Clement hoping surface switch, blinkers result in a better effort

Trainer Miguel Clement’s theory is that 3-year-old filly Backcheck simply didn’t try all that hard when she was beaten by 40 1/2 lengths in her return to the Aqueduct turf last month.

“I was very comfortable with her,” Clement said. “But after, I don’t like the fact that she recovered in less than 10 minutes from blowing, and that she drank less than a third of a bucket [of water]. I don’t like that, especially after an abysmal performance. They should at least be tired and she wasn’t the slightest bit distressed, so I had a big reservation.”

It might be a frustrating puzzle, but Clement isn’t giving up on the Not This Time filly just yet. On Thursday, Backcheck will switch to dirt and add blinkers in the seventh race at Aqueduct, an $81,000 allowance for New York-bred fillies and mares.

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After making the first six starts of her career on turf, over which she earned a maiden victory at Aqueduct in June and finished third in a Saratoga allowance in August, it is naturally a drastic step to switch surfaces and add equipment after a bad defeat.

Clement said that this was the alternative to class relief, and he does not intend to enter her for a claiming tag unless it becomes necessary. He said that any number of talented New York trainers would be capable of getting more from her than her last effort, and he would rather not give them the opportunity.

Her pedigree is valuable for breeding purposes, but it could also lend itself to versatility. Not This Time has passed down nearly universal ability, and the filly’s dam, Onebreathatatime, switched surfaces in her 18-race career and won three times on dirt. Earlier this month, Backcheck’s half-sibling, the juvenile filly Iron Orchard, stretched out to a mile on dirt to win the Grade 1 Frizette at Aqueduct, and will start next in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“When I worked in the blinkers, I thought she worked okay to be honest over dirt, so you know what?” Clement said. “Her sister won a Grade 1. She’s by Not This Time. Maybe I should entertain that idea. So we’ll give it a go. Her works have been much better than her races.”

Backcheck will be one of four 3-year-old fillies in the field of seven on Thursday, and the 1 1/8-mile distance should not be an issue for the route runner if she takes to dirt.

Grace and Grit finished fifth in the same allowance in which Backcheck faded to ninth last time out, and the filly will also switch to dirt on Thursday for new trainer Linda Rice. She finished a distant fourth in both of her previous tries on dirt for trainer John Kimmel.

Higher Force, a 3-year-old trained by Rudy Rodriguez, finished second in her last two starts, both conditioned allowances in New York. Her last attempt around two turns was at Saratoga in August, when she took the early lead and came up short by three-quarters of a length to Boxed Wine, a next-out stakes winner at Finger Lakes. On dirt, she has not finished worse than fourth in seven starts since her maiden victory last December.

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