Aqueduct: Woodward leads 4 undercard stakes Saturday

Dual Grade 1 winner Locked seeks a return to winning form in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward, a nine-furlong route for 3-year-olds and up, at Belmont at the Big A.

The Woodward, carded as the sixth race, is one of five graded stakes on Saturday’s 12-race program, which is headlined by the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) in race 5. The card also features the Gallant Bloom (G2), the Belmont Turf Sprint (G3) and the Vosburgh (G3), a qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. First post is 12:35 p.m. EDT.

Click here for Belmont at Aqueduct entries and results.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Locked was a force in the older division in the early part of this season, finishing a game second to White Abarrio in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) to kick of his 4-year-old campaign in January ahead of a sparkling 8 1/2-length annexing of the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) in March at its namesake course in an effort that received a 109 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form. The consistent chestnut has been on the board in nine of 10 lifetime starts and notched his first Grade 1 victory as a juvenile in Keeneland’s Breeders’ Futurity.

The Gun Runner colt arrives off two soundly beaten efforts in Grade 2 company, finishing a 6 3/4-length fourth behind victorious stablemate Fierceness in the Alysheba in May at Churchill Downs and a third as the favorite in the 10-furlong Suburban (G2) last out on July 25 where he landed 6 1/4-lengths behind victorious returning rival Phileas Fogg. 

Aron Wellman of co-owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners said Locked has benefited from the nearly three months since the Suburban.

“He just didn’t have that oomph that we know he’s capable of in the Suburban,” Wellman said. “He was inside and closer to the pace than usual, which might not have been to his liking, but no excuses. He just wasn’t the Locked that we know can be so brilliant. We really decided to hit the reboot button, and the last month he’s been training like the A version of Locked, which is highly encouraging. He’s run very well at Aqueduct in the past, the Woodward is a historic race, and we’re very much looking forward to getting him back on top.”

Locked is perfect in two starts over the Big A main track after posting back-to-back wins last fall, beginning with a 7 1/2-length trouncing of a seven-furlong optional claimer in October, his first start off a nearly one-year layoff dating to a third in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. He followed with a rallying 1 1/2-length victory in the Cigar Mile (G2), where he defeated a field that included Grade 1 winner Mullikin and returning rival Post Time.

Wellman said the impressive five-month stretch from the Aqueduct allowance win to the Santa Anita Handicap may have caught up with Locked this spring.

“We might have underestimated how much it could have taken out of him leading up to the Alysheba. It was sort of an odd race that day and it was the first time in his career he’d ever been off the board,” Wellman said. “We decided to just really take a step back and freshen him up to see if we could get him back on top of his game for what we hope will be a two-race end to his campaign working back from the Breeders’ Cup.

“Todd and his team have done a great job and he seems like he’s cycling back into top form right now,” Wellman added. “Now, it’s up to him to prove that he can cap off his career with two big-time races.”

A win would provide Pletcher with a standalone record sixth win in this event after previous victories with Lawyer Ron, Quality Road, Liam’s Map, Life Is Good and Tapit Trice.

Hall of famer John Velazquez, aboard for both of Locked’s wins at the Big A and in the Pegasus, returns to the irons from the outermost post 7 as he seeks his fifth Woodward score.

Post Time, who starts from post 2 with jockey Sheldon Russell, wheels back from a 17-length romp over two rivals in the one-mile Polynesian on Sept. 7 at Laurel Park for trainer Brittany Russell as he returns to the scene of his Carter (G2) score last year.

“He’s done really well since his run at Laurel and it didn’t take much out of him, so it seems logical to come back in three weeks,” Russell said. “We were lucky that they got the race to go and we were able to run at home, but it’s going to be hard to keep him there because I think a lot of them don’t want to come and run against him. We’re probably going to have to keep him on the road a little bit.”

