Aqueduct notes: Ea right for the distance

Barbara D. Livingston

Stud Muffin will be making his second start back from a layoff for Naipaul Chatterpaul.

Ea, the long-winded gelding who won two races totaling 25 furlongs in a week’s time at Saratoga, breaks from the rail as the 4-5 morning-line choice in Friday’s Aqueduct feature at 1 1/2 miles.

All seven entrants in the $69,000 three-turn race – situated as race 4, the opening leg of the pick six – are in for the optional claiming price of $35,000.

Claimed by David Jacobson for $20,000 in May, the 8-year-old Ea fashioned a three-race winning streak in late summer and early fall, beginning with an off-the-turf route at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 6. He was entered back a week later in a two-mile race, and won by better than six lengths.

“There aren’t many horses who can go that distance,” said Jacobson, who also had an impact on long-distance racing at Saratoga in 2011 when he won the New York Turf Writers Cup steeplechase with Mabou first time off a claim. “They’re special horses. I just love [marathons] because it’s a whole different ball game. The training, the preparing, it’s all different. They’re fun races and you don’t see them all the time.”

In his only prior try at 1 1/2 miles, Ea ran fourth in a sloppy renewal of the Brooklyn Handicap in 2009.

Stud Muffin posted 7 of his 14 career wins in 2011, but the 58-start veteran went sour earlier this year, and makes his second start back from a layoff for Naipaul Chatterpaul.

Colossal Gift, the probable second choice, comes off a hard-fought turf win in his third start for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. He was a maiden winner on the inner dirt last winter, and has finished in the money three times at distances of 1 3/16 miles and a 1 1/4 miles on grass.

The others – Big Creek, Rocky World, Stormy Success and Wayward Sailor – have combined for four wins from 68 starts on dirt.

Gravesend gets six

Six older sprinters entered Saturday’s $75,000 Gravesend Handicap, headed by top-weighted Saginaw, who will be shooting for his 10th win of the year on this circuit.

The field (with weights) from the rail out is: Isn’t He Perfect (116); Royal Currier (117); Hillswick (114); Saginaw (119); Broad Rule (114); and Frazil (116).