Aqueduct: Friend Or Foe returns to races, up against Saginaw

Barbara D. Livingston

Friend Or Foe (left) returned to trainer John Kimmel in late summer.

Friend Or Foe, the 2010 Empire Classic winner who has been sidelined since a fourth-place finish in the 2011 Whitney Handicap, returns to the races against the win machine Saginaw at Aqueduct in Sunday’s $80,000 Fourstars Allstar for New York-breds.

Friend Or Foe, a 5-year-old by Friends Lake whose only losses from nine career starts have come in Grade 1 or Grade 2 stakes, will break from the outside post against five rivals in the one-mile overnight stakes, which is carded as race 3 at 1:18 p.m. Eastern.

Friend Or Foe returned to trainer John Kimmel in late summer from Niall Brennan’s farm in Ocala, Fla., where part of his rehabilitation included aqua-therapy. He has posted six workouts over the training track at Belmont Park, including five furlongs in a bullet 1:00.12 on Nov. 7.

“His legs are good, he looks good on the racetrack,” said Kimmel, who also entered Sailmate, another son of Friends Lake, who exits a third in the Empire Classic.

After runner-up finishes at Saratoga in the Evan Shipman and the Clever Electrician, Sailmate was beaten three lengths by Saginaw in the Promenade All, an effort that was better than it looks on paper.

“He was buried down on the inside until the eighth pole, and when he got out he came on pretty strong,” said Kimmel, who saddled longshot winners on three consecutive days here last week.

Since adding blinkers last winter, Saginaw has won 8 of 10 starts, with his only losses coming in the Met Mile and last time out in the Hudson, when he was second-best as the 3-5 choice. He has 9 wins and 4 seconds from 15 career starts at one mile.

“He’s just a hard-hitting New York-bred,” said trainer David Jacobson, who claimed the 6-year-old gelding for $30,000 late last winter.

Shrewd One won or placed in six consecutive starts from January through August for Phil Serpe, and was just a neck behind Saginaw when third in the Hudson most recently.

“He just puts it out every single time,” said Serpe. “It seems like he has found his best stride as a 5-year-old.”

Beautyinthepulpit, who wired open second-level allowance company at Belmont second time back from a layoff for Bruce Brown, and Johannesburg Smile, fourth in the Empire Classic for Dominic Galluscio, are also entered the Fourstars Allstar. The race is the sixth stakes race for New York-breds or horses eligible for the New York Stallion Series since last Sunday.

◗ In Friday’s Chase the Dream overnight stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares, Miss Valentine ($7.40) was along in time from the outside to overtake 6-5 favorite Beautiful But Blue, improving to 3 for 4 on Aqueduct’s main track for Christophe Clement.

Miss Valentine ran one mile in 1:39.00 under Joel Rosario.

Opus A finished third. Fiftyfour Forever and Color Blind completed the order of finish.