Sleeping Giant Stables, America's Pastime Stables and KimDon Racing's graded stakes-placed Vacation Dance will vie for his second consecutive stakes score for trainer John Kimmel in Saturday's $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way, a seven-furlong sprint for eligible New York-sired juveniles, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The Great White Way, carded as Race 9 on Saturday's 10-race card, is one of four stakes on the loaded program, which will also feature the $500,000 NYSSS Fifth Avenue in Race 7, the $100,000 Alex M. Robb in Race 8 and the $100,000 Bay Ridge in Race 3. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.
Vacation Dance, a grey son of The Lieutenant, arrives from a tidy 1 1/4-length victory against open company in the six-furlong Atlantic Beach over the Big A turf on November 5 in wire-to-wire fashion. Guided to victory by returning rider Kendrick Carmouche, Vacation Dance broke sharply and rushed up to lead the field through honest fractions of 22.30 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.65 for the half-mile while under some pressure from No Nay Hudson. Vacation Dance shook off the challenge from his rival down the lane and inched clear to post the victory in a final time of 1:08.41.
The Atlantic Beach came one start after Vacation Dance earned a graded placing in his first start against winners when a game third in the Grade 3 Futurity, coming up a neck shy in a blanket finish behind the victorious Nagirroc, who exited that effort to finish a close third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
“He's doing very well,” said Kimmel. “I've been very pleased with his progression. We had geared him towards the grass earlier in the summer and into the fall. He did very well winning a stake and breaking his maiden first time out.”
Vacation Dance has made each of his three lifetime outings over the lawn and will try dirt for the first time in the Great White Way. Kimmel said Vacation Dance, who stands at nearly 17 hands tall, has matured enough to give dirt a try as he reaches the end of his juvenile campaign.
“Sometimes they [bigger horses] find their efficiency is much better on the grass – they have a tendency to not have developed fully, especially in their hind end,” said Kimmel. “Now that he's almost a 3-year-old, I think he's starting to get a stronger hind end on him and he's able to handle the dirt better than he did.”
Kimmel said he is confident Vacation Dance has the talent and class to handle the switch in surface.
“He ran well in the graded stake and just fell short of going to the Breeders' Cup – he was on the also-eligible list,” said Kimmel. “After he won the open-company stake on the grass, we knew that he was Stallion [Stakes Series] eligible, so we started gearing his training on the dirt pretty regularly since that race. He's just getting better and better all the time and I think he should be pretty competitive in this spot.”
Vacation Dance's works over the dirt include two bullets, the most recent a five-furlong drill in 1:02.48 over the Belmont Park main track on December 3. He also posted a half-mile in 48.21 Saturday over Belmont's dirt training track.
“He's got very good tactical speed,” said Kimmel. “He's a really nice horse to be around and is a class act. He's big, strong, a beautiful mover, and there's not much about him that you wouldn't like.”
Bred in the Empire State by Harry Landry and James Hogan, Vacation Dance will emerge from post 11.
Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Peter Searles and Patty Searles' Ramblin' Wreck is in search of his first stakes victory after finishing a close fourth last out in the Central Park on November 26 at the Big A. Trained by Danny Gargan, the son of Redesdale rallied from 5 1/2 lengths off the pace in the one-mile Central Park and finished well to come up 2 1/2 lengths short of the winning Bat Flip.
Like Vacation Dance, Ramblin' Wreck will make the switch to dirt after showing ability on the turf, though the latter has made one start over the main track when a distant sixth on debut in a state-bred sprint in August at Saratoga. His lone victory from four starts was a second-out score traveling 1 1/16 miles over the Big A turf in September.
Dean Reeves, owner of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, said he is looking forward to Saturday and beyond with Ramblin' Wreck.
“We were really happy with how he closed in his last race,” said Reeves. “It looked like he showed a really nice kick at the end. I think he's going to have a really big year next year against New York-breds. We'll see how he does on the dirt. It'll be a bit of a challenge but I'm hoping his talent can overcome some of that and we can get a big win.”
Ramblin' Wreck, who was bred in New York by Ron Bowden, has been assigned post 9 with Manny Franco in the irons.
Stakes-winner Jackson Heights [post 1, Javier Castellano] will look to return to winning ways for trainer Orlando Noda after a last-out fifth-place finish in the state-bred Sleepy Hollow on October 30 at Belmont at the Big A. Owned by Zilla Racing Stables, Black Jack Racing and Acqua Nova Stable, Jackson Heights broke his maiden in style two starts back with an off-the-pace victory in the Bertram F. Bongard against state-breds on September 29. He rallied from last-of-5 to earn the two-length victory over Arctic Arrogance, who won the aforementioned Sleepy Hollow next out. The son of Union Jackson was bred in New York by Sequel Stallions New York.
Walter Downey's Playingwithmatches [post 3, Romero Maragh] will look to keep up his positive momentum on the heels of a second-out maiden score in a six-furlong state-bred maiden claimer on November 17 for conditioner Mark Hennig. The dark bay Bellamy Road gelding, who was bred in the Empire State by Tea Party Stable, was bumped hard at the start of his October 27 debut at the Big A, but broke better at second asking and went wire-to-wire to post the three-quarter-length victory at odds of 17-1.
