Bold Confection seeks third straight victory as winter meet begins
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The days will be shorter, the races will be of lesser quality and run over one surface, and the jockey colony loses some of its star power. Those figure to be the most notable changes as Aqueduct officially starts its 56-day winter meet on Thursday.
With turf racing done for the year – the fall meet saw 74 races run on turf, 71 on dirt – winter racing will consist exclusively of dirt races through March 27. That translates to eight-race cards on weekdays and, for the most part, nine-race cards on weekends. Racing will still be conducted four days a week through February with three-day weeks scheduled for March. There is a holiday break (Dec. 20-29) and racing will be conducted on Presidents Day (Feb. 21).
For at least the first month of the meet, first post on eight-race cards will be 12:50 p.m., on nine-race cards it will be 12:20 p.m.
Claiming races and New York-bred races figure to be the steady fare. There are 46 stakes, but only a quartet of Grade 3 events over the next four months with two of those – the $250,000 Withers on Feb. 5 and the $300,000 Gotham on March 5 – for 3-year-olds dreaming of jumping onto the Kentucky Derby trail.
While New York regular riders such as Irad Ortiz Jr., Joel Rosario, Luis Saez, and John Velazquez leave town for the winter, the jockey colony will include Jose Ortiz, who opted to forgo the warmer climes of South Florida for a New York winter. Ortiz tops a colony that includes Eric Cancel, Kendrick Carmouche, Dylan Davis, Manny Franco, Jose Lezcano, Trevor McCarthy, and Jorge Vargas Jr.
Thursday’s card begins with a pick-six carryover of $87,097. The pick six will begin on race 3 (1:44 p.m.).
The feature is a second-level allowance for fillies and mares at six furlongs that drew a competitive field of six. Bold Confection ships in off two wins at Parx that have turned out to be productive races. On Sept. 6, she won by 6 3/4 lengths in a maiden race that produced four next-out winners. Those included Bold Confection herself, who on Oct. 26 won a first-level allowance race in the slop by 3 1/2 lengths, a race that produced two next-out winners.
Bold Confection is drawn nicely on the outside and figures to get a great stalking trip under Carmouche, who was aboard for the filly’s two previous wins.
“I like this spot, she’s doing well, Kendrick knows her,” said trainer John Servis, who had Bold Confection entered last Friday at Laurel Park before that track canceled.
Oxana, dominant in two wins at Parx during the summer, drops back into allowance company after a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Prioress at Saratoga and a second in a Pennsylvania-bred stakes in her most recent starts.
Royal Meghan and Dearing Justice, third and fourth respectively going seven furlongs in this condition on Nov. 12, Greatest Love, and Easy to Bless complete the field.