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Record-Tying Six-Win Day Catapults Cancel To Jockey Title At Aqueduct; Rodriguez Leads Trainers

Jockey Eric Cancel tied a New York Racing Association single-day record with six wins, capturing his first career riding title on the circuit with a furious comeback in the standings on Sunday, closing day of the 2020-21 winter meet at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Cancel entered the eight-race card trailing Kendrick Carmouche by four victories but made a strong proverbial stretch-drive rally by winning six races on a single card for just the 23rd time in NYRA's recorded history, ending his meet with 78 total victories. Cancel finished in the money in all eight races, adding a runner-up and a third-place finish in the finale in his bid to become the first jockey to win seven races in a single day at a NYRA track.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez dominated the standings with 36 wins, capping the 54-day winter meet that ran from December 10 to March 28. Michael Dubb and Repole Stables [Mike Repole] each had 10 wins to lead all owners.

Cancel crafted a dramatic winter meet finale through rainy and foggy conditions, starting in the opener when Sono Grato won going a one-turn mile in a maiden tilt. Cancel rode Big Mountain to a runner-up effort in Race 2 but won five in a row, piloting Lobsta, Kith, City Temper, Make Mischief and My Boy Tate in the $100,000 Haynesfield for New York-bred 4-year-olds and up going one mile, sweeping Races 3-7.

The 24-year-old Cancel was the leading North American apprentice rider by earnings in 2015 and was the 2015 Eclipse Award finalist as Outstanding Apprentice. Cancel finished 78-63-53 in 361 mounts and earnings of just more than $4 million. Carmouche, the defending leading rider at the Aqueduct fall meet, was second with 76 wins while Manny Franco was third with 61.

“It's very meaningful,” Cancel said. “This is something I always wanted and I just want to continue to do better and better. I was just trying to win as much as I can and go home happy.”

Three of Cancel's five stakes wins this meet came in February, with Make Mischief winning the $100,000 Maddie May, Miss Brazil in the $100,000 Ruthless and Risk Taking highlighting his meet with a win in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers that earned Risk Taking 10 qualifying points for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby. Cancel also guided Espresso Shot to victory in the $100,000 Biogio's Rose on March 7 before adding My Boy Tate to the ledger.

“I've been trying to take everything in a good way and try to make every step better and better,” Cancel said. “I think right now, I'm on my top game. I know the guys are coming back from Florida and it'll be a little tough because a lot of mounts will go back to them. But I'll just keep on grinding. Nothing is going to stop me and I'll just keep on doing my best.”

Rodriguez paced all conditioners, finishing 10 wins ahead of second-place finisher Linda Rice. The effort marked Rodriguez's first training title since the 2019 Aqueduct spring meet. Ten of his 12 total meet titles have come at Aqueduct, with the other two during the Belmont fall meet [2010 and 2016].

Rodriguez, assisted by his brother, Gustavo, sent out a meet-high 181 starters, compiling a 36-26-26 record with earnings of more than $1.6 million. His runners finished in the money 48.62 percent of the time and posted a 19.89 winning percentage.

“I'm just very happy for everyone in the barn,” Rodriguez said. “My brother, my whole family, all the grooms and hotwalkers; they all work so hard. It's a team effort. They all know what to do, and I'm very happy to have all of them around me and help me. We don't have too many stakes-winning horses, but we try to make the best of it and we had a solid meet. We'd like to get even better horses and hopefully one day we'll get there. We're trying to build on the success and keep working hard and hopefully the big owners will send us some new stock.”

Among Rodriguez's meet highlights was Pete's Play Call's 2 1/2-length win in the $100,000 Gravesend on January 2 and Backsideofthemoon's victory in the $100,000 Queens County on December 19. Ryan's Cat won the Peeping Tom during Saturday's New York Claiming Championship Day.

Dubb saw his starters finish in the money in 72.5 percent of his 40 races, with his runners going 10-13-6 in winning a quarter of the races. Dubb's runners earned $727,674, tops among all owners, with Chateau's victory in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 6 marking the highlight. Dubb, a member of NYRA's Board of Directors, won a share of his first meet title since the 2019 Aqueduct Winter.

