Aqueduct: Female sprinters in spotlight Wednesday

Two allowance sprints for fillies and mares share top billing as racing resumes Wednesday at Aqueduct.

Race 3 is a second-level allowance that drew a field of seven, five of whom are in for the $62,500 claiming price. It is a somewhat difficult race for handicapping purposes. Trail Walker is the lone 3-year-old and the morning-line choice after winning a photo in her first start off a claim by Linda Rice.

Among her older rivals are Candy and Thunder, who makes her New York debut for the red-hot David Jacobson; Magma, an import making her second start in the United States and her first on dirt; and My Place Anytime, a minor stakes winner at Monmouth Park this year.

Despite its lesser first-level conditions, race 8 is the more compelling event due to the presence of Ultimate Shopper, who ran away and hid from six opponents in her Oct. 3 debut at Belmont Park.

It wasn’t like Ultimate Shopper was a big secret, as she was just under 2-1 that day. Still, she won like a 1-5 shot, widening through the stretch to score by 12 1/2 lengths and earning a 99 Beyer Speed Figure, a figure more typical of a seasoned stakes horse than a 3-year-old filly making her first start.

“She had trained really, really well, and we thought she was a good filly going in,” trainer Eddie Kenneally said. “She broke sharp, relaxed on the lead, and turned in a very big effort.”

As big as that effort was, it wasn’t enough to scare anyone away, as 11 others will line up against Ultimate Shopper on Wednesday, including Merry Meadow, who comes off her best race yet to finish second in a restricted stakes, and Here’s Zealicious, a four-time winner who was on the lead to the stretch of the Broadway Stakes when she last ran at Aqueduct in March.

“Certainly, there are going to be a few that are going to be close to the pace,” Kenneally said. “She’s trained really well, and hopefully she can duplicate that first effort. I think she’s that caliber.”