If fates allow, trainer Linda Rice and Acoustic Ave might make a career out of finding short graded stakes fields at Aqueduct. A runner-up versus four rivals in the Grade 3 Elite Power in December, the 6-year-old gelding is sure to be in the mix again in a five-horse running of the Grade 3 Tom Fool Stakes on Saturday. “It’s just a decent option,” Rice said. “It’s available to us right now, so we’ll give it a try. He’s just been a great horse to have.” Claimed for $45,000 last March, Acoustic Ave has proven to be a textbook acquisition for Rice, picking up four victories in 11 starts since entering her barn. He has only finished out of the money once in that span. “You always hope that when you claim a horse, they’re worth what you paid for them, and every once in a while, you find yourself in a position to have a horse that really moves forward like he has,” Rice said. A runner-up in the $135,000 Say Florida Sandy for New York-breds on Feb. 14, the gelding again proved his versatility, successfully finding a stalking position after going for the early lead in his three prior starts. The Elite Power provided the perfect opportunity for him to contend in graded stakes company last year, and he seems just as prepared to contend for his first graded-stakes win in the Tom Fool at the same six-furlong distance. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. One Nine Hundred will enter the Tom Fool as the white-hot hand for trainer Tom Morley. Early in his 3-year-old campaign, the trainer had high hopes for the colt when he entered him in the $150,000 Chick Lang at Pimlico off a seven-length maiden score. It proved to be too much too soon for him, as he faded to fifth by six lengths. Morley gave him time off after a Saratoga allowance victory in July and brought him to Churchill Downs for a warmup start in November. In his 4-year-old debut on Jan. 9, the colt returned to Aqueduct and made an explosive move on the front end to win a conditioned allowance by 4 1/2 lengths. He earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, which would prove overwhelming if he managed it again in this return to stakes company. Full Moon Madness will return to Aqueduct for Michelle Nevin after a tough trip in the $100,000 Fire Plug overnight handicap at Laurel Park last month. Last-out allowance runners Breslau and Bold Journey complete the field. Stymie Stakes To hear Gustavo Rodriguez tell it, the Grade 2 Cigar Mile on Dec. 6 simply wasn’t Phileas Fogg’s day, as the gelding never got involved near the front and faded to a 6 1/2-length defeat. Undeterred by the disappointment at a mile, the trainer is bringing the graded stakes winner back at the same distance in the $150,000 Stymie Stakes on Saturday. “The horse was not happy,” Rodriguez said of the Cigar Mile. “Phil’s weapon is that he’s very brave when he gets loose on the lead. If you try to rate him, he’s not going to go for that stuff.” In 20 starts before the Cigar Mile, Phileas Fogg had never run worse than third through an opening quarter-mile, making his stalking position from fourth that day awkward from the jump. He was also wearing blinkers for the first time, which Rodriguez considers a failed experiment. “In the morning, we tried blinkers maybe three times and it was fine, but I think he panicked a little bit during the race and it was not a good thing,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez seems to be using the Stymie as a chance to reset in 2026. In a slightly softer field of six, the gelding will remove blinkers and return off a layoff of nearly three months. With Kendrick Carmouche riding in Florida this weekend, Jaime Rodriguez will take the mount for the first time. Full Screen, a 7-year-old gelding trained by Brad Cox, ended his 2025 campaign in the best form of his career, kicking clear to crush four rivals in the $150,000 Queens County by five lengths. Following that effort, for which he earned a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure, Full Screen needed to take time to deal with a minor foot issue. The setback was one of several factors that prevented Cox from shipping him for the Grade 3 Razorback at Oaklawn Park this weekend. “Didn’t feel comfortable shipping him halfway across the country to face Magnitude,” Cox said. “We were hoping the heavy-heads would all go to Saudi.” Rice said she expects a strong effort from Yo Daddy in his second start off an eight-month layoff. On Feb. 4, the 5-year-old returned in sharp fashion to take a conditioned allowance by 1 3/4 lengths, earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure. – additional reporting by David Grening :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.