Danse Macabre enters rescheduled Glen Cove off sharp comeback run

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A few dry and breezy days should allow for the return of turf racing Thursday at Aqueduct, where five of the nine races are scheduled for the grass, including the rescheduled $125,000 Glen Cove Stakes for 3-year-old filly sprinters.

The Glen Gove, at six furlongs, was originally scheduled for Sunday but neither it nor the Grade 3 Knickerbocker was carded due to the forecast of Saturday rain that indeed arrived and forced all but one of eight scheduled weekend turf races to the dirt.

A plethora of shippers, led by Kentucky-based Danse Macabre, comprise the field of 14 for turf in the Glen Cove, though only 10 will be permitted to start.

Danse Macabre, a three-time stakes winner, won her first two starts of the year, then went to the sidelines due to some physical issues, according to trainer Kelsey Danner. She returned with a solid second in the Grade 3 Music City Stakes at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 2.

In contention from the outset, Danse Macabre, under Adam Beschizza, appeared to get bumped by the eventual winner Secret Money in midstretch but there was no foul claim or inquiry.

“Adam was trying to hold the rail and they got close and they bumped and it shot my filly out a little bit,” Danner said.

Overall, Danner was pleased with the performance, the first in four months for Danse Macabre.

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“I thought she ran really well coming off the bench,” Danner said. “I was a little tight on time. I wish I could have had another breeze or two.”

Beschizza rides Danse Macabre from post 2.

Trainer Christophe Clement entered three in the Glen Cove, though one, Plentitude, is on the also-eligible list and would need one scratch to get in.

His other two are Love Appeals and Dontlookbackatall, the only two in the body of the field with wins over the Aqueduct turf course.

Dontlookbackatall won a first-level allowance here on Sept. 14 by 3 1/2 lengths, earning a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure. Three of the seven rivals she beat that day came back to win their next starts, including her stablemate Lady Mia, who finished sixth in the Sept. 14 race.

While Dontlookbackatall won that race from on the pace, she did run well when rallying from next to last and wide to finish second in the same condition at Saratoga on Aug. 19.

She breaks from post 9 under Jose Ortiz.

Love Appeals, who will break from post 8 under Irad Ortiz Jr., won an allowance at Aqueduct in April from just off the pace. In two starts since, she was beaten a neck by Beauty of the Sea – also in this field – in the Blue Sparkler at Monmouth Park before running fourth in the Galway at Saratoga on Aug. 12.

“Love Appeals is a nice filly. She’s probably better on firmer turf than softer turf,” Clement said. “She ran well the other day; she got beat but it was actually a good performance.”

Future Is Now, trained by Michael Trombetta, was a sharp winner of a first-level allowance at Pimlico on Sept. 16 and could play out as the one to catch under Victor Carrasco.

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Trainer Mark Casse has sent in the pair of Personal Pursuit and Ticker Tape Home from Woodbine. Personal Pursuit was an eight-length winner of a six-furlong allowance on Sept. 23, while Ticker Tape Home was fourth in the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes over Woodbine’s synthetic surface.

Lady Beth, who turns back in distance for trainer Chad Brown, Determined Jester, and Zoinnocent are in the body of the field. Violet Gibson, Queen of the Mud, and Gatita Suave are on the also-eligible list. Tappin Jose is entered to run only if the race is moved to the dirt.

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