Repole Stable, led by Mike Repole, saw a nice mix of quality and quantity to earn a share of the title, with his starters going 10-11-6 in 43 races, posting earnings of $582,675. Backsideofthemoon's win in the Queens County on December 19 provided an early highlight, and Devious Mo closed the meet for the stable with a maiden claiming score on March 13 to allow Repole to hit double digits.

Thoroughbred action continues at Aqueduct Racetrack for the 11-day spring meet that will run from Thursday, April 1 through Sunday, April 18. The meet will include 13 stakes worth $2.7 million in purses highlighted by the 96th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on Saturday, April 3. Live racing will be conducted on a Thursday-Sunday schedule with a 1:20 p.m. Eastern first post.

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Prevalence Has Final Wood Memorial Prep For Walsh: ‘This Will Answer Our Questions’

Godolphin's Prevalence registered his final work before shipping to New York for Saturday's Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, posting a half-mile breeze in 47.60 seconds Sunday at his home base at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Trainer Brendan Walsh said he's been pleased with the Medaglia d'Oro colt's training and will see him ship to New York on Wednesday, when the draw for the 100-40-20-10-point Kentucky Derby qualifier at Aqueduct racetrack will occur.

Prevalence, unraced as a juvenile, is 2-for-2, recording a 8 1/2-length debut victory on January 23 at Gulfstream Park and following with a three-length score stretched out to a mile on March 11 at the same track.

“He worked here this morning at Palm Meadows and it went very well and he's flying up there on Wednesday. It looks like he's going into the race in good shape,” Walsh said. “It's another step now, so we'll find out if he can go the two turns as well. This will answer our questions and be a good test for him.”

Walsh said he's optimistic Prevalence can handle the challenge of shipping in for a race for the first time, citing his demeanor and temperament.

“He's a very nice, quiet, easy-going horse and I don't think the travel will affect him at all,” Walsh said. “We'll see how he handles the track. He hits me as a horse who can handle any kind of surface.”

Walsh, who has registered 364 wins and earnings of more than $20 million, said the chance to compete in a prestigious race such as the Wood Memorial is a special one, especially with the 2020 edition not being able to run because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It's fantastic. This is why we're in the game; to be part of these races, and to bring a horse up there who should be a live one, it's very exciting,” Walsh said.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, aboard for Prevalence's first two starts, will have the return call in the Wood Memorial.

“It's always good when you can have continuity,” Walsh said. “It all helps. Tyler's a great rider, so we look forward to having him on board.”

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One-Horse Stable Bringing Longshot Market Maven To Wood Memorial

Market Maven will provide Aqueduct's Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino some intrigue as the Pennsylvania homebred will make his first stakes appearance after making his first four career starts at his home base at Parx.

The Super Ninety Nine gelding is the only horse currently in training for owner [and breeder] Gregory Gordon, who has compiled 10 wins, four runner-up efforts and three third-place finishes with 23 starters since sending out his first starter in 2013.

Market Maven has improved his career speed figures in every race, beginning with a 39 Beyer in a sixth-place debut effort in November to a 48 in a runner-up effort on December 22. Making his sophomore debut, Market Maven registered a maiden-breaking one-length score that garnered a 74 number and followed with an 81 for his four-length score against optional claimers going a mile and 70 yards last out on February 23 over a sloppy and sealed track.

Trainer Penny Pearce, who will saddle her first career graded stakes starter, said Market Maven has been training forwardly since, prompting the connections to be ambitious in nominating to Aqueduct's signature race with 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby available to the top-four finishers.

“Every time we take him out there, he gets a bit better every time,” Pearce said. “We really don't know what we have yet. You can't win it if you ain't in it. We're all pretty excited. I don't think anyone is more excited than Gregory; he bred and raised him and he's the only one he has in training. When he came to me about this race, I was a little [surprised]. But we started talking about it and we said, 'why not?' He's a nice horse and has talent.”

The Wood Memorial, which has seen 11 of its winners go on to the win the “Run for the Roses,” will also be an opportunity for jockey Dexter Haddock to compete in a prestigious stake. Haddock, primarily based on the Parx circuit, has been aboard for all four of Market Maven's previous starts, developing a strong rapport that Pearce said she wanted to maintain.

“He's the only jock that's been on him since I got him; Dexter's done all the work with him,” Pearce said. “That gives me a little more confidence because he knows him better than anyone.”

