Aqueduct Racetrack Notes

NYRA PRESS OFFICE —-

• Best hoping for big effort from Instagrand in G3 Gotham return
• Pletcher contingent ready for Big A stakes action
• Cross Country Pick 5 bolsters Gotham Day excitement

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Owner Larry Best, who races under the nom de course OXO Equine, was at Aqueduct Racetrack Friday morning to watch his undefeated colt Instagrand enjoy his final gallop ahead of Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham.

As part of New York’s “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series, the Gotham offers 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the first four finishers on a lucrative card that also includes the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap; the $150,000 Stymie; and the $250,000 Busher Invitational for sophomore fillies offering 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the Kentucky Oaks.

All the action will be shown live on FOX Sports Saturday At The Races, airing 4-7 p.m. EST on FS2.

Best served as the chief financial officer of Boston Scientific, a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical devices; and is also the founder and chairman of OXO Capital LLC.

On Friday, Best saw Instagrand gallop on the Big A main track under exercise rider Yadiel Ortiz, and later was an able hand walking his star colt through long turns of the shed row.

As Instagrand cooled out, Best recalled his early introduction to the sport of kings.

“I grew up in Akron, Ohio, and my dad was a fireman. On days off we’d go to Ascot Park, about 20 minutes outside of Akron. On sunny days we’d sit outside, and he’d smoke cigars and we’d watch the races. I have many fond memories of thoroughbred racing, but I never thought I’d own a horse,” said Best.

Best made his initial foray into racing in 2016 and one of his first purchases was the graded stakes winner Instilled Regard who finished a creditable fourth in last year’s Kentucky Derby.

“I started off with three colts and three fillies and now I’m moving up,” said Best. “It’s an adrenalin rush and either you get into it or you don’t. I did and it’s a big source of fun and excitement for me.”

Instagrand, trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, was a $1.2 million purchase at Fasig-Tipton’s 2018 The Gulfstream Sale, but Best said he prefers not to concern himself with the price tag.

“I try not to make the market. I like to pick a horse with a good pedigree that looks the part and then I buy it and the market speaks for itself,” said Best. “This particular horse [Instagrand], all the parts fit together really nice and there’s not many horses that move you to the extent that you want to buy them, but when they do move you, you take that risk, and that’s what I’ve done with Instagrand.”

The flashy Into Mischief colt, out of the Lawyer Ron mare Assets of War, posted a pair of scintillating sprint victories as a juvenile including a 10 ¼-length score at Del Mar on August 11 in the Grade 2 Best Pal.

“I still don’t know if he’s a sprinter or a two-turn horse. We’re just getting him back here in 2019 and this is his first race. This is more about prepping him for the future. It’s not about the Kentucky Derby right now,” said Best. “It’s the right race, the right distance and we’ll learn a lot. I just hope he gets on the board.”

Best, who bought Instilled Regard for $1.05 million at the 2017 OBS March Sale, said the Derby is a significant goal as a horse owner.

“Instilled Regard got into the Derby and we went there to celebrate the unbelievable excitement of being in the Derby, and we ended up coming in fourth in my first year. I don’t take that for granted, it’s a blessing,” said Best. “I think if you’re playing in the high end of the thoroughbred space, you have to be driven by the Kentucky Derby. We’ll know after this race what the next step is for Instagrand.”

Instagrand will test his stamina in Saturday’s one-turn mile, and Best said if the colt performs well, a nine-furlong Derby prep awaits

“Hopefully he shows up and a mile is good for him and easy for him and he shows speed,” said Best. “The next race after that would be a mile and an eighth.”

Following the Gotham, the final race on the New York “Road To The Kentucky Derby” is the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles Slated for Saturday, April 6, the Wood offers 100-40-20-10 qualifying points, and could see the purse increase to $1-million if any official starter is a previous Grade 1 or Group 1 winner.

Best said he will wait until after Saturday’s race before considering which Derby prep might await his star colt, if any.

“Any one of them is a possibility. They’re all great races,” said Best.

Instagrand has continued to enjoy his stay at the Big A and assistant trainer Dan Ward said the horse was well within himself during Friday’s gallop.

“He just jogged back to the wire and galloped a mile and a half. Very smooth. He didn’t get tired, didn’t sweat, and it didn’t take much out of him. We’re ready to go,” said Ward.

Instagrand will school in the paddock prior to Friday’s first race at the Big A, which features a post time of 12:50 p.m.

