Cutback may suit New York Hero in allowance

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After canceling part or all of the last three programs, Aqueduct is scheduled to resume racing on Thursday. Weather permitting, of course.

The Thursday forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-to-upper 20s, but there is potential for moderate snow and winds of between 25 and 35 miles per hour.

A solid first-level allowance for 3-year-old New York-breds going six furlongs tops the eight-race card. The seven-horse field includes recent maiden winner Nine Route; Morning Breez, third in the Notebook Stakes; and New York Hero, a beaten 2-5 favorite in a similar spot going a mile last month.

According to trainer Linda Rice, New York Hero had an excuse for his second-place finish as the odds-on choice on Nov. 23.

“He had a respiratory infection,” Rice said Monday. “I don’t think he was at his best.”

After running him twice at a mile, Rice is cutting New York Hero back in distance hoping to get him off the pace. He will break from post 7 under Junior Alvarado.

“I want to teach him to rate a little more,” said Rice, noting that in his nine-length maiden win at Belmont in October, New York Hero “was a little more in contention than I’d like.”

“I’d just as soon have him come from off the pace,” she said.

There does appear to be ample speed in the race, topped by Nine Route, who has the rail, and Morning Breez, who is drawn in post 6.

Nine Route, a son of The Factor, overcame a slow start and a five-month layoff to win a maiden race by 6 1/2 lengths going 6 1/2 furlongs here on Dec. 8. That was his first start on dirt and first start for Jeremiah Englehart, who received the horse from owner Bill Parcells, the Hall of Fame football coach. The rail draw may force jockey Manny Franco to use Nine Route’s speed early.

“I think that’s what we’ll do, ask away from there and get a position,” Englehart said. “If someone’s faster than us, we’ll try to work off the rail. It’s definitely not the most ideal spot to be in a race where it seems like there’s a lot of speed. A good start is going to be very important.”

Morning Breez outbroke the field in the Notebook Stakes and fought on into deep stretch before giving way late to Sea Foam and Stoney Bennett. Trainer Carlos Martin is hoping that Chris DeCarlo can get Morning Breez to settle a little bit, as Rosario Montanez did when the colt won at first asking in July at Belmont.

“I think he’ll sit fine,” Martin said. “He never seemed like a crazy run-off horse.”

Looking Ready returns to dirt and sprinting after finishing third in the Awad Stakes on turf on Oct. 28. He gets leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr., who will be moving his tack to Gulfstream starting Friday.

Beyond Honor, My Man Mo, and Dig That Mine complete the field.