OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Phil Antonacci and his family’s Lindy Farms made a big investment in Ready for Candy, purchasing the then-maiden for $400,000 out of the Fasig-Tipton mixed sale in February. Thus far, the wager has paid off handsomely. Though she didn’t get started until August, Ready for Candy has won both of her starts for the Antonacci family, including the Grade 3 Winter Memories Stakes at a mile last month. Saturday, Ready for Candy will go for the hat trick when she stretches back out to 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct. Though winless in seven starts last year for trainer Michael DePaulo, Ready for Candy was graded stakes-placed as a 2-year-old while racing exclusively at Woodbine. Antonacci felt there was upside to buying Ready for Candy even though she was recovering from having a chip taken out of an ankle following her last start of 2024. Antonacci got Ready for Candy to the races in August at Saratoga where she won a 1 1/8-mile maiden race on the lead. Five weeks later, Ready for Candy rallied from off the pace in the one-mile Winter Memories, landing Antonacci his first graded victory. Antonacci said he prefers the longer distance of the Sands Point for Ready for Candy. For some horses, Antonacci said, going shorter “softens their kick a little bit if they don’t get that extra eighth of a mile to relax, especially at Aqueduct when the turf gets fast, it almost turns into like an extended sprint. I think a mile and an eighth should suit her well. I think she’s got speed from the gate, she could get herselfinto position and hopefully use her kick turning for home.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Ricardo Santana Jr., aboard for the Winter Memories, has the mount. Ready for Candy meets three of the same rivals she beat in the Winter Memories, including Paradise City, who fell just a nose shy in the Winter Memories, her first try on turf. “I thought it was a very good run. The filly had always shown ability we just couldn’t get as much as we thought out of her in the afternoon as she was showing in the morning,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “But I think the grass is probably where she wanted to be. She just missed the bob last time. You would think from that race she should handle the mile and an eighth.” Decadent, trained by Kenny McPeek, was third in the Winter Memories in what was her first turf try. She did win going two turns on dirt in March at Oaklawn Park. McPeek said he chose this spot over next Friday’s $400,000 Valley View Stakes because he felt it would be an easier spot. “She’s a good, solid filly, looks like she took a liking to the grass last time out, we’ll give her a run,” McPeek said. “If she’ll improve three or four lengths, she should be right there.” Chad Brown, a six-time winner of the Sands Point sends out Griselda and Pretty Picture. Griselda finished fourth in the Winter Memories. Pretty Picture is 2 for 2 including a maiden on turf and an allowance score in an off-the-turf race, both at Monmouth Park. Winfinity, Fast Market, and Boca Queen complete the field. ◗ The other 10 races on Saturday’s card are all starter allowance races, a spot for claiming horses to run for bigger purses. The 10 races offer $970,000 in total purses. Naturally, Linda Rice is loaded with runners in eight of the 10 races. Her top chances look like Acoustic Ave in the Creme de la Fete (race 2), Master of Arms in the Royal Posse (race 6), and Light the Way in the Be Bullish (race 9). The Be Bullish marks the return to the races of the Brad Cox-trained Emirates Road, who has not raced since he won a first-level allowance race by five lengths on Feb. 22, earning a 105 Beyer Speed Figure. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.