Aqueduct: Hot Stones, Kitty Panda, La Verdad all similar

Hot Stones, Kitty Panda, and La Verdad – 3-year-old fillies all coming off big wins as favorites in first-level allowance sprints – will attract the bulk of the play in Thursday’s six-furlong feature at Aqueduct. Nine of the 11 fillies and mares in the $64,000 dash are eligible for the second-level New York-bred condition, with only Fiftyfour Forever and Sentimental Lass in for the optional $35,000 claiming price.

Hot Stones, a homebred daughter of talented but injury-plagued sprinter Bustin Stones, has been favored in all four of her starts for Bruce Levine. She comes off her fastest performance yet to beat a full field by nearly six lengths.

“She’s the best Bustin Stones I’ve got,” Levine said. “I think she’ll be a stakes horse down the road with a little more experience. They’re all precocious, kind of like him.”

Kitty Panda showed dramatic improvement to score by better than eight lengths over Fiftyfour Forever on Oct. 14, flashing new-found early speed second time back from a freshening.

The speedy La Verdad was favored in all three of her starts earlier this year. After finishing fourth in her debut, La Verdad posted a gate-to-wire score against maidens at Aqueduct’s spring meet, and a month later cleared her preliminary allowance condition in the mud at Belmont.

Those two wins, by more than a dozen lengths combined, made La Verdad the morning-line second choice in the Bouwerie Stakes on June 1, but she was scratched due to an infection. She returns off a series of sharp workouts, capped by a bullet five furlongs last week.

The other 3-year-olds in the lineup are Miss Da Point, a four-time winner; and What the Frost, who has won twice from four starts since a trainer change to Rudy Rodriguez.

The day’s richest race is the opener, a $75,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles that could serve as a stepping-stone to the Nov. 30 Remsen Stakes. Among those in the field are first-time starter Matterhorn, a $625,000 purchase in March, and Behedeman, a full brother to Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Secret Circle who switches to dirt after meeting stakes winners Bobby’s Kitten and Storming Inti on turf.