Market Maven has won as the front-runner in his last two starts, though Pearce said he has the skill-set to be versatile.

“I think if he could get up close to the lead or get the lead, [ it would be his preferred trip] he could run it like his last race. But he can come from a little out of it, too, so never know. It all looks good on paper but you go out there and everything changes when you come out of the gate.

“He's good-natured and quiet, so I think he'll be all right,” she added.

Pearce has a ledger of 102-112-123 in 883 career starts since going out on her own in 2012. She said running in a historic New York stakes will be a special event for her family-run operation and a nice reward for both Gordon and Haddock as well.

“Greg just told me let's go have fun and there's no pressure and no stress,” said Pearce. “He said, 'let's go have a day of fun.' This day will be exciting for everyone but especially for him; I'll be happy to see him do good and Dexter. We're a family-run barn here, so we're a team. I have my husband and my children working here and my nephew and his wife are stabled with us. It's a seven-day a week job and we all work hard and these kind of horses don't come around every day.”

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Atras Looking To Maintain Hot Streak With Chateau, Maracuja In Aqueduct Stakes

Trainer Rob Atras boasts a 20-9-3-2 record at Aqueduct racetrack in March and he hopes to parlay such prosperity into April with likely stakes contenders Chateau and Maracuja for next Saturday's stakes-laden Wood Memorial Day program at the Ozone Park, N.Y., track.

“We've had a good March, I don't want it to end,” Atras said.

Atras, 37, saddled Michael Dubb's Chateau to a win in the Grade 3 Tom Fool last out on March 6 at the Big A and will take the next step up for Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap at seven furlongs.

The 6-year-old son of Flat Out broke alertly, commanded swift fractions up front, and was never in doubt in the stretch running home a 3 ½-length winner in the Tom Fool. The win produced a career-best 100 Beyer.

Chateau is in the best form of his 33-race career having finished in the money in his last six starts while boasting a 9-5-2-2 record over the Big A main track.

Having never won past 6 ½-furlongs, Atras said there is some concern with the extra furlong.

“He deserves a shot. His last race was a big performance,” Atras said. “We know he loves Aqueduct and seems to relish that surface. Obviously, there are distance questions but only time will tell with him.”

Beach Haven Thoroughbreds' Maracuja also will step up to the plate for Atras in the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle, a 100-40-20-10 qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Third time was the charm for the daughter of third-crop sire Honor Code, who broke her maiden by 3 3/4-lengths on February 21 at Aqueduct over a good track. Trailing the compact field early on as the 4-5 favorite, Maracuja made a four-wide move approaching the top of the stretch and took command nearing the eighth-pole en route to a maiden victory.

Atras also expressed distance concerns with Maracuja, who will be running two turns for the first time in the nine-furlong Gazelle.

“She acts like two turns shouldn't be an issue but it's a big ask going from six and a half furlongs to a mile and an eighth and stepping up to a big race like this,” Atras said. “She's continued to train forwardly, and I think we're going to give it a shot. It's a really big step up. She's a nice filly and she won really professional last time. I would have liked to have had a prep going a mile or something heading into a two-turn race like the Gazelle.”

Atras said he would wait until after the Gazelle to determine the path that Maracuja would go down.

“She is really just race to race with her right now, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. She's just learning things and putting it together,” Atras said.

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche retains the mount on both Chateau and Maracuja.

On Saturday, Atras enjoyed a victory with American Power in the seven-furlong Caixa Eletronica on New York Claiming Championship Day. The 6-year-old Power Broker chestnut battled with fellow stakes-winner Pete's Play Call but ultimately got the better of his foe, securing the win by one length.

Prior to Saturday's victory, American Power gave Atras his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Toboggan on January 30 at the Big A.

“He came out of his race really good. He ate everything up and jogged sound this morning, so everything is going well,” Atras said.

Atras said he would continue to space American Power's races out.

“He seems to do better with some space in between races so I'm not sure what we'll look at yet,” Atras said. “We'll mostly just go over him the next few days and then speak to [co-owner] Sandy Goldfarb and see which direction we'll go. I don't think he needs that much time, but with how everything worked out this ended up being the race that we pointed for.”

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