Classy pair tries to rekindle old fire

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Peeping Tom and Say Florida Sandy were on a tear earlier this year, but both of the sprinters have some atoning to do for a series of recent losses.

Despite their dry spells, * top a field of six in Saturday's $100,000-added Gravesend Handicap at Aqueduct.

Say Florida Sandy, a winner of two of the last three Gravesends, is coupled in the wagering with Run Kush Run, a front-runner who should keep the pace honest for his entrymate, a stalker.

The Grade 3 Gravesend, compared with the spots Peeping Tom has been running in since May, represents an easier assignment. Peeping Tom, a loser of his last five starts, enters the six-furlong Gravesend following a ninth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and a sixth in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile last month.

Peeping Tom, who won the Grade 1 Carter in May, has run twice over the inner track and was an easy winner of one of those starts against allowance company in January.

There is a fair amount of speed in this short field, which should aid Peeping Tom's late kick.

Shaun Bridgmohan, Peeping Tom's regular rider, opted to ride Volponi in the Cigar but is back aboard the gelding, who drew post 1.

"Having Shaun back is the best thing for the horse," trainer Pat Reynolds said.

Say Florida Sandy, trained by Juan Serey, is a better six-furlong horse than Peeping Tom and is also quite adept over the inner track. But the effects of a long season - Say Florida Sandy makes his 16th start of the year on Saturday - might be catching up with the 7-year-old.

Owner John Rotella thinks otherwise and said Say Florida's Sandy's fifth against a stellar field in the Grade 1 De Francis Memorial at Laurel on Nov. 17 was a good effort.

Say Florida was beaten four lengths by Delaware Township and Rotella said his horse might have been second had he not encountered traffic.

"He was trapped on the inside the last eighth," Rotella said. "Basically he's a one-run horse and because of his [large] size, it takes him a sixteenth to get going, which is hard to do on the inside."

The consistent and speedy Here's Zealous is quite capable of toppling Peeping Tom and Say Florida Sandy and receives six pounds from the highweights.

Snow Ridge, another front-runner, has won 5 of 10 starts this year, including the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Sprint and an allowance race at Churchill on turf last month.

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