Flying P Stable's Tell Your Daddy brings a solid run of form into Saturday's $150,000 Artie Schiller, a one-mile inner turf test for 3-year-olds and upward at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Tom Morley, Tell Your Daddy posted triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in each of his last three starts, including a runner-up effort in the Lure [100BSF] in August at Saratoga Race Couse; a gate-to-wire win in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch [101] in September at the Spa; and a troubled second last out in the Grade 1 Keeneland Turf Mile [101].
The 5-year-old Scat Daddy gelding, who was claimed for $40,000 in January at the Fair Grounds, has made a steady progression with a record of 6-1-2-1 for his new connections.
Jay Provenzano [Flying P Stable] said a better trip in the Keeneland Turf Mile, a “Win and You're In” event could have sent the upwardly-mobile gelding to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile.
With Julien Leparoux up in the Keeneland Turf Mile, Tell Your Daddy tracked from fourth position but was impeded at the eighth pole and settled for second, 1 1/2-lengths back of In Love. The third-place finisher – Somelikeithotbrown – exited that event to win last Saturday's Mohawk at Belmont Park while Ivar, the fourth-place finisher, ran a credible third in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 6.
“I think we could have won the race if we had got a clean trip like the winner did down the lane. We got a little bumped here and there,” Provenzano said. “We thought we stood a chance to get into the Breeders' Cup but we ended up third on the list.
“Tom and I have always stuck to our plan with this horse and it's usually paid off,” Provenzano added. “We decided if we were first or second on the AE list we'd ship and if not we would stay for this spot and that's the plan.”
Provenzano said Tell Your Daddy's rallying sixth – defeated less than two lengths – in the 2020 Grade 2 Shakertown at 5 1/2-furlongs at Keeneland, caught his eye and prompted the eventual claim.
“We didn't think he was running the right distance,” Provenzano said. “He had just come up short in the Shakertown and when we started watching more replays he was always just coming up short but with a good run. We felt if we could get him to stretch to seven-eighths it would be very good for him.”
Tell Your Daddy ran a game fourth at odds of 60-1 at first asking for new connections in the Elusive Quality in April, missing by a half-length to the victorious Casa Creed when stretched out to seven furlongs over the Belmont turf off a three-month layoff.
Casa Creed exited the Elusive Quality to win the Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur at Belmont while third-place finisher Value Proposition has since won 3-of-5 starts including a pair of stakes scores.
Tell Your Daddy made his next two starts at one mile over the Belmont turf, finishing third in the Seek Again and seventh in the Grade 3 Poker. He then teamed up with Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez for a pair of starts at 1 1/16-miles at Saratoga, finishing second in the restricted Lure ahead of his Bernard Baruch coup.
Provenzano said the Poker effort was an anomaly.
“We just dismissed that race. We didn't like how the race unfolded for us in the Poker,” Provenzano said. “After his next race [in the Lure], Johnny came back and said the horse might like to go a little farther and get on the lead. We took a chance in the Bernard Baruch and Johnny put him on the engine and he ran spectacular that day.”
Provenzano said that while he is disappointed to have missed out on this year's Breeders' Cup with Tell Your Daddy, he'll look forward to blazing a trail to next year's event.
“I think we made the right choice staying here,” Provenzano said. “It's a good distance and next year we know that we have to campaign him a little differently and treat him like a real good horse now.”
Velazquez returns to the irons from post 6.
Multiple graded-stakes placed Bodecream will also look to go from claim to fame. The 4-year-old son of Bodemeister, trained by Jeffrey Englehart for Darryl Abramowitz, was claimed for $80,000 out of a winning effort in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming tilt last out on October 21 at Belmont Park, registering a career-best 94 Beyer.
“I thought he was in for the right price and that he'd be a good horse for us to have for next season,” Englehart said. “He ran a nice number last time so we nominated him to this race. He's been training good since, so we're going to take a shot. This spot makes sense for him.”
