Battle Bling to Go for Wand

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Battle Bling, winner of the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm here on Nov. 4, is being pointed to the Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand Stakes here on Dec. 3, trainer Rob Atras said Sunday.

Though the Turnback the Alarm was Battle Bling’s second stakes win at 1 1/8 miles, Atras feels that shorter distances - a mile to 1 1/16 miles - might actually better for the 4-year-old daughter of Vancouver. The Go for Wand is run as a one-turn mile.

“I’m not even sure she wants a mile and an eighth, she gets a little late there,” said Atras, whose filly won the Ladies Stakes at 1 1/8 miles in January. “She’s just a cool mare, she shows up every time, no matter what we throw at her - slop, mile-and-an-eighth, two turns, one turn.

“I would like to look at the Go for Wand; it looked like it made sense and she could be competitive,” Atras added. “I think we’ve done a good job of putting her in spots where she could be competitive.”

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Atras said Law Professor, who finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, will be nominated to the Grade 1 Clark at Churchill Downs on Nov. 25 and the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 1.

Atras said he wasn’t overly disappointed with Law Professor’s race in the Dirt Mile, in which he was beaten 7 1/2 lengths by Cody’s Wish.

“I think he’s a horse that naturally likes to be a little closer and they were going pretty fast early,” Atras said. “I can’t blame Jose [Ortiz]. He let him settle and get into the bridle. I thought he ran a fine race, maybe it was just a little too tough.”

Atras also said Law Professor might want farther than one mile. The Clark is run at 1 1/8 miles.

Meanwhile, Atras said Smash Ticket, sixth in the Raven Run at Keeneland, is being pointed to the Garland of Roses here on Dec. 10. Atras said Smash Ticket had trouble in the Raven Run.

“In the middle of the race here the backend kind of came out from underneath her,” Atras said. “A horse came up close to her and clipped her back heel and Kendrick [Carmouche] said her back end went out and the rest of the race she never picked up the bridle. I thought she should have run a little better, so it makes sense that something happened.”

Atras may have another female sprinter for stakes here this winter with Rossa Veloce, a New York-bred who won an open allowance race Sunday, her second straight win since Atras claimed her for $32,000 on Sept. 1.

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