The 5-year-old Frosted horse rebounded in a big way in the Polynesian after an uncharacteristic sixth in the Whitney (G1) on Aug. 2 at the Spa, where he missed the board for the first time in 19 career outings. The last-out victory garnered a 103 Beyer, two points shy of his career-best earned for a third in last year’s Whitney and the same number he received for a three-length score in the General George (G3) last February at Laurel. 

Post Time makes his sixth start this campaign, and looks to add to two other wins at Laurel with a 13 1/4-length optional claiming score traveling 1 1/16 miles off a six-month respite in May and a 3 1/2-length victory in the Deputed Testamony going this distance in June.

“Maybe it’s taken him this long to get back right off the time (off this winter). Maybe I thought we had him more ready earlier in the season than we did,” Russell said. “He’ll have to show up on Saturday and run a big race, but I think maybe he’s gotten a little better with some runs under his belt this season. It’s taken him a little racing to get back right again.”

A 12-time winner, Post Time has collected eight stakes scores and over $1.4 million in total purse earnings, winning at distances ranging from 5 1/2 to nine furlongs.

“He’s a bit of a throwback, isn’t he? He just seems to hold his form and he loves to run,” Russell said. “He’s just a racehorse. He’s done well when we’ve shipped him up to New York, so we feel good about it.”

Graded stakes-winner Phileas Fogg starts from post 6 under Kendrick Carmouche. He enters off the back of two triple-digit Beyers awarded for his head win in the Suburban, 104, and for a stalking effort in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), 105, on Aug. 31 that saw him cross the finish line third before being disqualified and declared unplaced for interference in the early stages.

In the 10-furlong Jockey Club, the 5-year-old Astern gelding came over several paths shortly after the start, resulting in a chain reaction that caused Mindframe to lose jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and Sierra Leone to alter course around the fallen rider. Phileas Fogg then tracked in second behind the runaway pacesetter Contrary Thinking before taking command in the final turn and leading through early stretch until being collared by the victorious Antiquarian and the late-running Sierra Leone.

Trained by Gustavo Rodriguez, Phileas Fogg was a $62,500 claim for his current connections out of an optional claiming turf tilt last summer at the Spa, and has gone on to cross the wire in the top-three in each of his eight starts since, led by his head score over Antiquarian in the Suburban. 

Crazy Mason seeks BC bid in Vosburgh

Crazy Mason will look to secure his fourth local win in Saturday’s $200,000 Vosburgh at Belmont at the Big A.

Crazy Mason, a 4-year-old Coal Front colt trained by Greg Sacco, has won three of four starts over the Big A main track, topped by a grade-making score in the seven-furlong Carter in April. There, the late-running grey rallied from last of seven and 10 lengths off the pace to score by a neck over Quint’s Brew.

The winning effort, which earned a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure, capped a three-race local win streak that included a pair of similar deep-closing sprint scores in January and February. His lone non-winning effort came with a 1 1/4-length fourth when stalking in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance sprint in November and racing from a six-month layoff.

Sacco said Crazy Mason’s late-running style evolved over the winter, winning an allowance in January from last-of-11 and an optional-claimer in February from last of five.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s his style and you hope things materialize up front where you get some pace to run at,” Sacco said. “He seems to put that honest run in whether they’re flying or going moderately.”

Crazy Mason breaks from post 9 under Manny Franco. He has faced stiff competition since his Carter score, including a pair of third-place finishes to division leader Book’em Danno at Saratoga in the 6 1/2-furlong True North (G3) on June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and the seven-furlong Forego (G1) last out on Aug. 23. Those efforts enveloped a trip to Del Mar on July 26 where he landed a 5 3/4-length sixth after leaving from the inside post in a field of nine in the six-furlong Bing Crosby (G1).

“The three-quarter race in California was a little too short against Grade 1 material to reel them in on a speed-favoring track,” Sacco said.

