Aqueduct notes: Mr Palmer looks headed for a stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Mr Palmer, who cleared the second-level allowance condition on Sunday, is likely headed back to stakes company for his next start. The question is whether that race will be in New York or elsewhere.

On March 22, Aqueduct and Laurel host similar stakes for which Mr Palmer will be considered. On that day, Aqueduct has the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior, while Laurel has the $100,000 Harrison E. Johnson Memorial. Both are at 1 1/8 miles.

Last year, Mr Palmer won the Private Terms Stakes at Laurel.

“We’ll nominate for both and see how they look,” said Leana Willaford, New York-based assistant to trainer Bill Mott.

Willaford also said that Flores Island, winner of three straight races, will likely be pointed to the Grade 2, $200,000 Top Flight Handicap here on March 1.

There are no definitive plans for the Mott-trained Mean Season, who has won both of his starts impressively but who was scratched from a second-level allowance on Jan. 4 after spiking a temperature. Willaford said that Mean Season has the tack back on him and has been jogging, mostly in the barn.

Dearly Precious comes up light

With last Saturday’s stakes quadruple-header in the rearview mirror, the remainder of February will be very quiet on the stakes front.
With overnight stakes no longer part of the program, there are only four non-graded stakes remaining in February, beginning with Saturday’s less-than-stellar renewal of the $100,000 Dearly Precious Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

A field of five was assembled for the sprint race for 3-year-old fillies, led by two-time stakes winner Gracer, who is listed as 2-5 on the morning line. Her presence prompted NYRA officials to card the Dearly Precious as the fourth race on a 10-race card, keeping it out of the pick-six sequence.

Gracer, trained by Tony Dutrow, is coming off victories in the Blue Mountain Juvenile at Penn National on Nov. 21 and the Marshua Stakes at Laurel on Jan. 4. Alex Cintron will ride Gracer from post 5.

Bridget Moloney is among Gracer’s opponents in the Dearly Precious. A New York-bred daughter of Pollard’s Vision trained and partly owned by Gary Gullo, Bridget Moloney is 3 for 3, including a 9 1/4-length victory against statebred first-level allowance foes. Maiden winners Go West Marie, Sky Saratoga, and Sustainable complete the field.

Following Saturday’s Dearly Precious, the remaining stakes for February are the Stymie – a race that has hasn’t filled the last two years – on Feb. 15, the Hollie Hughes on Feb. 17, and the Kings Point on Feb. 22.