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Reid Trio Target Wood Day Stakes

Trainer Butch Reid, Jr. has three sophomores aiming for stakes on Aqueduct's Apr. 6 Wood Memorial card. Michael Milam's Uncle Heavy (Social Inclusion), aiming for the GII Wood Memorial, worked five furlongs in 1:02.09 (3/15) Saturday at Parx. It was the colt's first official work since winning the Feb. 3 GIII Withers S.

“The work went very well, we couldn't be any happier. He did it well and came out of it great this morning, ate up everything last night,” said Reid. “We had a horse in front of him to chase after and he went after him.”

Due to a now-lifted Equine Herpesvirus quarantine at Belmont Park, Uncle Heavy shipped to a farm in Pennsylvania following the Withers and returned to Reid's Parx base Feb. 25.

“The time off, believe it or not, actually did him a bit of good. He put his weight back on,” said Reid. “He's big and fat and healthy now, so we are very happy with the way he is going.”

Cash is King and LC Racing's Carmelina (Maximus Mischief), a last-out runner-up in the Mar. 2 Busher S., is expected to line up in the GIII Gazelle S.

“I think a mile and an eighth is the edge of how far she wants to go, but we will see how it comes up and she definitely could get involved,” Reid said. “Speed can be dangerous at a mile and an eighth, too.”

Reid, LC Racing and Cash is King's Maximus Meridius (Maximus Mischief), who earned 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points with his fourth-place effort in the one-mile GIII Gotham S., will ditch the Derby trail in pursuit of the seven-furlong Bay Shore S.

“We like a little bit of a turn back. He had to go from the one-hole last time and used a little bit out of the gate to not get swallowed up,” said Reid. “Right now, it doesn't look like he is going to be a Classic horse, so this race should be a nice turn back, to keep him going shorter.”

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Hit Show Exits Withers in Fine Shape

Gary and Mary West's Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) exited his 5 1/2-length victory in Saturday's GIII Withers S. in fine shape, according to Brad Cox's Belmont-based assistant trainer Dustin Dugas.

“He looked good this morning,” Dugas said. “He cooled out well yesterday and came back in good shape. He was at the front of the stall, and bright eyed this morning. We're happy with him and he was happy with himself.”

Hit Show's potential next starts include the Apr. 8 GII Wood Memorial.

“He's always been a horse that we thought would be better with more ground, based off pedigree, how he runs and what he's shown us in his races,” Cox said. “I think we will obviously look at the Kentucky Derby and one race between now and then. What race that is, I don't know yet. It very well could be the Wood Memorial. He obviously likes the racetrack there and we'll see how things go.”

Another Triple Crown nominee based in New York for Cox is Gold Square's Slip Mahoney (Arrogate), who broke his maiden in his third start at Aqueduct Jan. 21. Before that maiden-breaking score, Slip Mahoney was beaten just a neck when second behind subsequent 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit) last December. He was fourth behind Saturday's GIII Sam F. Davis S. winner Litigate (Blame) in his November debut.

The gray colt is now being pointed towards the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S.

“He ran against some really good horses in his last two races,” Cox said. “He held his own and he's a nice colt. He's marching towards the Gotham. That's where he'll start next, and we're excited about him. He showed some heart and determination in his last two and I think he's one that will get better with doing it in the afternoon. He's been a little tough to get to the races, but once he got there, he's shown up and run every time.”

Slip Mahoney breezed a half-mile in :49.77 (39/87) over the Belmont training track Saturday.

“He came back great. He looked good yesterday,” said Dugas. “He's another one who ate up everything last night and was ready to go this morning. Dylan [Davis] was on him yesterday and he was happy with it, too.”

Slip Mahoney is out of Grade I winner Got Lucky (A.P. Indy) and his third dam is the blue hen mare Get Lucky (Mr. Prospector).

