Aqueduct: Princess of Sylmar, Havana back in New York for Pletcher

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher sent his first shipment of graded stakes horses back from south Florida to New York earlier this week, including Grade 1 winners Princess of Sylmar and Havana.

Princess of Sylmar, unraced since her last-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Santa Anita, and Havana, unraced since his second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, have been based at the Palm Meadows training center all winter. Both are expected to make their 2014 debuts at Aqueduct, with Princess of Sylmar targeting the Cat Cay Stakes on April 6, according to her owner, Ed Stanco, and Havana pointing to the Bay Shore Stakes on April 5. Havana scratched from the Swale Stakes on March 1 at Gulfstream due to a quarter crack but could return to the work tab this weekend.

Before winning four Grade 1 races – including the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama – Princess of Sylmar won two stakes, the Busanda and Busher, at Aqueduct last winter.

Other horses Pletcher shipped up from Florida include Kauai Katie and Got Lucky. Kauai Katie, a five-time stakes winner unraced since finishing last in the Grade 1 Prioress at Saratoga on July 27, is being pointed to the Grade 2, $200,000 Distaff on April 19.

Got Lucky, a well-beaten second to Untapable in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Feb. 22 at Fair Grounds, is pointing to the Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle Stakes here April 5. Pletcher said My Miss Sophia, an 11-length maiden winner at Gulfstream on March 9, also is being considered for the Gazelle.

Meanwhile, Pletcher will be shopping for a spot for Our Amazing Rose, who returned from a layoff of almost eight months to win a first-level optional-claiming race here Monday by three-quarters of a length over Killaday. Our Amazing Rose ran six furlongs in 1:11.50 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 87.

“Thought she ran well; it was a good effort off the layoff,” Pletcher said. “There’s room for improvement still, but thought it was a respectable race in terms of the final time and [speed] figures and such. We feel like she’s a stakes horse. Hopefully, she proves us right.”

Finding a stakes race in New York for Our Amazing Rose could prove tricky since the next sprint restricted to 3-year-old fillies on this circuit is the $100,000 Jersey Girl on May 26 at Belmont.

“We’ll have to find something for her sooner than that; she could be a filly for the Acorn, hopefully,” said Pletcher, referring to the Grade 1, $750,000 Acorn at a mile at Belmont on June 7.