OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Arctic Beast ran well when finishing second in the Springboard Mile two months ago at Remington Park. Just not well enough to be seriously considered a factor on the Triple Crown trail.  That was something his connections came to terms with rather quickly and thus they have opted for shorter – and in the case of Saturday’s Damon Runyon Stakes at Aqueduct – easier company for Arctic Beast.  Back with his New York-bred friends, Arctic Beast took control soon after the start under Ricardo Santana Jr. and he cruised to a 9 3/4-length victory in the $135,000 Damon Runyon Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds. The race was basically run in merry-go-round fashion as pace-pursuer Combat Mission finished second by 3 1/4 lengths over Time to Roll, who ran third all the way around. Mission Critical, Royal Riddle, and Portadown Lad ran fourth, fifth and sixth around the track.  After being unsaddled, Combat Mission was deemed to be lame in his right front, and he was vanned off the track.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The win was the fourth from five starts for Arctic Beast. After a maiden win against statebreds at Saratoga in August, Arctic Beast won two New York stakes at Finger Lakes last fall. Stretched out to a mile in the Springboard Mile, Arctic Beast chased loose leader Express Kid to the wire, finishing 6 1/4 lengths behind that one.  “It was a pretty good race last time out, but we thought we’d cut him back, give him a little time and this was a good spot to come back with New York-breds,” said Peter Proscia, managing partner of Paradise Farms Corp. which owns Arctic Beast along with JP Racing Stable, David Staudacher and Zilla Racing Stables. “We’ll see what happens from here. If he comes back good, we’ll look for maybe something [against] a little more competition. Depends what comes up.”  Aqueduct does have the $150,000 Bay Shore Stakes for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on April 18.  Santana, riding Arctic Beast for the fourth straight time in the Damon Runyon, said he took the horse off the pace in the Springboard Mile because he thought that would give the horse his best chance to get two turns.  Saturday, back to a one-turn race, Santana wanted the lead.  “He’s a really decent horse, he’s naturally fast,” Santana said. “At Remington, first time two turns, I was talking to the owners and I said I don’t think it’s a good idea we go to the lead first time two turns, so we decided to take him back. We were happy with how he relaxed. Today, I said the track is playing speed and he’s fast; I thought I had much the best horse in the race and I decided to take the lead and he was much the best today.”  Arctic Beast, trained by Mike Maker, covered the seven furlongs in 1:25.11 and returned $3.58 as the odds-on favorite.  Galinda wires East View  Galinda broke sharp, Pinky Brier broke slow and that was basically the story of Saturday’s $130,950 East View Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies.  Taking advantage of a sharp start from the outside draw, Jaime Rodriguez guided Galinda to the front and then to the rail a few strides out of the gate. Galinda established a clear advantage while running a half-mile in 47.38 seconds and was never seriously challenged in the lane on her way to 9 1/4-length victory.  Rina’s Revenge and Victory Hall both chased Galinda with Rina’s Revenge getting second by two lengths over Victory Hall. Purple Divine was fourth followed by Pinky Brier, the second choice. There a stewards’ inquiry into the stretch run involving Purple Divine and Pinky Brier but no change was made to the order of finish.  The victory was the second in as many starts for Galinda, a daughter of Good Magic owned by Waterville Lake Stables and trained by Miguel Clement.  Rodriguez said his initial plan was to stalk Pinky Brier. But when that filly broke slow under Manny Franco, Rodriguez changed tactics.  “Every time I breeze her I got so much horse, I don’t even let her loose in the morning,” Rodriguez said. “Today, I rode her the same way; let her break, let her get comfortable when [Pinky Brier] got left I got the opportunity just to drop her on the rail because I know when she gets to the lead she gets [brave] and she gave me everything today.”  Galinda covered the seven furlongs in 1:24.97 – .14 faster than Arctic Beast ran the Damon Runyon – and returned $4.44 as the slight favorite.  Franco said the bad break basically cost Pinky Brier any chance to win the race.  “My filly broke slow and after that … speed is good,” Franco said.  Trainer Miguel Clement told the New York Racing Association publicity department he may attempt to stretch Galinda out in distance in the $250,000 Virginia Oaks, a one-turn, 1 1/16-mile race, on March 14 at Colonial Downs. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.