Last out, Crazy Mason exited post 5-of-10 under returning pilot Manny Franco and closed from 12 lengths back with a wide run down the lane to finish 1 3/4-lengths back of Book’em Danno, who scored by one length over Vosburgh contender Scotland.

“With come-from-behind horses, things have to set up. Manny got off him last time and said, ‘I wish I had a seam at the quarter pole where I didn’t have to go nine wide,’ but it didn’t materialize,” Sacco explained. “He just kept coming and it was a great race, but Danno is at the top of his game and has had an incredible year. Scotland is a horse with some nice accomplishments, and he was coming back second off the layoff. Mullikin and some very accomplished horses were in there in a deep field, and we were proud to be third.”

Crazy Mason has banked $484,470 via a 16: 5-2-4 record.

Baby Yoda enters from a one-length optional-claiming win Aug. 29 at Saratoga where he was claimed for $100,000 after trainer Robert Falcone Jr. won a three-way shake for owner Flying P Stable.

"He's a classy horse, always tries, always runs. It was a hard horse to pass up - he's one of those old-school hard knockers. This race was definitely on our radar to take a shot,” Falcone Jr. said.

The 7-year-old Prospective gelding earned millionaire status with the victory, boosting his record to 32-11-4-4 with all but two of those starts in the care of Hall of Famer Bill Mott. The fan favorite earned a career-best 114 Beyer in a brilliant allowance score in September 2021 at Saratoga with a 4 1/4-length romp over stablemate Olympiad, who went on to win five graded events, including the 2022 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

Baby Yoda, winner of the last year’s True North at the Spa, saw his form tail off at the end of that campaign, but he returned victorious at Aqueduct in June from a nearly seven-month layoff to wire a 6 1/2-furlong optional claimer in a course record 1:13.86 that earned a 102 Beyer.

“He ran a good race that day and this track shouldn't be an issue for him,” Falcone said.

Baby Yoda breezed back a half-mile in 49.23 on Sept. 20 over the Belmont Park dirt training track.

"He trains himself. You don't have to do anything special with him. He's not a horse you have to drill to get fit to run,” Falcone said. “He's just a nice cool, classy horse. He knows what he's supposed to do and is an easy horse to be around. He gallops great and just a nice horse overall.”

The dark bay sports a 9: 3-2-1 local ledger and will blast off from post 6 in rein to Ricardo Santana Jr. Baby Yoda makes his third Vosburgh appearance after finishing fourth last year and third in 2021.

Mott will be represented by Scotland, who starts from the rail with Junior Alvarado in the saddle. He will look to go one better than his runner-up effort in this event last year to 4 1/4-length winner Mufasa.

The 5-year-old Good Magic gelding rallied from ninth and 8 3/4 lengths off the pace with a seven-wide move to finish one length back of Book’em Danno in the Forego. The versatile chestnut won the 2023 Curlin traveling nine furlongs and added the one-turn Cherokee Mile to his ledger in December at Churchill Downs.

Joseph sends live pair to Gallant Bloom

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will have two live chances in Saturday’s Gallant Bloom as multiple graded stakes-placed R Disaster and the stakes-debuting Street View take on the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for fillies and mares aged 3 and up at Belmont at the Big A.

R Disaster seeks a breakthrough victory after three previous runner-up efforts at the graded level. The 4-year-old Awesome Slew bay arrives from a pacesetting win Aug. 20 in a six-furlong optional claimer over a sloppy and sealed Saratoga main track, landing one length ahead of the reopposing All Class after being pressured by the Horacio De Paz-trained Striker Has Dial early.

The allowance win came on the heels of a half-length second to Halina’s Forte in the Honorable Miss (G2) on July 20, where she was also pressured by Striker Has Dial before putting away that rival and being caught late.

“Both times she had that horse from Horacio De Paz pressuring her. Obviously it took a toll in the Grade 2. She got beat and she ran second. Then she came out last time and she was able to win the allowance,” Joseph said. “Now hopefully she can step back up and get a graded stakes win on her resume.”

