Best Performance back on dirt in layoff return

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Best Performance returns from a five-month layoff and returns to dirt when she runs in a $75,000 first-level allowance race that serves as the co-feature on Friday’s nine-race card at Aqueduct.

Best Performance is one of seven fillies and mares entered in the one-turn mile race, which shares billing with a $75,000 first-level allowance sprint for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for six furlongs on turf.

Best Performance began her career on dirt, winning at first asking at Belmont and then running second in both the Astoria Stakes and Grade 3 Schuylerville in the summer of 2017. Trainer Christophe Clement thought turf would give Best Performance “another dimension,” so he switched her to that surface and she ran second in three consecutive stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2017.

Best Performance has disappointed in all three of her turf tries this year, precipitating a break following a fifth-place finish at Belmont on June 10.

“She wasn’t moving as well as we thought she should, so we gave her a break,” Clement said. “She seems to be back training forwardly, so it’s time to try her back.”

Clement is trying Best Performance on dirt because he believes she prefers firm turf, which is something that she would not likely get in New York.

“Her works on the dirt have been fair to above fair, so it’s a nice idea to try her back on the dirt,” Clement said. “Let’s not forget she was stakes-placed on the dirt as a 2-year-old. We can always switch her back to firmer turf this winter at Gulfstream.”

Two of Best Performance’s main rivals seem to be Aikenetta and Face It. Aikenetta, a 4-year-old, is a three-time winner who won two back over a fast main track at Belmont. Face It, a half-sister to the Grade 1 winner It’s Tricky, comes off a 10-length maiden win over a muddy main track here on Nov. 7.

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KEY CONTENDERS

Best Performance, by Broken Vow
Last 3 Beyers: 77-76-82

◗ Returns from a 173-day layoff and returns to the dirt for the first time since she finished second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga in the summer of 2017.

◗ She won off workouts when she took her career debut at Belmont in May 2017 and shows a series of solid works on dirt, including a bullet five-furlong drill in 1:01.11 on Nov. 21.

Face It, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 75-70-58

◗ Stretched out in distance, caught a muddy track, and galloped to a 10-length maiden win here on Nov. 7.

“Distance was a key,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said.

◗ Finished third in a Sept. 21 race at Belmont from which the top two finishers, Golden Award and Our Circle of Love, came back to win their next start.

Aikenetta, by Aikenite
Last 3 Beyers: 80-78-63

◗ Goes turf to dirt in the third start off the claim for Rudy Rodriguez.

◗ Last time this filly went turf to dirt, she won a starter allowance by 3 3/4 lengths going a one-turn mile at Belmont.