Drew's Gold (Violence) will target the Apr. 8 GIII Bay Shore S. following his win in Saturday's Jimmy Winkfield S. at Aqueduct.

Of the decision to aim for the seven-furlong Bay Shore rather than the one-mile Gotham, which will offer Kentucky Derby points, co-owner and trainer James Chapman explained, “I'd rather just keep taking it step-by-step with him and run him in the seven-eighths race. He's doing super. He came out of the race like he didn't even run.”

Drew's Gold, who is co-owned with Stuart Tsujimoto, is unbeaten in three lifetime starts. The six-furlong Jimmy Winkfield was his longest effort to date.

“Who knows until you run around two turns, but it doesn't seem like the distance has affected him. The further that he goes, he just wins by more,” Chapman said.

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Drain The Clock Under Wraps Taking Bay Shore As Heavy Favorite

Saturday's stakes action at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., kicked off when Drain the Clock solidified his 1-5 favoritism while capturing his second graded stakes triumph, going gate-to-wire in the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore for 3-year-olds.

The Maclean's Music chestnut colt cut back in distance for the seven-furlong sprint after finishing second in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on February 27 at Gulfstream Park.

Drain the Clock was a step slow leaving the gate under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., but quickly established command. Two-time winning Parx invader Beren, who stumbled at the start, kept close company to the outside in second as Drain the Clock led the compact five-horse field through opening fractions of 23.68 and 47.97 seconds over the fast main track.

Around the turn, Drain the Clock extended his advantage as Beren began to relinquish. Ortiz, Jr. got busy aboard his charge nearing the quarter pole and opened up a 4 ½-length lead in upper stretch.

Drain the Clock lugged out slightly nearing the furlong marker as Ortiz, Jr. went to the left hand with Whiskey Double launching a late bid to the outside. By the sixteenth pole, Ortiz, Jr. had Drain the Clock under wraps as he strolled past the finish line a 1 3/4-length winner in a final time of 1:25.97. Whiskey Double made up considerable ground to get second, 5 3/4 lengths ahead of Too Boss in third.

Beren and Garoppolo rounded out the order of finish.

Owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael Nentwig, Drain the Clock improved his record to 7-5-1-0, with his other graded stakes win coming two starts back in the Grade 3 Swale on January 30 at Gulfstream Park, which also was at seven furlongs.

“He just wants to break out of there. He broke a little [slow] out of there but he put himself right away into the race and took me to the lead,” said Ortiz, Jr., who returned to New York fresh off a riding title at Gulfstream Park. “I let him relax and then I asked him to go and he was running hard to the wire.”

The victory was a first graded stakes win in New York for Florida-based trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., who will have a string at Belmont Park this summer for the first time.

“I thought he kicked away well at the top of the lane and did what he had to do. If you ease up on him, he's going to relax,” Joseph, Jr. said. “The five [Beren] didn't get a good break, unfortunately, and we didn't get pressed. If that horse went, we were going to sit. He's a very versatile horse and he doesn't need the lead.”

A NYRA Grade 1 could be in order for Drain the Clock, as Joseph, Jr. listed the $400,000 Woody Stephens on June 5 at Belmont Park and the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at Saratoga as long terms goals for the talented colt.

“I'll talk it over with the ownership group. The Woody Stephens was in play even before this race but this puts it even more up there,” Joseph, Jr. said. “It's definitely on the radar. The Woody Stephens and Allen Jerkens are the types of races you want to be in. If we could win one it would be nice, if we could win both it would be great.”

Bred in Kentucky by Nick Cosato, Drain the Clock is the third offspring out of the Arch mare Manki, whose two other progeny of racing age are winners.

Drain the Clock banked $110,000 in victory while improving his lifetime earnings to $319,550. He returned $2.70 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

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‘Best At One Turn,’ Drain The Clock Cuts Back For Bay Shore

A compact but competitive field of 3-year-old dirt sprinters has assembled for Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore at seven furlongs on the Aqueduct Racetrack main track led by Florida shipper Drain the Clock, who enters off a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.

