Aqueduct: Mysticism will try to wire deep sprint

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Eight of the 10 older males in Thursday’s six-furlong feature are in for the optional $50,000 claim price, but seven of them ran in at least one stakes race last year. Indeed, the slots-fueled purse of $64,000 is virtually identical to what overnight stakes were worth here last winter, even though it carries second-level allowance conditions.

The speedy Mysticism and the late-running De Price remain eligible for the condition, and either or both could make their presence felt in race 6, the lead-off leg of the late pick four.

Mysticism is the likely pacesetter for Darley Stable, which sent out stakes winners on both coasts last weekend. The gelding led early in all six of his 2011 starts for Tom Albertrani and closed out his sophomore campaign with a wire-to-wire victory over first-level allowance sprinters on the main track. The front might not be a bad place to be Thursday as weather.com forecast rain as a sure thing.

De Price probably wants it fast, judging from a win over $50,000 claimers at Churchill Downs on Nov. 19 that earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure – the best last-out number in the lineup. Trained by Dale Romans, De Price breaks from the far outside and shoulders 123 pounds, conceding 5 to 10 pounds to all.

Richard Dutrow Jr. sends out early and late factors in the uncoupled pair of This Ones for Phil and Laysh Laysh Laysh.

This Ones for Phil, a multiple stakes winner, comes off a tough trip contesting the pace between horses in the Gravesend Handicap.

Laysh Laysh Laysh came within a neck of three wins in a nine-day span last January, before rallying to finish a close second as the favorite in the Grade 2 General George Handicap. He has been idle since a runner-up finish in a starter handicap last May and drops 11 pounds off that race.

Also dropping 11 pounds is Flat Bold, who hasn’t won in nearly a year, but comes off a competitive effort in the Fall Highweight Handicap. He is part of a Rudy Rodriguez-trained entry with Mannington, who has lost 13 straight since winning a Florida-bred stakes at Gulfstream Park in 2010.

Be Bullish, whose three wins last year came on fast, muddy, and sloppy tracks, beginning with the Hollie Hughes on the inner dirt, makes his first start since an off-the-board finish in the Hudson Stakes on New York Showcase Day.