Aqueduct: Female sprinters featured on Thursday card

Two allowance sprints for fillies and mares share top billing on Thursday’s card, with six New York-breds set to clash in race 3 and seven looking to garner their preliminary open condition in race 8.

In race 8, Kara’s Match Point, a maiden winner on the final weekend of last winter’s inner-track meet and subsequently second to eventual Grade 3 stakes winner Baby J, makes her first start since a troubled-trip fourth in mid-November for Linda Rice.

Through Monday, Rice had established personal bests in wins (102) and purse earnings ($4.8 million) in 2013.

“It was a very good year from start to finish,” Rice said. “The only slow period was the first half of Saratoga, when we were second by a nose, third by a head, that type of thing.”

Although there are no sure things in racing, it’s a virtual certainty that John Toscano’s speedy filly Talent N Passion will set the pace. She led through the opening quarter-mile in all 11 of her dirt starts in 2013, including wins at Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga.

With 23 wins and more than $1 million in earnings, Toscano also comes off a career-best year in 2013.

Cape Cod Carol, Madre Ditutticapi, and Two Hearts in One, bread-and-butter types all, are closely matched based on their busy 2013 campaigns.

Since beating New York-bred allowance rivals on the inner track last March, Cape Cod Carol has run nine times on dirt and earned Beyer Speed Figures in the 70s without fail for Jim Ryerson.

Claimed by Jena Antonucci for $35,000 last winter, Madre Ditutticapi comes off a new Beyer top of 76 in her 15th and final start of 2013, when beaten a nose by repeater Miss Da Point after hesitating at the break.

Two Hearts in One ships in from the Mid-Atlantic circuit with a trainer change to Enrique Arroyo after posting a new top Beyer (78) in her 14th start of 2013. Arroyo won at a 28 percent clip (23 for 82) last year.

Sister City and Tiz Teresa also entered.

In race 3, Eyes of Midas comes off a big win in her first start with blinkers for Leo O’Brien and might vie for favoritism with She’s Stones Sis. The latter, a half-sister to unbeaten Carter Handicap winner Bustin Stones, turns back from one mile after fading as the 8-5 choice.

Also in the lineup are Dee Dee’s Comet, Jitney, Rakin’ Gold, and Quiet Sunshine.