Baby Yoda should hit hard at this level
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When not tangling with some of the best horses in training, Baby Yoda is pretty good himself. Friday, Baby Yoda won’t be facing any of the best horses in training and will strictly be the one to beat in a third-level/optional $80,000 claiming race that serves as the feature at Aqueduct.
There will be a pick six carryover of $207,748 on Friday after the wager was not hit for a second straight day on Thursday.
Baby Yoda’s claim to fame – other than having a name that resonates with Stars Wars fans – was beating Olympiad in a first-level allowance in 2021 at Saratoga, earning a 114 Beyer Speed Figure he hasn’t come close to duplicating.
In nine starts since, Baby Yoda is 3 for 3 in non-stakes, 0 for 6 in stakes. Ten months ago, he finished second to Flightline in the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita. In recent graded tries, Baby Yoda has finished fourth to the likes of Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 2 True North and Cody’s Wish in the Grade 1 Forego.
Friday’s race, at a mile, will be Baby Yoda’s first start beyond seven furlongs.
“I want to run him a mile,” trainer Bill Mott said. “He’s so kind, you can do anything you want with him.”
The return to allowance company also enables Baby Yoda, trained by Bill Mott, to race on Lasix, the anti-bleeding medication with which he is 5 for 8.
Javier Castellano has the call from post 5.
David Jacobson said that as of Wednesday he plans on running both parts of a coupled entry, Synthesis and Bourbon Calling, both of whom would be coming back on short rest. Synthesis won a second-level allowance here on Sept 30 after a second-place finish 16 days earlier at Penn National
“That was the horse I thought I was getting when I bought him,” Jacobson said. “He ran pretty hard last time but he seems to have recovered good. The final decision will be made the morning of the race.”
Jacobson claimed Bourbon Calling for $62,500 at Saratoga and ran him in an allowance at Parx on Sept. 28 when he finished second. Jacobson is putting blinkers on Bourbon Calling for Friday.
“Sometimes with older horses it wakes them, puts them in the game without having to try,” Jacobson said.
Completing the field are Fire Sword, who goes first off the claim for David Donk; Market Alert, winner of the Saginaw Stakes for New York-breds on July 10; and Kumbalay, a winner of two allowances in the spring.
Perhaps a more appetizing wagering affair is race 7, a starter allowance scheduled for one mile on the turf. Royal Spirit, a 3-year-old son of Into Mischief, could be the one to beat coming off a last-to-first victory in a $50,000 claimer at Saratoga on Aug. 25.
He ran on the drop for Todd Pletcher that day and was claimed out of the race by Linda Rice, who won a two-way shake. Two horses Royal Spirit beat that day, Merci and Icarus, both came back to win their next start with career-high Beyer Speed Figures.
Hard Rye Guy finished seventh in that Aug. 25 race and was claimed by Jose Camejo, who has a 31 percent success rate first off the claim and who has a 2-1-3 record seven starters at this meet.
Camejo also has Voliero going first off the claim in this spot. Voliero won a $35,000 claimer on turf here last November.
Digital Software, War Strategy, and Reckless Spirit are other contenders on turf.
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