Aqueduct roundup: Shidabhuti wins Kentucky Oaks prep

Shidabhuti stalked a moderate tempo and launched a devastating late kick in deep stretch to conquer her stakes debut Saturday in the $200,000 Busher for sophomore fillies going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.

Shidabhuti, by Practical Joke, earned 50 qualifying points towards Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 5 at Churchill Downs in capturing the Busher, the penultimate local qualifier. She entered off two victories in as many starts, the most recent being a two-length win in a local allowance Jan. 22 going the Busher distance. She broke her maiden in September going six furlongs at Monmouth Park.

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Piloted by Dylan Davis from post 5, Shidabhuti maintained her outside position while fellow Chad Brown trainee Asset Purchase, the 4-5 post time favorite, did battle with Ziaerati on the front end through an opening quarter-mile in 23.54 and a half-mile in 47.75 seconds over the muddy and sealed main track.

Around the far turn Asset Purchase established a clear advantage with Trevor McCarthy going all out aboard Ziaerati. Asset Purchase lengthened to a two-length lead at the stretch call under Manny Franco, but Shidabhuti loomed large on the far outside and collared her stablemate in the final strides to win by two lengths and stop the clock at 1:39.03.

“My thought was to be forwardly placed,” Davis said. “I thought there was going to be more speed. I’m happy with where I was at, but we got some early pressure around the half-mile pole, and she didn’t really like it too much. I just let her get a feel for it, and she got some rhythm at the three-eighths pole, and she really started extending at the eighth pole. I was keeping her to task. Just like her last race, it took her a while to get running and to build that momentum up to where she was able to finish it off. Again today I had to ride her a little early, but once we straightened up again around the eighth pole, she found her stride again. I thought she handled this track pretty well.”

Davis, who also piloted Shidabhuti to her last out score, said the filly improved out of her last race.

“She felt a lot stronger today. She finished a lot stronger,” Davis said. “She was a little green last time and a little spotty, but today she was a little more focused.”

Owned by Peter Brant, Asset Purchase finished 1 1/4 lengths to the better of Capella, who launched an inside rally to finish third. Ziaerati, La Vita Sofia and Check Engine Light rounded out the finish in that order.

Shidabhuti, who returned $12.60 for a $2 win wager, provided Brown with his second Busher victory after he sent out Search Results to a win in 2021.

“Dylan used good judgment on Shidabhuti to stay close, and they weren’t going really fast,” Brown said. “He put her in the clear in the stretch, and he timed it just right. With Asset Purchase, I thought she ran well, but in hindsight maybe Manny should have allowed her to run a little more early and open up a little. He kept her restrained and kept the rest of the field in the race, but she still gave a good effort.

“(Shidabhuti) is just a horse who is improving, and I know her numbers didn’t look that fast going into the race, but now she’s won all three of her starts, so it’s hard to fault her. She has continued to improve, and she should continue to improve with distance.”

Brown said Shidabhuti “probably” would target the Gazelle (G3), the final local Kentucky Oaks qualifier April 8. It will award the top five finishers 100-40-30-20-10 points.

Bred in Kentucky by Gabriel Duignan and Gerry Dilger, Shidabhuti (pronounced “she’d a beauty”) is out of the Candy Ride mare A.P. Candy and was a $310,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale. Her third dam is multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Dream Supreme, who produced Grade 1-winner and producer Majestic Warrior.

Little Vic gets his biggest win in Tom Fool

Little Vic and jockey Carlos Olivero each enjoyed graded-stakes glory for the first time by posting an impressive, stalking score in the Tom Fool Handicap (G3), a six-furlong sprint for older horses.

Trained by Juan Carlos Ávila for Victoria’s Ranch, the 4-year-old Practical Joke colt entered from a pair of runner-up efforts at Aqueduct, losing by a nose to returning foe Drafted in the six-furlong Gravesend in December before adding blinkers and completing the exacta behind a streaking Repo Rocks in the seven-furlong Toboggan (G3) on Jan. 28.

Victoria's Ranch is the racing operation of retired professional baseball player Víctor Martínez, a five-time, major-league all-star who finished second in most-valuable-player voting in 2014.

“This horse is a real athlete,” Martínez said. “When you see a horse like him develop after each and every race, it’s just special. It’s a feeling that I can’t describe in words. I’m just really, really happy.

Château, who won this event in 2021, broke alertly under José Lezcano and set splits of 21.92 and 45.14 seconds on the muddy and sealed main track with Pirate Rick tracking closely from second position and Little Vic rating in third to the outside of Runninsonofagun.

Little Vic advanced outside the pacesetters to take command at the top of the lane as Runninsonofagun was asked for his best run by Kendrick Carmouche, and post-time favorite Nakatomi unleashed his late kick under Dylan Davis. But there was no denying Little Vic, who surged to the wire a 1 1/2-length winner at a final time of 1:09.73.

Runninsonofagun completed the exacta by a neck over Nakatomi, who was a neck better than fourth-place finisher Eastern Bay. Rounding out the finish were, in order, Pirate Rick, Drafted, Wendell Fong and Château.

Martínez said Little Vic could return to Aqueduct on April 8 for the seven-furlong Carter Handicap (G1).

“We’ll see,” he said. “We’re taking it day by day. We’ll see how he gets back. We’ll celebrate this one, and then we’ll look for another one.”