While the temptation for most connections would be to forge ahead on the Kentucky Derby trail after picking up 20 qualifying points in the Fountain of Youth, trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. and an ownership coalition of Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael Nentwig have elected to abandon such quixotic pursuits and instead focus on shorter races with their talented sophomore.

A son of Maclean's Music out of an Arch mare, Drain the Clock has a sparkling record in sprint races, with only one blemish on his resume which came in the two-turn, seven-furlong Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs when an iron broke and he lost his rider. Aside from that mishap, the chestnut colt has four wins in dirt dashes, including a pair of open-length tallies at Gulfstream during their recent Championship Meet, and nearly wired the field last out in the Fountain of Youth but was run down late by a legitimate Kentucky Derby prospect in Greatest Honour.

“He's never got beat going one turn,” said Joseph, Jr. “He ran a credible race in the Fountain of Youth but I think he's best at one turn and we're hoping he'll show up and run his usual race.”

Looking for his fifth win from just seven starts, Drain the Clock will break from post 3 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard for the first time.

While Drain the Clock has undoubtedly compiled the most impressive resume of anyone in the Bay Shore, a quartet of hungry challengers has lined up behind him to take their shots.

The likely favorite's stiffest competition could come from the Pennsylvania-bred Beren, who is seeking his third straight victory as he makes his foray into New York via Parx Racing.

Trained by Butch Reid for St. Omer's Farm and Christopher Feifarek, it took Beren a little while to figure things out but he's been in solid form in 2021 as he broke his maiden by 6 1/4-lengths two starts ago and followed it up with a two-length score over a group of first-level optional claimers on March 3 at Parx.

“He's doing very well. He just had a nice little blowout, has won his last two and is brimming with confidence. It's a short field so why not take a chance,” said Reid. “He's really matured this year. He was a gangly horse as a 2-year-old but he's filled out nicely and looks good. He put on weight like a 3-year-old colt should and we're real excited about him.”

Beren will be ridden by Manny Franco from post 5.

Coming off a win in the slop at Oaklawn Park, the Steve Asmussen-trained Whiskey Double adds to the out-of-town flavor of the Bay Shore.

A bay son of Into Mischief, Whiskey Double took his debut early in his juvenile year on June 27 at Churchill Downs but didn't resurface again until January of this year, when he finished third in a sprint at Fair Grounds behind O Besos, who recently placed third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. After a dull effort going 1 1/16 miles on February 13 at Fair Grounds, Whiskey Double responded well to a turnback in distance in his last start, in which he prevailed by three-quarters of a length in a six-furlong dash at Oaklawn.

Jose Ortiz will be aboard the Winchell Thoroughbreds color-bearer from post 4.

Not to be forgotten in this diverse Bay Shore cast, the local contingent will be represented by Too Boss and Garoppolo, who go out for trainers Todd Pletcher and Kelly Breen, respectively.

A gray son of El Padrino, the former broke his maiden over this same track and distance by 5 ½ lengths on January 17 with an 81 Beyer Speed Figure, but things went awry in his last start going two turns at Parx on a sloppy track and he finished fourth, beaten seven lengths. He'll look to bounce back from the inside post with Kendrick Carmouche in the irons.

Garoppolo, meanwhile, has been off since contesting the Grade 2 Saratoga Special on August 7 at Saratoga Race Course last year. Prior to his distant fourth-place finish in the Saratoga Special, the Outwork colt broke his maiden at Belmont Park, where he appears to be working well for his return over the adjacent training track. Owned by Mr. Amore Stable and to be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Garoppolo will depart from post 2 as he makes his 3-year-old debut.

Part of a stellar undercard for the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, the Bay Shore is one of five graded stakes races on the program, which also includes the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap, the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior.

The Bay Shore is slated as Race 4 on the 11-race card. First post is at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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