Bodecream launched a productive sophomore season with a rallying win in the Texas Turf Mile last January at Sam Houston. Purchased for $50,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale, Bodecream was transferred to trainer Mike Maker for a summer campaign and finished a close third in the one-mile Grade 3 Saranac over soft turf last August at Saratoga Race Course.
After completing the trifecta in the one-mile Grade 2 Hill Prince over yielding Belmont turf last October, Bodecream ran a close second in his Big A debut when missing by a nose to City Man in the 1 1/16-mile Gio Ponti last November which was contested over good going.
The consistent Bodecream boasts a record of 7-2-2-0 this season, including a prominent score last out as the mutuel favorite.
“It looked like he liked to be in the open, on the lead and in the clear early,” Englehart said. “We learned that about him and it's something to keep in the back of our mind going forward.”
Jose Lezcano will have the call from post 5.
Three Diamonds Farm's multiple graded-stakes winner Field Pass, a 4-year-old Lemon Drop Kid colt, enters from a close second in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Knickerbocker where he finished a head in arrears of Sacred Life.
The versatile Maryland-bred won 5-of-10 starts last season for trainer Mike Maker, including graded wins in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks over the Turfway Park synthetic; the Grade 3 Transylvania over the Keeneland turf; and the Grade 3 Ontario Derby on Tapeta at Woodbine Racetrack.
Field Pass notched his lone win in six starts this season with a neck score in the one-mile Grade 3 Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup in July at Pimlico Race Course.
Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will ride from post 11.
Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will send out a pair of contenders who could benefit from the significant pace signed on for Saturday's test with multiple graded-stakes winner March to the Arch and Olympic Runner, who made the grade in the Grade 2 King Edward in August at Woodbine.
Live Oak Plantation homebred March to the Arch, a 6-year-old Arch gelding, closed to finish fourth last out after being steadied in the stretch run of the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile on September 18.
March to the Arch, a multiple graded-stakes winner, has made all four starts this season at Woodbine led by a dominant win in the nine-furlong Niagara in July ahead of a rallying third in the one-mile King Edward – both contested on the E. P. Taylor Turf Course.
March to the Arch will exit post 4 under Dylan Davis.
Gary Barber's Olympic Runner, a 5-year-old Gio Ponti gelding, finished a distant eighth in the Woodbine Mile but followed with a closing third in the six-furlong Grade 2 Nearctic on September 18 over yielding Woodbine turf.
Kendrick Carmouche will pilot Olympic Runner from post 2.
Bond Racing Stable's Rinaldi, bred in New York by Barry Ostrager, captured the one-mile Grade 3 Forbidden Apple in gate-to-wire fashion in July over firm Saratoga turf but faded to fifth in his follow-up effort last out in the restricted West Point on August 27.
The H. James Bond trainee, who boasts a record of 12-5-2-1, was scratched by his conditioner from last Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Mohawk against fellow state-breds at Belmont Park. He will look to get back to his winning ways from post 3 under Luis Saez.
Juddmonte Farms' homebred Flavius, a graded-stakes placed son of War Front, registered a 103 Beyer two starts back in winning the restricted 1 1/16-mile Lure gate-to-wire on August 7 at the Spa.
Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, the 6-year-old ridgling finished fifth last out in the one-mile Grade 3 Mint Million on September 6 at Kentucky Downs.
The consistent Flavius, who sports a ledger of 13-4-3-1 with purse earnings of $719,651, earned a career-best 105 Beyer last September with a rallying win in the Tourist Mile at Kentucky Downs.
Jose Ortiz has the call from the inside post.
Rounding out the field are En Wye Cee [post 7, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], Mandate [post 12, Andrew Wolfsont], and Breaking the Rules [post 8, Manny Franco]. Bal Harbour and Our Last Buck were entered for the main-track only.
The Artie Schiller is slated as Race 9 on Saturday's 10-race card. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.
America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.
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