Bobby Bo may come back running after 18-month layoff
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Bobby Bo, last seen running second in the Albany Stakes at Saratoga in summer 2021, returns from an 18-month-plus layoff in a first-level New York-bred allowance that serves as the feature on Friday’s eight-race Aqueduct card.
Previously trained by Bob Baffert, Bobby Bo will make his first start for trainer Michelle Nevin in this one-mile race.
Billy Koch, the head of Little Red Feather Racing, which owns Bobby Bo, said the horse got hurt in the Albany and “it took a very long time to bring him back.”
Since Bobby Bo is a New York-bred, and Koch and Nevin had success with the New York-bred stakes-winning sprinter My Boy Tate, Koch said it was logical to transfer Bobby Bo to Nevin.
“She’s done a fabulous job being patient as have all our owners,” Koch said. “You have to be patient, especially with a horse like him who obviously has a world of talent, you want to give him a chance. That’s what Michelle, her team, and thankfully our partners have done. We had to geld him. As Michelle said, maybe he could be our new Tate.”
My Boy Tate, 9, is a six-time stakes winner of more than $833,000.
Bobby Bo made his career debut at Santa Anita on April 3, 2021, finishing fourth behind Laurel River. Coincidentally, another New York-bred, Today’s Flavor, finished second in that race and has since come to New York where he has won four consecutive races by a combined 27 lengths.
Bobby Bo, by Speightster, has a pretty sharp work tab for his return.
“We considered bringing him back in a six-furlong race or this,” Koch said. “Michelle brought Manny Franco out to work him and after the work, Michelle asked him ‘a mile or six furlongs?’ He said ‘a mile.’ In Manny we trust.”
Franco has the call from post 7 in this nine-horse field.
Simply has not won since November 2021 but is coming off a couple of efforts that would make him fit in this field. Three starts back, the last time he caught a fast track, Simply rallied to finish second, beaten less than a length. After a third-place finish going nine furlongs, Simply cut back to a mile and finished second to much-the-best Overstep, who came off a long layoff to win that day and then came back to win again.
:: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures
Rob Atras, trainer of Simply, is hoping someone challenges the speedy Bobby Bo early.
“He’s a little bit pace dependent,” Atras said of Simply. “He breaks, you sit, and he makes the one move. He does need some pace to run at to fire his best race.”
Dylan Davis rides Simply from post 6.
Mason Mania has finished behind Simply two of the three times they’ve met. Golden Code was fourth in his one start since last year’s Wood Memorial. Safalow’s Mission held second after prompting the pace in his first try going a mile.
Majestic Tire, Son of an Ex, Forever Wicked, and Datesfreedom complete the field.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.