R Disaster returns to the scene of a hard-trying second to stablemate Haulin Ice, who won the Princess Rooney (G3) on Saturday at Gulfstream, in the Vagrancy (G3) going this distance in May. There, she pressured the pace set by Haulin Ice throughout and took a head lead at the stretch call before coming up just shy in the photo finish following the sustained stretch battle, with Grade 1 winner Leslie’s Rose landing another three-quarter lengths back in third.

“She’s run well in the six and a half furlongs at Aqueduct,” Joseph said. “Originally we were going to go to Keeneland, but with this spot coming up, we thought that we could be the favorite. She’s comfortable there and she’s going in good order off the allowance win. Hopefully she’ll run as consistent as she has in the past.”

Joseph added that speed is R Disaster’s best weapon.

“She’s a speed filly. She can be on the lead or she can stalk. Most of the time, she is fast enough where she just makes the lead,” Joseph said.

The Florida-bred filly has finished less than one length back in each of her graded attempts, the other being a neck second to Nic’s Style in the Hurricane Bertie (G3) in March at Gulfstream Park. She holds an 11-6-5-0 record with $426,180 in earnings.

Jose Ortiz has the call from the rail.

Miller Racing’s Street View makes her first start for these connections after being privately purchased following a half-length third in a seven-furlong allowance on Aug. 9 at the Spa.

Previously owned and trained by Steven Schauer, the 4-year-old Street Boss chestnut makes her stakes debut in her eighth start of a campaign that includes three wins and three other placings, including a three-length romp in a March claimer traveling one mile at Aqueduct that saw her claimed by Schauer for $25,000. She moved up in the ranks to finish second in a local allowance over the same distance two starts before a 1 1/4-length score in a seven-furlong allowance tilt in June at Aqueduct.

“She came in good form from the previous trainer,” Joseph said. “She’s coming out of a decent allowance that she ran third. Now we’re just giving her a shot to see if she could pick up a placing.”

Manny Franco will look to engineer a winning trip from post 7.

Last-out stakes-winner Impel, who starts from post 2 under Flavien Prat, seeks a graded breakthrough for dual Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Brad Cox, entering from a gutsy head victory in the listed Groupie Doll traveling one mile Aug. 10 at Ellis Park. There, she stalked a close third under Florent Geroux and put away the pacesetting Taxed at the head of the lane before being met with the challenge from Regaled to her outside in the final sixteenth. She dug in gamely to cling to victory in a final time of 1:37.63 and earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

The Quality Road 4-year-old impressed in her first two starts last year when graduating on debut in January at Oaklawn Park and trouncing an optional claimer by 8 1/2 lengths in March at Fair Grounds. She went on to post four consecutive stakes placings, led by thirds in the Grade 1 Ashland (G1) at Keeneland and the Indiana Oaks (G3) at Horseshoe Indianapolis, the latter effort coming just a half-length back of the victorious Chatalas.

The Gallant Bloom will mark Impel’s first start sprinting since a fourth at this distance in a Keeneland optional claimer in April when making her seasonal debut. She earned a graded placing sprinting seven furlongs with a second in last year’s Eight Belles (G2) won by My Mane Squeeze.

Impel is out of the stakes-winning Flatter mare Your Love, who finished second in this event in 2018. She holds a 10: 4-2-2 record with $556,116 in earnings.

Twenty Six Black breakthrough in Turf Sprint

New York-bred Twenty Six Black looks to make the grade in Saturday’s Belmont Turf Sprint, at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Horacio De Paz, Twenty Six Black starts from post 5 under Flavien Prat. He has paired up career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figures for his runner-up effort in the Troy (G2) on Aug. 3 and a 2 1/4-length score in the restricted Disco Partner on Aug. 31, both contested over 5 1/2 furlongs of firm turf at Saratoga.

De Paz said Twenty Six Black, who was gelded ahead of his 2024 campaign, has matured and improved throughout his four seasons of racing.

