Lubash Set for Season Debut in Danger's Hour
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Trainer Christophe Clement will send out a formidable uncoupled entry in Sunday's $100,000 Danger's Hour at Aqueduct Racetrack, including the ultra-consistent New York-bred Lubash.
The Danger's Hour - run at 1 1/16 miles on turf for older horses - drew a field of eight, including two horses entered for the main track only, and will also feature a pair of French-bred horses that have found success stateside in Aztec Brave and Mutin.
Lubash has not run since November of last year, when he won the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap at Gulfstream Park West by a half-length, but hopes to pick up right where he left off now in his 8-year-old season.
The son of Freud failed to finish out of the exacta in his sensational 7-year-old campaign, which was punctuated by wins in the Ashley T. Cole for New York-breds and the Tropical Turf - a race that made him a millionaire.
Owned by Aliyu Ben J Stables, Lubash will break from post 5 as the 7-5 morning-line favorite, with Junior Alvarado in the irons.
Clement's other runner, Chamois, has not put together the resume of his more heralded stablemate, but has shown an affinity for the Big A turf course, compiling a perfect 3-for-3 record over the track. In his last start over the course, the 5-year-old son of Smart Strike won the Duluth Stakes by 3 ¼ lengths to close out his sophomore year.
Making his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 2 Dixie on last year's Preakness Stakes undercard, Chamois acquitted himself well by finishing third, beaten a length, after pressing a fast pace. The Jon and Sarah Kelly color-bearer then finished 10th in the Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont Park, his most recent start.
Chamois, 4-1 on the morning line, will be ridden by Jose Ortiz from post 7.
Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Shadwell Stable, Mutin made a promising North American debut on November 9 at the Big A, when he took a salty optional claimer by three-quarters of a length. Sent to Florida for the winter, the son of Kentucky Dynamite failed to maintain the same form, finishing 10th and 11th in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale and Grade 3 Canadian Turf, respectively.
Listed at 7-2 on the morning line, Mutin will break from post 4 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard.
Shipping in from Kentucky is Aztec Brave, a son of Pyrus out of the Spinning World dam Azteca. The 4-year-old gelding was claimed by trainer Joe Sharp and Brad Grady for $30,000 last fall, and has since won two of four starts for his new connections, as well as finish second in his most recent outing.
Manuel Franco will take the call on Aztec Brave, 3-1 on the morning line, and the duo will depart from post 2.
Awesome Vision and Shkspeare Shaliyah complete the main body of the field, while Stormin Monarcho and Empire Dreams are entered for the main track only.
The field for the $100,000 Danger's Hour:
PP | Horse | Jockey | WGT | Trainer | Odds |
3 | Empire Dreams (NY) (MTO) | J R. Velazquez | 115 | T Albertrani | 12-1 |
6 | Awesome Vision (NY) | L Saez | 115 | T Albertrani | 12-1 |
1 | Stormin Monarcho (KY) (MTO) | C H. Velasquez | 117 | D Jacobson | 3-5 |
2 | Aztec Brave (FR) | M Franco | 117 | J Sharp | 3-1 |
4 | Mutin (FR) | I Ortiz, Jr. | 115 | K P. McLaughlin | 7-2 |
5 | Lubash (NY) | J Alvarado | 123 | C Clement | 7-5 |
7 | Chamois (KY) | J L. Ortiz | 115 | C Clement | 4-1 |
8 | Shkspeare Shaliyah (FL) | J Rose | 115 | D Shivmangal | 30-1 |
Source: NYRA Communications
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