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Pletcher contingent ready for Big A stakes action

With eight wins, 10 second-place finishes, and eight thirds from 48 starts at the current Aqueduct winter meet, good for a 54 percent in-the-money percentage heading into Friday’s card, conditioner Todd Pletcher will look to stay hot on Gotham Day with a trio of formidable stakes contenders.

Vino Rosso, last year’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial winner, returns to the Big A on Saturday, making his 4-year-old debut in the $150,000 Stymie for 4-year-olds and up.

It will be his first start since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers last summer at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, the son of Curlin broke his maiden going seven furlongs at Aqueduct in his debut as a juvenile in 2017 before being on the Derby trail. The colt collected a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis and fourth-place effort in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby ahead of his Wood win.

Following a ninth-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, Vino Rosso returned to finish fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and third in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy.

Vino Rosso has trained at Pletcher’s winter base at Palm Beach Downs in preparation for his return, and the conditioner said he’s ready to get the colt’s 4-year-old campaign under way.

“He’s been training great coming into this race,” said Pletcher. “You can see he’s really matured well from last year. It will be an interesting distance for him. We know he’s 2-for-2 over the track having won as a maiden at seven furlongs and in the Wood at a mile and an eighth.”

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who has been aboard for each of Vino Rosso’s nine career starts, has the call from the outermost post 8.

In the $250,000 Busher Invitational for 3-year-old fillies, a major prep for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks with 50-20-10-5 points awarded to the first four finishers, Pletcher will saddle undefeated Orra Moor for StarLadies Racing and Repole Stable homebred Always Shopping.

Sired by Orb and purchased for $180,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Orra Moor won her debut at five and a half furlongs by 1 ¾ lengths on December 22 at Gulfstream Park. She returned going six furlongs and remained undefeated, impressively winning an optional-claiming race by 7 ¾ lengths on February 10.

“We’re looking forward to stretching her out,” said Pletcher “She’s been training well and has really come along in her first two starts. She’s made her progressions and we think she’s ready to make her stakes debut.”

Always Shopping, an Awesome Again filly, broke her maiden in her fourth career start by winning the Busanda on February 3 at Aqueduct at 1 1/8 miles and will cut back for the Stymie, which has Pletcher slightly concerned.

“She’s one of those horses that’s just improved each time out,” said Pletcher. “Her Beyer figures have gone up with each race and she’s steadily improved in the mornings as well. I’m a little concerned with having to cut back to one mile for the Stymie, as I think she might be better at two turns, but we’re hoping she’ll get a favorable trip with what looks to be, on paper, a fair amount of pace in the race.”

Orra Moor will leave from post 12 with John Velazquez and Always Shopping will depart from post 11 with current Aqueduct winter meet leading rider Manny Franco in the irons.

With an eye towards the Kentucky Derby, Pletcher said that Moretti, who finished a disappointing sixth in the Grade 3 Withers after breaking his maiden at Aqueduct, would be sent off the Derby trail to receive some time off in Ocala, Florida.

Pletcher also said that the flashy Intrepid Heart, who broke his maiden by 7 ¾ lengths on February 18 at Oaklawn Park for owners Robert and Lawana Low and is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Commissioner, is keeping a possible future start in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes as a long-range target.

“Currently, we’re a little behind [Kentucky Derby] schedule with him [Intrepid Heart],” said Pletcher. “He’s likely to make his next start in an allowance race. Being a half-brother to Commissioner, who finished second in the Belmont, that race might be a long-term goal for us to look towards.”

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Cross Country Pick 5 bolsters Gotham Day excitement

NYRA will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday in conjunction with Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs. The multi-track wager will start with Race 10 at Tampa Bay, the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks, with an approximate 4:50 p.m. Eastern post time.

The second leg will shift to Aqueduct Racetrack for Race 10, the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham for 3-year-olds, set to go off at 5:09 p.m.

The third leg will shift back to Tampa for the Grade 2, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby at 5:25 p.m. before switching back to the Big A for Race 11, the $250,000 Busher for 3-year-old fillies, at 5:40 p.m. The Pick 5 will conclude with the Grade 3, $200,000 Honeybee at 6:09 p.m. at Oaklawn.

All the action will be shown on FOX Sports Saturday at the Races, airing from 4-7 p.m. Eastern on FS2. The live action will feature Aqueduct Races 9-11, all legs of the Cross County Pick 5, and the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross County Pick 5 is available on track, on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities nationally. There will be a mandatory payout of the entire pool.