Aqueduct wrap: Where’s My Ring wins Gazelle, Ky. Oaks is next

Where’s My Ring secured her spot in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) starting gate as she broke her maiden in style, drawing off to a 4 1/4-length score in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct.

Owned by Michael McMillan, trained by Val Brinkerhoff and piloted by Jose Lezcano, the Twirling Candy bay, sent to post as the 5-2 favorite, picked up the maximum allotment of 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Oaks points on offer to the top-five finishers in the nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies.

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“It's not about breaking the maiden, we wanted to be in the Oaks, that was our goal,” McMillan said. “I just got into horse racing, I met Val and Kelly Brinkerhoff and I told them 'I'm not in this for little races, we are in it for the big races.' I told them it was going to be the Kentucky Oaks. Everyone was shocked that we came here, but our whole team figured out the best race for us. It was a huge team effort.”

Brinkerhoff said he was thrilled that the plan to ship and win rather than face Kinza in the shorter 1 1/16-mile Santa Anita Oaks (G2) proved successful.

“I'm ecstatic to get a chance like this. I come from the bush tracks in Utah and to get to do this is pretty awesome,” Brinkerhoff said. “It's his (Michael McMillan) first horse, and I've had one in the Breeders' Cup where we ran third (Restrainedvengence in the 2021 Dirt Mile), but this filly has a lot of potential. It's been a long time getting to here and she's getting better and better, so hopefully by the Oaks, we'll be even better.”

Carmelina broke to the lead from post 8 under Mychel Sanchez and set splits of 23.57 and 48.05 seconds over the fast main track with the Dylan Davis-piloted Regulatory Risk to her outside in second and Where’s My Ring saving ground in third.

Life Talk, second choice in the wagering under Kendrick Carmouche, advanced to sixth position up the backstretch as Carmelina continued to show the way through three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.80 while Regulatory Risk and Where’s My Ring maintained their stalking positions. Regulatory Risk made her move late in the turn as Lezcano tipped Where’s My Ring off the rail and launched a bold, wide move to engage the leaders.

Regulatory Risk fought on gamely as Carmelina faded but there was no denying the energetic Where’s My Ring, who surged to victory with a final time of 1:50.33.

Regulatory Risk completed the exacta by 5 1/4 lengths over Gin Gin with Whocouldaskformo and Life Talk picking up the remaining Oaks points. Barbratina, Carmelina, Princess Vino and Munny Grab completed the order of finish. Six Pack Senorita was scratched.

Lezcano, who won five races here Thursday, said he was impressed with his first trip aboard Where’s My Ring.

“I watched a couple of the replays and she takes a couple steps before full stride,” Lezcano said. “Today she broke pretty good and took two or three jumps before going full stride and after that I already had somebody in front of me. She did everything right and waited for my asking and went on to win the race. I tried to keep her close. I didn't know how she'd react to dirt in the face so I kept her very close and never got dirt in the face and she gave me everything she had. I had plenty left in the tank."

Where’s My Ring, a $100,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, made five starts as a 2-year-old that included a fourth-place finish on turf in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl and a distant eighth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, both at Santa Anita Park. She made a pair of sophomore starts at the Arcadia, Calif., oval ahead of the Gazelle, finishing second in both a one-mile maiden in February and the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Santa Ysabel on March 9 when five lengths back of well-regarded Kinza, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

"We have run her with all the best fillies in southern California and that's not an easy spot,” Brinkerhoff said. “Baffert beat us a couple of times (with Kinza), and I actually think we can beat him going a mile and an eighth, but the race there was a mile and a sixteenth, so we opted to come here to get the extra distance. We got a great ride from Jose, a beautiful ride, and that's what it's all about."

Davis said the Chad Brown-trained maiden winner Regulatory Risk, last seen finishing fifth in the Listed Busher here, performed admirably in her graded stakes debut. Regulatory Risk now has a total of 55 points towards a spot in the 14-horse starting gate for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

"She ran great stretching out two turns. She was able to track nicely laying second,” Davis said. “I had the one (Where's My Ring) in a little bit of trouble in the first turn. Tracking nicely, she carried me. She actually never switched off, she had the bridle pretty good all the way to the quarter pole. When I asked her, she picked up nicely, but she was second-best here. I thought she ran a great effort. We think maybe a mile will be a better suit. She might give you a better kick."

