Aqueduct Notebook

AQUEDUCT NOTEBOOK

APRIL 6, 2011

by John Mucciolo

A single graded race took place during the opening week of racing on the main

dirt oval at Aqueduct.

Excelsior H.: Susanne Hooper et al's homebred Inherit the Gold continues his ascension through the New York stakes events with an

authoritative, 6 1/4-length tally under Eddie Castro. The James Hooper trainee

got 1 1/8 miles in 1:50 1/5, coming home in a swift :12 2/5 under mild

encouragement.

Track Stats

A total of 46 races were held over Jamaica, New York venue, with favorites

winning at a 46 percent rate and the top two betting choices combining for 74

percent of the wins. From 46 races on the main oval, 11 animals won in

wire-to-wire fashion (24 percent). There was no grass racing during the week.

The weather is starting to break, meaning the abundance of small fields and

the overall lack of quality will change, as connections ship there horses up

north for the summer.

We broke down what we noticed over the first five days of the meet below as

to how the main oval is playing.

Wednesday -- Speed was very good, on or just off the pace
Thursday -- Closers did well here
Friday -- Late runners once again did well
Saturday -- Horses close to the lead, or pace pressers, fared best
Sunday -- Similar to Saturday, where speed and pressers did well

Meet Totals

RACES:		46
DIRT:		46
TURF:		0
FAVORITES:		21 (46 percent)
2ND CHOICES:		13 (28 percent)
TURF WIRE:		0 (0 percent)
DIRT WIRE:		11 (24 percent)

HORSES TO WATCH

Wednesday (3/30)

9TH -- LIME ZEST showed good speed before tiring to third late in

here in what we thought was a productive first run for conditioner Carlos

Martin, who is not a great debut trainer. We'll tab this one for a big try next

out.

Thursday (3/31)

5TH -- COALTOWN LEGEND ran off to his second straight score in

this one, reeling in a clear leader before dominating late under Mike Luzzi. The

Sandino Hernandez charge is in very good current form.

Friday (4/1)

3RD -- Richard Dutrow has turned BE BULLISH into a consistently

good sprinter, and the New York-bred gelding should be graded stakes-bound

before long. The six-year-old got his final quarter-mile in a sharp :23 3/5!

5TH -- OLIVE EYE ran a winning race in defeat in this

off-the-turf affair for conditioner Joe Lostritto. The four-year-old filly has

run a few decent races at this level in succession and rates a chance on either

surface in her return.

Saturday (4/2)

9TH -- INHERIT THE GOLD continues to thrive here and has clearly never been

better. We don't think of the five-year-old as a winter warrior; he should be

able to carry his form through the spring and summer as the competition

stiffens.

Sunday (4/3)

3RD -- We were somewhat disappointed that smart Gulfstream maiden winner

BREAK UP THE GAME didn't win in this compact field, but the

lightly-raced sophomore showed a nice turn of foot late while facing winners and

elders for the initial time for Shug McGaughey. The well-bred colt should

develop into a nice one.

8TH -- MIDNIGHT VISIT was not at her best here and really had

to work to grind out this victory, but give the sophomore filly credit for her

determination. The Todd Pletcher pupil might have a chance at stretching out

some, too.

A Look Ahead

The highlight of the winter/spring meeting at Aqueduct is this Saturday, when

the $1 million Wood Memorial headlines a big day in the Empire State.

Unbeaten champion Uncle Mo will have his final tune up for the

$2 million Kentucky Derby here.

Also on Saturday are the $250,000 Carter, $200,000 Bay Shore and $100,000 Comely.