Aqueduct: Albertrani, West Point have three good shots in Stallion Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – West Point Thoroughbreds and trainer Tom Albertrani have top contenders in three of the four New York Stallion Stakes that highlight Aqueduct’s nine-race Saturday card.

[UPDATE: Stallion Stakes supplements cause stir, horses scratched]

The two divisions for juveniles – the Great White Way for males and the Fifth Avenue for females – are both run at six furlongs and worth $150,000. The two divisions for 3-year-olds and up – the Thunder Rumble for males and the Staten Island for females – are each run at seven furlongs and worth $125,000.

West Point’s Empire Dreams tops a field of six entered in the Great White Way, which will be run as the second race on the program. Empire Dreams won a maiden race at Belmont at six furlongs on Sept. 29 before finishing second to the multiple-stakes-winning New York-bred Wired Bryan in the Bertram F. Bongard at seven furlongs on Oct. 19.

“He’s been very consistent in all of his starts, so we’re pretty optimistic that this race looks like a good spot for him,” Albertrani said. “He’s drawn the rail. He’s got some speed that could play into his favor as well.”

On Aug. 9, at Saratoga, Empire Dreams finished second to Free Mugatu, who is also entered in this spot. After winning that race, Free Mugatu won a New York-bred stakes at Saratoga before finishing a well-beaten fourth behind Wired Bryan in the New York Breeders’ Futurity at Finger Lakes on Sept. 28.

Sol the Freud, a full brother to the Grade 1-winning mare Franny Freud, is another contender in this compact field.

In the Fifth Avenue, which goes as the fifth race, West Point and Albertrani send out Skye Saratoga, a daughter of Golden Missile who won her second start by nine lengths here on Nov. 1 with first-time Lasix following a fourth-place finish in her debut at Belmont.

Albertrani said the addition of Lasix “really wasn’t that significant.”

“It was more getting over her greenness the first time she ran,” he said. “She really was focused second time out; she really came out running.”

Miss Narcissist, the front-running upset winner of the Joseph A. Gimma Stakes on Oct. 19, looms the major threat, though she could get caught up in a pace battle with Sheriffa.

A new and somewhat controversial rule that allows for supplemental nominations will impact the two Stallion Stakes races for 3-year-olds and up.

Typically, horses are made eligible for the Stallion Series by a $200 payment in their weanling year, a $1,000 payment by their yearling year, or a $5,000 payment by Sept. 1 of their 2-year-old season. For this weekend’s races, a $5,000 supplemental fee could be paid for horses not previously nominated.

Ultimate Empire, owned by West Point, and Smooth Bert, were each supplemented to the Thunder Rumble for $5,000 and are two of the top contenders in the field.

Ultimate Empire has two wins and four seconds in his last six starts.

“This horse has really been an exciting horse for us this year,” Albertrani said. “He’s been very consistent and we felt that on his form he fits right in with this group. We felt we’d give him the opportunity to try.”

Smooth Bert won the Damon Runyon Stakes going a one-turn mile over Aqueduct’s main track last year.

With the plethora of speed seemingly in this field, West Hills Giant might be able to work out an off-the-pace trip under Joel Rosario from post 2. West Hills Giant, second the Grade 3 Gotham in March, won a seven-furlong Stallion Stakes race on turf at Saratoga in August. He has not run on dirt since a third-place finish in the New York Derby at Finger Lakes in July.

“He’s been versatile, turf or dirt,” trainer John Terranova said. “Outside of drawing down inside, he’s doing very well coming into this.”

Trainer David Jacobson has a solid entry in Sportswriter and Uncle Smokey, both of whom would benefit from a lively pace.

Last year, Kelli Got Frosty won a division of the Stallion Stakes only to later be disqualified when it was discovered she was ineligible. She was supplemented to the Staten Island division and could be tough in her second start off a three-month layoff. Kelli Got Frosty finished third last out in a statebred optional claiming race to Keep Bustin and Haldane, who are also in this spot.

“She was farther back than I expected her to be but she still run pretty good,” said trainer Rudy Rodriguez. “We were happy with the way she ran. We expect her to move forward.”

Rodriguez also sends out Vicki’s Dancer, who finished fourth behind the undefeated Cluster of Stars in the Iroquois, her first start off being claimed for $50,000.

“There was nowhere to run her,” Rodriguez said. “We were trying to point her for one race on the grass and the race never went.”

Keep Bustin has a win and two seconds in her last three starts and could work out a stalking trip under Jose Lezcano.