Brinkerhoff said he has yet to map out a travel route to Churchill Downs for Where’s My Ring.

"We haven't decided yet whether we're going to fly her back to Santa Anita or if I'll head home and get my stuff. I've got stalls at Keeneland and I've got some real good 2-year-olds of his we want to get back there and run. We'll have to talk it over tomorrow and decide what route we're going to go with,” Brinkerhoff said.

Post Time rallies to win Carter

Maryland-bred Post Time won for the eighth time in nine starts, rallying to a narrow neck score in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Carter, a seven-furlong sprint for four older horses at Aqueduct.

Ellen Charles of Hillwood Stable, the winning owner, said the victory from the grandson of the Maryland-bred Opening Verse mare Merriweather was a meaningful one.

“His granddam is Merriweather, and my grandmother was Marjorie Merriweather,” Charles said. “I always wanted something out of that mare, because my grandmother was a remarkable woman. And you know what? I do believe he’s gotten something from her. He’s been exciting.

“I was born in New York and grew up in Maryland, but it means everything. It’s so exciting that these beautiful animals can do what he did today and that he pulled it off.”

Trained by Brittany Russell, the 4-year-old Frosted colt, sent to post as the 4-5 mutuel favorite, won for the first time outside of his native state under a picture-perfect ride from the trainer’s husband jockey Sheldon Russell.

“Ellen has been supportive from the beginning. She’s awesome to train for, and for her to have a horse like him, it is super special, and I can’t believe we did it two years in a row,” said Brittany Russell, who won this event last year when it was a Grade 1 with 17-1 shot Doppelganger to pick up her first top-flight win. “Doppelganger was extremely special to us, too. We knew he was a good horse. But when you are the favorite, and you come into it, you feel a little more pressure maybe but a lot of fun.”

Super Chow broke alertly from the outermost post 4 under regular rider Madison Olver and set a moderate opening quarter-mile in 24.38 seconds over the fast main track as the New York-bred Whittington Park stalked to her outside in second position with Castle Chaos riding the rail in third and Post Time in fourth in the compact field.

Super Chow, who arrived from Grade 3 scores at the Big A in the seven-furlong Toboggan and six-furlong Tom Fool Handicap, led the field into the turn with positions unchanged through a half-mile in 48.18 seconds.

Russell asked Post Time for his best with a wide move on the turn for home as Castle Chaos hugged a live rail with Super Chow still dictating terms, but beginning to drift out late in the lane as is his custom. Post Time rallied past Super Chow in the middle of the track inside the final sixteenth, surging in the final jumps to overtake the Dylan Davis-piloted Castle Chaos and secure the win in a final time of 1:24.0. It was a farther 1 1/4 lengths back to Super Chow in third with Whittington Park completing the order of finish. Petulante was scratched.

Sheldon Russell said he was concerned about both the slow pace and Super Chow’s tendency to drift.

“I just wanted to get him close enough turning for home where he just didn’t get outkicked, especially if Super Chow was going to get his own way,” Russell said. “I got him in a bad spot there, and Super Chow was able to drift me, and it would have been a worst nightmare if he didn’t get by today, because it would have been my fault. Fair play to the horse. He got me out of a jackpot and he saved my marriage."

The Robert Falcone Jr.-trained Castle Chaos made amends for a distant sixth-place finish last out in the Listed Stymie traveling a one-turn mile on March 2 over a sloppy and sealed Big A main track. The 6-year-old Palace Malice gelding hit the board in both his prior graded efforts when third in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G2) in December at Aqueduct and second by a nose to Tumbarumba in the Fred W. Hooper (G3) in January at Gulfstream Park.

Davis said he tried to save all the ground as Super Chow carried Post Time into the middle of the track.

“I took the rail all the way through and he got there and jumped like he was going to win,” Davis said. “(Super Chow) took the 3 horse (Post Time) all the way out, and then the last 70 yards he (Castle Chaos) got a little complacent. He started looking around a little bit. His ears started flickering. He kind of idled that last couple jumps, but he put a great effort up. I thought we were home free after that.”

Post Time, an $85,000 Fasig-Tipton yearling purchase, went 3-for-3 as a 2-year-old while racing exclusively at Laurel Park, topped by a win in the restricted Maryland Juvenile.

