Brown has them coming and going in Alex M. Robb

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Chad Brown appears to hold a lethal hand in Friday’s $100,000 Alex M. Robb Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct. Bettors must decide whether it’ll be Aggregation on the front end or Dr Ardito from off the pace who gets the job done in this five-horse field.

While the two-time statebred stakes winner Dr Ardito is the more accomplished of the pair, Aggregation enters the Robb in the best form, with a pair of allowance wins, both since Brown added blinkers to the 4-year-old gelding’s equipment.

“I think they really moved him forward,” Brown said. “He looks to be in good form. He was a little inconsistent. I think it’s moved him along well and his record will show that.”

Moreover, those wins – both at the Robb distance of one mile – came in front-running fashion. On paper, Aggregation appears to be the main speed from the rail under Kendrick Carmouche.

Under the conditions of the race, Aggregation gets in with 121 pounds, five fewer than Dr Ardito, who earlier this year won the Haynesfield going a mile in February and the Evan Shipman going one mile at Saratoga in August.

Since then, Dr Ardito has competed in three open-company stakes, sandwiching a solid second-place finish in the Grade 2 Forty Niner at Aqueduct in between double-digit-length losses in the Parx Dirt Mile and the Grade 2 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. While both of those races were run over sealed wet tracks, it might be more relevant to note that those races were both run over speed-favoring tracks.

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Dr Ardito will likely have to reel in his stablemate if he is to win on Friday.

“That horse, he’s tough to get going,” Brown said. “In the stretch, when he finally gets going, he comes with a good run. He’s got one style, we’re not really going to change it.”

Manny Franco, who has ridden both Aggregation and Dr Ardito to all of their wins, will ride Dr Ardito from post 3 on Friday.

Trainer Mike Maker sends out Barese and Curlin’s Wisdom in the Robb. Barese is a four-time New York-bred stakes winner who is coming off two poor efforts over wet tracks. In August, he finished fifth behind Dr Ardito in the Evan Shipman.

In the past, Barese has shown some speed and is likely to be closest to Aggregation early on.

Curlin’s Wisdom goes out first time for Maker after making his previous 17 starts for Linda Rice. He comes in off four consecutive losses.

General Banker has returned from a five-month layoff with two solid efforts, a first-level statebred win on Oct. 15 and a runner-up to favored Today’s Flavor in the Thunder Rumble division of the New York Stallion Series on Dec. 3.

With only five runners in the field, the Robb goes as race 2 on an eight-race program that begins at 12:50 p.m.

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