We head to Aqueduct for today’s featured race. We have optional claiming horses going a mile and an eighth today. Note that there was a ton of rain up and down the Eastern seaboard, so it is possible that we are looking at a wet track here today.
Aqueduct Race 8 – Allowance Optional Claiming
Favored in today’s race is the 1 Donegal Surges (5/2 morning line). He finished third last time at Aqueduct in the Empire Classic Stakes. He gets some class relief here for today’s race. This colt was wide last time out, and you figure that drawing the rail today should prevent him from being wide like he was on the final turn last time.
The 3 Yo Daddy (9/2 ML) won on the slop last time out at Aqueduct and will look for a similar performance today. He loves this distance, whether it is turf or dirt. He had an early move last time out and another move like that might mean back-to-back wins for this three-year-old colt.
The 7 Mama’s Gold (3/1 ML) was an impressive front-running winner in the Empire Classic, lighting up the tote board at 40/1 odds. He likes the distance and won three straight races on the slop last year. He might be a bounce candidate, but there is past history that he would love the potential off going.
The 5 Mistical Curlin (10/1 ML) could be a sneaky play here today. He’s coming back from a three-month layoff here after bleeding in that September race at Aqueduct. He is a son of the great Curlin, who in my opinion is one of the top off-track sires out there. I might want to see a race here, but I do think a wet track will help him today.
Joe’s Pick
As much as I just want to say “take the Curlin sired horse” and move on to the next race or whatever you will be doing on this Thursday afternoon, I have to see how Mistical Curlin runs off of this layoff.
Give me Yo Daddy who appears to love the distance and is very versatile from what I can see here. I’ll go 3-1-7-5 and my play is $20 to win on the 3. Best of luck everyone and I’ll see you in the winner’s circle!