Last year Post Time won an optional claimer in September at Pimlico before overcoming a slow start to finish third in the Perryville in October at Keeneland. He completed his sophomore season with a head score in the City of Laurel in November at Laurel Park.

The popular gray is now perfect in three starts this season, taking the restricted Jennings in January and the General George (G3) in February at Laurel ahead of his Carter coup.

Brittany Russell said Post Time could target the $1 Met Mile (G1) on June 8 at Saratoga.

"I think he would love a mile, so it is something to think about,” Russell said.

Bred by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Brooke Bowman & Milton P. Higgins III, Post Time, out of the graded stakes-placed Fairbanks mare Vielsalm, banked $165,000 in victory and improved his record to 9: 8-0-1. He returned $3.60 for a $2 win bet.

Shidabhuti rallies for upset in Distaff

Shidabhuti came off the bench and rallied to upset a quality but compact field of older filly and mare sprinters and score her first graded-stakes victory, winning the $175,000 Distaff (G3) for owner Peter Brant.

The 4-year-old daughter of Practical Joke out of the Candy Ride mare A. P. Candy, who was dispatched at 8-1 in the field of five, was the beneficiary of a sensational ride by Dylan Davis, the leading rider at the recently concluded Aqueduct winter meet. He picked up his third win of the day.

Shidabhuti, who is trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown and had been idle since finishing ninth in the 1 1/16-mile Monmouth Oaks (G3) in July, also benefited from a turnback in distance to seven furlongs in the Distaff.

The winner of the Busher at Aqueduct 13 months ago, Shidabhuti  tracked the early pace set by heavy favorite Hot Fudge and Fingal's Cave through honest fractions of 23.57, 47.50 and 1:11.46 over the fast main track. She made her move around the turn as Davis angled her wide into upper stretch. From there she rallied through the lane, closed powerfully inside the sixteenth pole and got her nose in front nearing the wire to prevail by a half-length over the Eric Cancel-piloted Ain't Broke at the final time of 1:23.86.

Fingal's Cave was another 2 3/4 lengths behind in third. Apple Picker and Hot Fudge rounded out the order of finish. Royal Poppy was scratched.

"She ran great. She had a bit of a duel in front of her which really helped her late run there,” Brown said. “I was really proud of the horse off the layoff. I thought maybe she needed a race, and we could get a nice piece of this and move forward off of it, but as the duel developed it became clear she had a chance to win. It was a good set up for her, and she ran great. My team did a great job with her."

Davis, who is undefeated on Shidabhuti in three races, concurred with Brown that the filly "ran great" after they broke from the outermost post 5.

"They definitely got her ready today. I know the rail has been good. I just wanted to save as much ground as possible,” Davis said. “I saw those two horses go to it. I could've stayed in the three-wide spot and gave her clear air, opted to come inside in between them. She switched off. I had an early presser there, Eric, into the turn, which was great, because it kind of softened those leaders up. Once he kept pressing I was able to take her outside, and then I had a great kick turning for home."

Hot Fudge, one of two entrants from trainer Linda Rice along with Ain't Broke, saw her streaks of five wins and three stakes victories broken as the Liam's Map dark bay came up empty under Kendrick Carmouche and finished last in the field of five.

Cancel said Ain't Broke put in a valiant effort in seeking her first stakes victory before coming up short.

"She ran a very good race. That filly always tries 120 percent. I'm really happy with her performance. I wish I could have gotten the win, but I have to be happy with a second. She's a very talented filly. Very straightforward. I don't think she'll have any problem running (in future graded stakes) and improving," Cancel said.

Bred in Kentucky by Gabriel Duignan and Gerry Dilger, Shidabhuti improved her record to 7-4-1-1 and upped her bankroll to $339,350 with the $96,250 winner's share of the purse. She returned $19 for a $2 win bet.

Brown said that he may point Shidabhuti to one-turn races this year with an eye towards the one-turn mile Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian on May 4 at the Belmont at the Big A.

“It certainly looks that way. We'll try to keep her between seven (furlongs) and a mile. The Ruffian could be a good call," he said.

With their three victories together in three races, Davis said he would be thrilled to get the return call.

"It definitely means a lot to get a few rides into a horse that you've been riding, so you get to know them,” Davis said. “She's more of an in-the-bridle kind of horse, and she responds well. Not too much sticking. She's a great responder as long as you get her into stride, and she gets into a comfortable rhythm, you know that she is going to come with a big run.”