Aqueduct: Send It In looks to build on inner track success in Sunday’s Stymie

By Brian Bohl —-

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Fresh off back-to-back stakes wins, Send It In will look to sustain his recent hot start in headlining a talented field of nine in the 62nd running of the $125,000 Stymie for 4-year-olds and up on the inner dirt track on Sunday at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Send It In’s stretch-drive rally resulted in a win by a nose over Fox Rules last out in the Haynesfield on February 11. That followed a New Year’s Eve win against state breds in the Alex M. Robb. The 5-year-old son of Big Brown has won five of his six inner track starts, finishing second by a neck on December 9 in the only start that didn’t result in a trip to the winner’s circle.

Send It In, who has won six of his last seven starts and is 7-2-0 in his last nine races, has finished off the board just twice in 15 career starts, going 8-3-2 with earnings totaling just shy of $400,000.

The Paul Pompa, Jr. homebred has posted Beyer Speed Figures in excess of 90 in six of his last seven starts and will have the services of Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who will be making his 2017 New York debut after racing predominantly at Tampa and Gulfstream Park. The duo will leave from post 5.

Royal Posse, who had a four-race winning streak snapped with a fourth-place showing in the Jazil, drew post 3 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard. The Rudy Rodriguez-trainee returns to 1 1/8 miles, where he has won six straight races.

Since being claimed by Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Racing Stables, Royal Posse is 8-6-0 in 14 starts. He is looking for his first win in eight starts on the inner track.

Diversify is 4-for-4 to start his career, entering his stakes debut with a pristine record, including a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in an optional claimer on December 14 for trainer Rick Violette. The 4-year-old son of Bellamy Road has won his last two starts on the inner track and will depart post 8 with jockey Jose Ortiz.

Turco Bravo, who weakened after the half-mile pole before finishing seventh in the John B. Campbell on February 18 at Laurel Park, will be looking to find the form from his one-length score in the Birdstone on August 10 at Saratoga Race Course. The Chilean-bred 8-year-old, who is trained by Gary Contessa, will exit post 7 with Antonio Gallardo.

Sunny Ridge, who won the Jazil over fellow Stymie entrant Grasshoppin on January 14 at the Big A, will look to finish on the board for the third straight start. The 4-year-old gelding, who is trained by Jason Servis, has two Grade 1 starts on his resume, including a third-place showing in the Haskell Invitational on July 31 at Monmouth Park. Manny Franco has the return call from the inside post.

Rounding out the field is Grasshoppin, who will gain class relief after an eighth-place effort in the Grade 3 General George, who will leave from the outside post for trainer Mario Serey, Jr.; Dolphus, who came in ninth in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope on January 14 for trainer Joe Sharp, will look for his first stakes win out of post 6; Splashtastic, the other entrant for Rodriguez, will break from post 9; Admiral Blue, making his stakes debut for trainer Leon Blusiewicz from post 2; and Doyouknowsomething, a 5-year-old who placed third in the Jazil, will seek his first stakes win from post 4.