“Just breaking was a big difference maker,” Hennig said. “I don't know that he's a gate-to-wire horse all the time, but it worked out well in that last group of horses. He always trains well and doesn't do anything too crazy. He's a pretty routine horse.”
Rounding out the field are a septet of maidens in Bustino Santino [post 2, Dylan Davis], General Banker [post 4, Eric Cancel], Zapruder [post 5, Edgard Zayas, blinkers ON], Tater and Tot [post 6, Andre Worrie], Incantation [post 7, Heman Harkie], Lifetime of Chance [post 8, Jose Lezcano] and Laurel Valley [post 10, Jorge Vargas, Jr.].
Meanwhile, a field of 11 will assemble with aspirations to give their bankroll a massive boost in Saturday's $500,000 NYSSS Fifth Avenue for eligible New York-sired 2-year-old fillies going seven furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Leading the charge is Deuce Greathouse, Cindy Hutson and Brett Setzer's Les Bon Temps, who will attempt to let the good times roll following a last out 13-1 upset in the Maid of the Mist on October 30 at Belmont at the Big A. The Mike Maker-trained daughter of Laoban made her debut for her current conditioner when third in the Joseph A. Gimma in September, finishing 2 1/2 lengths in arrears of Gambling Girl. For previous trainer Norm Casse, Les Bon Temps was a winner on debut going five furlongs in May over a sloppy and sealed Churchill Downs main track before earning black type in her stakes debut in the July 4 Debutante at Churchill Downs.
Bred in the Empire State by Southern Equine Stables, Les Bon Temps is out of the unraced Tapizar mare Winsanity – a half-sister to stakes-winner Ready Signal.
Les Bon Temps will be piloted by Jose Lezcano from post 1.
Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. will send up Wynwood Thoroughbreds and Make A Run Stable's homebred Forces Sweetheart, who ships to the Big A by way of South Florida off a sharp debut triumph at Gulfstream Park. The daughter of The Lieutenant was a six-length winner of her November 5 debut, where she was entered for a $50,000 tag.
Joseph, Jr. expressed interest in the NYSSS Fifth Avenue before she made her first start.
“She had trained pretty decently going into that race and obviously she had won well,” Joseph, Jr. said. “It's going to be a big step up in class for her, but she's eligible for this race and we were hoping she would run well in her first race so we could take a chance in here. We're giving it a go.”
Forces Sweetheart is out of the six-time winning Eskendereya mare Esken Lady, who is a half-sister to Russian Group 1 winner Boy the Nile. She is a direct descendant of 1992 Canadian Broodmare of the Year Ballade as well as Darby Dan foundation broodmare Soaring.
Edgard Zayas will ride from post 3.
Trainer Mark Hennig is hopeful that added ground will be the difference maker for Seidman Stables' homebred Clover Street, who will attempt to break her maiden at stakes level.
The bay daughter of Teuflesberg was a distant second on debut going six furlongs over a sloppy and sealed Big A main track on October 1 before finishing third over a fast main track at the same oval on November 4.
“She's got the style that might fit a race like this, especially with the stretch out,” said Hennig, who won the 2006 NYSSS Fifth Avenue with Laurentide Ice.
Clover Street is the first progeny out of the Bellamy Road mare Fortune Street – a half-sister to dual graded stakes winner Boardroom.
Breaking from post 2 with the addition of blinkers, Clover Street will be ridden by Manny Franco.
Clay Scherer, Carson McCord, Gregory Hoffman, Harriette Waldron and Sonny Dotson's Midtown Lights enters off a triumphant main track debut for trainer Brad Cox. The chestnut daughter of freshman sire Redesdale made her first two starts on grass and finished a respective fifth and third going six furlongs at Belmont at the Big A. She made the third time the charm when contesting over a sloppy and sealed Big A main track on December 3, lengthening her advantage in the stretch to break her maiden by 1 1/4 lengths.
Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will retain the mount from post 4.
Trainer Domenick Schettino will saddle Janet Durrschmidt's homebred Little Linzee, who seeks her first victory since a triumphant debut in a turf maiden special weight in July at Saratoga. The gray or roan daughter of Honorable Dillon tried graded stakes company in the next out Grade 3 Matron where she finished a distant eighth. She replicated that result in the next out Maid of the Mist, where she stumbled at the start and came up empty when asked.
Breaking from post 9, Little Linzee will add blinkers for pilot Katie Davis.
William D. Hart, Sr.'s homebred Small Pebbles will seek her second stakes victory, after capturing the Shesastonecoldfox in October at Finger Lakes for her former trainer Linda Dixon. Following that effort, the Bustin Stones bay joined the barn of Carlos Martin and finished a last-out sixth in the Key Cents on November 20.
Nazario Alvarado will return to the saddle from post 7.
Completing the field are Bustin Hot [post 5, Oscar Gomez], Dream On Cara [post 6, Dylan Davis], Central Speed [post 8, Eric Cancel], Fema Funds [post 10, Kendrick Carmouche], and Sweet Liberty [post 11, Jackie Davis].
The NYSSS Fifth Avenue is carded as Race 7 on Saturday's 10-race program, which also features the $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way, the $100,000 Alex M. Robb and the $100,000 Bay Ridge. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.
America's Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/
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