Aqueduct: D J Manlove stretches out in Thursday allowance feature

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A pair of intriguing out-of-towners highlight Thursday’s $57,000 New York-bred first-level allowance feature going a mile at Aqueduct.

Prohibition, a gelding by Lawyer Ron trained by Parx Racing-based Cal Lynch, comes off the best two performances of his career from a speed-figure perspective. Meanwhile, D J Manlove makes his New York debut after having been claimed for $16,000 by owner Roddy Valente and trainer Bruce Levine out of a neck loss in a sprint at Betfair Hollywood Park last month.

Valente and Levine have a history of success with claiming horses in California and shipping them to New York, most recently winning Sunday’s seventh race with recent claim Cast a Doubt.

Claiming D J Manlove made sense as he is a New York-bred with all of his conditions remaining. D J Manlove has been successful on dirt, winning his debut last March sprinting at Santa Anita for Doug O’Neill. This will be D J Manlove’s first start around two turns and first beyond 6 1/2 furlongs.

“He’s a big, good-looking horse,” Levine said. “I can’t tell you he’s built like a router. The Stormy Atlantics are big, strong-bodied horses, and that’s what he looks like. We’ll take a shot.”

D J Manlove will be ridden from post 5 by apprentice Emmanuel Esquivel, who after a slow start has won 12 races from his last 57 mounts and ranks sixth in the inner-track standings with 15 wins.

Levine also sends out Rocket Hero, a debut winner last January who has struggled since.

Prohibition was struggling, having lost seven straight races before Lynch claimed him for $7,500 at Delaware Park last September. Lynch gelded Prohibition, took the blinkers off, and the horse responded by winning a $15,000 claimer going seven furlongs Nov. 18 and then successfully stretched out to win a starter allowance by a half-length Dec. 31. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91 for that last effort.

Lynch said that Prohibition won his Nov. 18 race despite having “all kinds of trouble. It was quite the rough trip. So, we weren’t surprised he ran such a big figure last time.”

Lynch said Prohibition has “improved a little bit between each race and is still improving.”

Stewart Elliott will come up from Parx to ride Prohibition from the rail.

Among the locally based runners, Petrocelli and Ten Ed finished second and third, respectively, behind runaway winner Tycoon Cat in a first-level/optional claimer for New York-breds at Aqueduct on Dec. 31.

Joe Mooch finished third with a bit of a wide trip when tried around two turns for the first time in nine months.