“It's an accumulation of getting through his conditions, seasoning and maturing,” De Paz said. “He's continuing to get better with age. We always thought he was a talented 2-year-old. He's had some breaks in-between, and I think that also helps. He only runs six or seven times a year and gets the winter off.

“Last year was his first year running as a gelding,” he added. “And all of that has helped him come to the level he's at right now.”

The 5-year-old War Dancer bay, piloted through his last two outings by returning rider Flavien Prat, went to post at odds of 10-1 in the Troy, his graded-stakes debut, and closed from sixth position to finish 1 1/2-lengths back of pacesetting winner Bring Theband Home, who marked the half-mile in 43.39 and won in a final time of 1:00.38.

Last out, Twenty Six Black, the mutuel favorite, stalked from third position as Outlaw Kid reached the half-mile in 45.22 before advancing at the quarter-pole and taking command in upper stretch en route to victory over returning rival Bold Journey in a final time of 1:01.43.

De Paz indicated that Prat is able to use Twenty Six Black’s tactical speed as a weapon when needed.

“Flavien knows him and reads the race very well to be able to put him wherever you need to put him depending on what goes on up front,” De Paz said.

De Paz is following a winning recipe heading into this event with Twenty Six Black working a sharp solo half-mile in 48.20 seconds September 20 over the Belmont Park dirt training track, fourth-best of 132 efforts at the distance. He posted similar swift half-miles of 47.02 seconds over the Saratoga main track ahead of both the Troy and Disco Partner.

“That's been the routine. We do an easy work first work back after a race and then we sharpen him up,” De Paz said. “We did the same thing at Saratoga before the Troy. He had a very sharp work, and you're always concerned about whether they did it too quickly, but he was well within himself and obviously he ran very good, so we kept that routine coming into the Disco Partner. We don't want to overdo it because he is fit, but it's fast enough to get him on his toes.”

De Paz said a good effort Saturday would propel Twenty Six Black, a three-time winner over course and distance, to a start in the $200,000 New York Turf Sprint Championship against fellow statebreds Oct. 25 at Aqueduct.

“He's an honest horse and just keeps trying. It's hard not to like a horse like that,” De Paz said. “He's a gentleman of a horse, too. He's so classy. He's a very easy horse to gallop and looks after himself very well. He's a delight to work with.”

Alogon starts from post 4 with jockey Dylan Davis. He will make his third appearance in this event, having finished a 1 3/4-length third last year to returning rival Senbei and a 1 3/4-length fourth in 2023 in an off-the-turf edition contested over sloppy and sealed footing.

Trained by Ned Allard, the 6-year-old California Chrome gelding has finished no worse than fourth in each of his last seven outings, dating to a narrow win in the Parx Dash last August. Since that score, he dead-heated for victory with Works for Me in the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship in November and was a credible two-length third in the Jaipur (G1) in June at Saratoga.

He enters from a neck runner-up effort in the 5 1/2-furlong Da Hoss on September 6 at Colonial Downs won by Doncho, who arrived from a 5 1/2-furlong optional claiming win on Aug. 8 at Ellis Park where his final time of 59.75 seconds on the firm turf broke Cogburn’s North American record of 59.80 seconds set in last year’s Jaipur.

New York-bred Senbei, who drew post 3 under Manny Franco, was fifth last out in the Troy. He will look to add to his impressive 5: 3-0-0 record on the Big A turf.

Trained by Miguel Clement, the 6-year-old Candy Ride gelding won this event last year, rallying from fifth to score by 1 1/4-lengths over Nothing Better with Alogon another half-length back in third.

The talented chestnut was a four-time stakes winner on dirt in his first two years of racing before transitioning to turf in the summer of 2023. His local wins over course and distance also include an optional-claiming score last July and a frontrunning win in the state-bred Ashley T. Cole in June over returning foes Bold Journey and Run Curtis Run.