Castellano pumped up about Kathleen O.'s Comely comeback

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano is having an outstanding fall meet at Aqueduct – and he hasn’t even brought his best girl to the dance.

That will change on Friday, when Kathleen O. makes her first start since the Kentucky Oaks in the Grade 3, $175,000 Comely.

The race, which is for 3-year-old fillies over 1 1/8 miles, is one of four stakes on a nine-race card that starts at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. The Comely drew a field of eight, with Nostalgic likely to get good support off a near miss in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm against older rivals earlier this month at Aqueduct and Morning Matcha coming off a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing.

Kathleen O. and Castellano are 4 for 5 together, with their lone loss a fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks on May 6. Prior to that start, they won the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, the Grade 3 Davona Dale, the Cash Run, and a maiden special weight.

“The opportunity to ride these types of horses are a highlight of my career,” Castellano said. “I’m looking forward to Friday.”

Castellano said he is grateful to Winngate Stables and trainer Shug McGaughey for partnering him with Kathleen O. The filly won over seven furlongs in her debut, on a muddy November afternoon last year at Aqueduct.

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“Everything she does, she does it the right way,” Castellano said. “She’s a very mature horse. The difference between her and another horse is the way she is mentally. She’s very, very mature mentally.

“In the beginning of her career she would always break a step slow and she got a lot of dirt in her face. Usually, when young horses get hit with dirt in their face they overreact, they’re distracted, and they refuse to run because something is hitting you right in the face. Even jockeys turn our face. We don’t like it. I don’t blame the horses. But she goes through it, takes the dirt in the face, comes from behind.”

Kathleen O. was beaten four lengths in the Kentucky Oaks, which Secret Oath won over Nest.

“She hooked up with the best fillies in the country and did very well,” Castellano said. “I’m very satisfied with the way she ran, proud of the way she performed in the Kentucky Oaks. She took a lot of dirt in the face, came through a lot of traffic. I like the way she finished.”

Castellano also likes what he’s seen from Kathleen O. leading up to the Comely. She was freshened after the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks, and has been working right along at Belmont Park.

“I’ve been watching her works and she looks amazing,” Castellano said. “She’s grown.”

The rider also is looking forward to another shot at the 1 1/8-mile trip Friday.

“I think she’s going to appreciate the distance,” he said. “I think she’s looking for it.”

Kathleen O. and Castellano will break from post 4.

“Usually, she’s a come-from-behind horse,” Castellano said. “We’ll see how she breaks out of the gate. She’s fresh, it looks like there’s a couple of horses with speed. It looks to me like she might be mid-pack.”

Castellano is the current leading rider at Aqueduct and he had a five-win day at the track Nov. 4.

“Everything’s about opportunity,” he said. “When the opportunity comes, you don’t want to waste it. I’m still in the game. I’m hungry. I want to continue. I’m disciplined and consistent and it’s been paying off.”

Castellano will ride at Aqueduct through Dec. 18, then head to Gulfstream, said his agent, P.J. Campo.

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Morning Matcha invades from Parx, where she finished 5 3/4 lengths behind Society in the Cotillion on Sept. 24. Morning Matcha earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91. Paco Lopez was aboard and has the mount from post 6 on Friday.

“She just ran a sensational race last time,” trainer Butch Reid said of Morning Matcha. “Paco did a great job with her. She made a nice run against a real nice group of horses.”

Morning Matcha closed from last in the 1 1/16-mile Cotillion and will pick up more ground in the Comely.

“The farther the better for her,” Reid said. “I think the distance suits her perfectly.”

◗ Acoustic Ave will be going for his third consecutive stakes win when he starts in the $100,000 Notebook, a six-furlong race for 2-year-olds bred in New York. He enters off wins in the Aspirant and New York Breeders’ Futurity – both at Finger Lakes.

Manny Franco has the mount for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and trainer Christophe Clement.

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