Aqueduct: Lady Gracenote back for Sonia's Scamp Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jason Servis isn’t brimming with as much confidence as one might suspect the trainer of Lady Gracenote would have entering Wednesday’s $75,000 Sonia’s Scamp Stakes at Aqueduct.

On paper, Lady Gracenote looks the horse to beat, dropping out of the Grade 2 Top Flight while others are stepping out of the claiming ranks.

But Servis is concerned about running Lady Gracenote back just 18 days from the Top Flight, a race in which Lady Gracenote earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 84.

“It’s not my style, but we’re giving it a shot,” Servis said. “I’m throwing the football up in the air, and hopefully somebody catches it.”

The Sonia’s Scamp, named for a filly who won the 1985 East View as part of a 3-for-19 career, is run at a mile around two turns as racing remains on the inner track for one more week.

Servis claimed Lady Gracenote for $20,000 last July at Saratoga for Ron Lombardi’s Mr. Amore Stable. In six starts since the claim, Lady Gracenote has three wins and two thirds and has earned $113,000. She was beaten 5 1/4 lengths running fourth to Summer Applause in the Top Flight on March 2.

“I thought she ran super,” Servis said. “She got squeezed at the sixteenth pole if you watch the head-on. She’s been a good filly for us.”

One of the reasons Servis feels compelled to run Lady Gracenote back on short rest is because the competition appears ordinary.

Freud’s Notebook is the only other member of the field to have won a race on dirt in the last five months. Freud’s Notebook was claimed for $35,000 out of a winning effort Feb. 21 by Linda Rice on behalf of owner Barry Ostrager.

Rice said that Ostrager, a prominent New York breeder, took her primarily as a broodmare prospect, but wants to race her at least once more.

Two starts back, Freud’s Notebook was beaten 5 1/4 lengths by Lady Gracenote in a second-level allowance race. Freud’s Notebook, who figures to be forwardly placed by jockey Jose Ortiz, is 5 for 11 over the inner track.

“She’s okay, has a little wear and tear on her, but she’s a gritty filly and her form is pretty consistent,” Rice said.

Shesabronxbomber goes first off the David Jacobson claim and comes out of a race in which she was beaten 10 1/2 lengths by Natalie Victoria last out.

Harbor Mist drops back with New York-breds after finishing seventh in a one-turn mile open-company allowance race at Gulfstream in her 4-year-old debut. She figures to be a pace factor under Irad Ortiz Jr.

Guyana Princess, third behind Lady Gracenote and Freud’s Notebook on Jan. 31, and Sally’s Dream, 1 for 15 lifetime on dirt, complete the field.