All runners new to the distance

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Early spring is for finding out things about 3-year-olds. Horsemen and handicappers will know a bit more about the preferences of some 3-year-old fillies after they run in Thursday's feature at Aqueduct, an entry-level optional claimer at one mile.

None of the seven entrants has ever raced at the distance. and With Due Respect are each two-time winners entered for the optional claiming price of $75,000, and they, along with Parisiana, are stretching out from sprints. The other four - D.D. Rocks, Go Hailey Go, One Stormy Mama, and Stormy Grand Banks - are turning back from two-turn routes on the inner track.

They all meet in the no man's land of a one-turn mile out of the chute, and the only thing that seems certain is the prospect of a strong pace contested by With Due Respect and Stormy Grand Banks.

has had nine starts and has finished in the money seven straight times, but she is also the lone entrant with no route racing experience, and has been beyond six furlongs only once.

With Due Respect was claimed from her first two starts on the circuit. In her first start for current trainer Gary Contessa, she dueled for the lead to midstretch before tiring to wind up third in a starter allowance.

Stormy Grand Banks won a maiden sprint on the main track last fall in her second start - her first for trainer Rick Violette Jr. - and she might appreciate switching back to that surface after appearing quite headstrong and squandering lengthy leads in both recent attempts around two turns.

Stormy Grand Banks gets a rider switch back to Shaun Bridgmohan, who was aboard for her maiden win.

Violette is off to a 3-for-3 start on the main track, all of the wins with 3-year-olds and all ridden by Bridgmohan, including two at a mile.

Should the pace disputers falter, Go Hailey Go and One Stormy Mama, who finished a half-length apart when they met in mid-winter, appear the most likely to benefit.

Go Hailey Go edged One Stormy Mama in a maiden route on Jan. 26, and came back a month later and finished well for third, making up a dozen lengths in her first try at this level.