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AQUEDUCT NOTEBOOK MARCH 20, 2010 by Albie Johnson This will be a bit of an abbreviated report this week as we lost last Saturday's card and the Cicada S. (G3) to a heavy rain and wind storm that swept through the area late Friday night. The Cicada has been rescheduled for Saturday and, with the re-draw, a field of seven sophomore fillies headed by Bickersons (Silver Deputy) and Romantic Hideaway (City Zip) will face the starter. Racing will shortly be returning to the main track for a brief run, headed by the Wood Memorial (G1) on April 3. Track Conditions As this long stand on the inner dirt is coming to an end we'd like to take our hats off to the track superintendent and his crew for keeping this long-standing and normally speed-biased oval in excellent shape all winter. The normal parade of wire-to-wire winners was only in evidence on a few occasions. Leader Boards In the trainer's race, through the program of March 14, Gary Contessa held a 10-win margin over his nearest pursuer Steve Asmussen, with Todd Pletcher checking in third with 19 winners. Ramon Dominguez long ago wrapped up the rider's title at this meet and he had a 30-win margin over Dave Cohen (86 to 56) with C.C. Lopez holding down the third spot with 37 trips to the winner's circle. HORSES TO WATCH Wednesday (3/10) 4TH -- JAZZY MOVES (Monarchos) finished a close-up second in this spot after coming back from a lengthy layoff. The filly had broken poorly in both starts prior to this one and Asmussen has her headed in the right direction. Maiden win should come soon. 6TH -- Sent hard from his inside post, EZZY (Rizzi) fought it out gamely with the eventual winner and didn't weaken until midstretch before checking in third. Positive effort for this lightly raced runner. 7TH -- Making his second start back off an eight-month layoff, VICTORIOUS LEADER (Freud) finished a troubled second in this $50,000 maiden claimer. Lightly raced, a slight move forward at the same level may finish the job. Thursday (3/11) 4TH -- Pletcher freshened-up EIRE'S RUN (Performing Magic) for five weeks and he returned a different animal after nibbling a bit in many of his starts. Former deep-closer broke running, was on the muscle the whole race and coasted home by 13 1/4 lengths in a very impressive performance. He'll make his next start for the Linda Rice barn as she claimed him for $35,000. 6TH -- CHROMOSPERE (Smart Strike) raced a bit sluggish early and gave up his rail position to try a sweeping move that ended up with him hanging a bit during the stretch run as he finished third in this maiden claimer. This race was his first since August 20 and the $170,000 two-year-old purchase will make his next start for former jockey Rudy Rodriguez, who won a shake for the ridgling at the $10,000 claiming price. Friday (3/12) 7TH -- ROCKETING RETURNS (Gone West), who had shown some promise early in 2009 when he ran in a pair of stakes, finished a solid third in this $12,500 claimer after a wide trip on the poorest part of a muddy and sealed surface. Another who'll race for a new trainer next out as Rodriguez also reached in for this well-bred runner. Sunday (3/14) 2ND -- VERY SWEET (Congaree), who had just missed when debuting last fall, did not break sharply in this spot and, after making an early move into contention on the sloppy and sealed footing, she flattened out to finish third in a race she appeared to need badly. Next time. Upcoming Stakes The Cicada has been rescheduled for Saturday, but the BIG day is set for April 3 when the Wood Memorial (G1), Carter H. (G1), Bay Shore S. (G3) and Excelsior S. (G3) will take place. Have a nice week!
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