Bon Adieu finds easier spot to continue win streak

OZONE PARK. N.Y. – Bon Adieu, who scratched out of Sunday’s $100,000 Biogio’s Rose Stakes for New York-bred females, will now put her three-race winning streak on the line Thursday in a first-level $50,000 open allowance/optional-claiming race that goes as race 5 on Aqueduct’s eight-race card.

That makes it the third leg of a pick six that begins the day with a $35,827 carryover after the wager went unhit Sunday.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said he was prepared to run Bon Adieu in both races, but by rule had to scratch out of the Biogio’s Rose because the second of the two races in which the horse was entered was at a lower condition than the first.

Rodriguez claimed Bon Adieu for $30,000 last September at Saratoga. Since then, Rodriguez has run Bon Adieu in five straight one-turn mile races, with Bon Adieu finishing second twice before reeling off three straight front-running victories. Bon Adieu hadn’t run a mile before Rodriguez took over her training.

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“Most of the horses, they don’t want to go that far. She’s one of the horses that wants to do that distance,” said Rodriguez, who plans to try the 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper at 1 1/8 miles at some point.

Bon Adieu, who will break from post 2 under Luis Rivera Jr., could face some pace pressure Thursday from Fancy Azteca, who is part of a Rick Dutrow-trained entry that includes Kid’s Last Laugh. The latter is coming off a runner-up finish in this condition going six furlongs. Her only attempt going a mile came in a two-turn race at Oaklawn Park when in the barn of Kenny McPeek in 2022.

Ocean Gateway has won her last two starts in front-running fashion, though one was for $40,000 claiming and the other in starter allowance company just two weeks ago.

Sweet Mystery, like Bon Adieu, scratched out of the Biogio’s Rose for this seemingly lighter spot. Most recently, she finished second in this condition going 1 1/8 miles around two turns on Feb. 11.

Toned Up finished third in that same Feb. 11 race and now goes first off the claim for Gustavo Rodriguez.

In My Opinion ships in from Maryland for Lacey Gaudet. Following a fifth-place finish in the Nellie Morse Stakes at Laurel on Dec. 17, In My Opinion is in for the optional $50,000 claiming tag in this spot.

Whistler’s Spirit, a winner for $16,000 claiming on Feb. 24, takes a significant rise in class first off the claim for Orlando Noda.

Speightful Lily makes second start

Perhaps the most intriguing horse on Thursday’s card is Speightful Lily, who, after a monster debut in January, makes the second start of her career in race 7, a first-level allowance for New York-bred fillies and mares going a mile.

Speightful Lily, a 4-year-old daughter of Union Rags, romped to a 14 1/2-length debut victory going six furlongs in the mud here on Jan. 27. She earned a gaudy 95 Beyer Speed Figure. Trainer James Bond said it was by design that Speightful Lily will have two months between starts.

“It’s a long year. Unfortunately, horses are a little more fragile than they used to be; had this plan in my mind to stretch out the year,” Bond said.

Bond said that Speightful Lily had been close to racing well before January but developed a hind-end issue that needed time.

“We had to pull the plug. Thank God the clients were patient,” Bond said. “The wait was worth it.”

Thursday’s race is at a mile and Bond said he’s been looking forward to stretching her out to that distance. Speightful Lily, by Union Rags, is a half-sister to Make Mischief, a three-time New York-bred stakes winner at a mile.

“She’s got a beautiful pedigree. She should get the distance and hopefully go forward,” Bond said.

Speightful Lily will be giving up a lot of experience in this 10-horse field that includes three mares who have made at least 30 starts, though none are in particularly good form entering this race.

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