Kentucky by Newstead Corp, she is a $110,000 purchase from the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of the multiple Norwegian champion Pivotal mare Entangle.

Rounding out the field is last-out local state-bred Empire Distaff-winning Valtellina at post 2 with Joel Rosario, who captured that nine-furlong contest for trainer Ray Handal; Grade 1-placed Ourdaydreaminggirl at post 3 with Angel Rodriguez for trainer Louis Linder Jr.; and the Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher-trained pair of stakes-placed Ruth at post 4 with Kendrick Carmouche and maiden-winner Noticeable at post 1 with Jose Lezcano.

The Comely goes as Race 7 on Sunday's eight-race card. First post is 12:40 p.m. EST.