OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Daniel Leitch recorded his first – and thus far only – career stakes victory at Aqueduct when American Apple upset the Grade 3 Matron Stakes at 47-1 in the fall of 2022. Saturday, Leitch returns to Aqueduct seeking his next stakes success when he starts Twilight Delight in the $150,000 Paradise Creek Stakes for 3-year-olds. The Paradise Creek, scheduled for six furlongs on the outer turf, is named for the multiple Grade 1-winning turf router. It drew a field of nine with hardly a standout among them. Twilight Delight, a son of Twirling Candy, has not raced since a third-place finish in the Speakeasy Stakes last Oct. 4 at Santa Anita. The Speakeasy produced four next-out winners, not including Later Than Planned, the Speakeasy winner who last month won the John Shear Stakes at Santa Anita. Bacio, the runner-up from the Speakeasy, has won two straight, including a second-level allowance at Churchill Downs on April 28. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Twilight Delight has come out of a couple of key races. When he won his career debut against 10 horses at Ellis Park last Aug. 1, he beat Street Beast, who became a two-time stakes winner, and Immortalised, who has won three straight, including the Cutler Bay Stakes at Guflstream Park in March. Though Twilight Delight has not run in 231 days, he should be plenty fit. He has 10 workouts leading up to this and Leitch said he passed spots at Keeneland and Churchill awaiting something like the Paradise Creek. “He’s been sitting on the bench ready to run, just trying to get a good spot for him to come back and not throw him to the wolves first time back,” Leitch said. Twilight Delight, who will break from post 8 under Jaime Rodriguez, figures to stalk the speedy Track Tiger, who finished second in the John Shear after setting the pace. Handicappers can draw a line through Intricate Spirit’s ninth-place finish in the Palisades Stakes at Keeneland on April 19. After racing between horses down the backside, Intricate Spirit was steadied sharply by Joel Rosario around the five-sixteenths pole. Rosario did not persevere in the stretch. Intricate Spirit, trained by Miguel Clement, did win the Grade 3 Futurity going six furlongs here last fall. In two starts over the Aqueduct turf course last fall, Glorious Boy recorded a maiden victory and finished second in the Awad Stakes. He ended his 2-year-old season dead-heating for the win in the off-the-turf Pulpit Stakes run over Guflstream’s synthetic surface. In two starts this year, he finished fifth in a pair of route stakes. In addition to cutting him back to a sprint, trainer Carlos Martin is removing blinkers from the gelding’s equipment. John Velazquez rides for the first time. Azizam, who finished third in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint, one spot ahead of Twilight Delight, and who was third in the Palisades, his 3-year-old debut, figures to be coming late under Javier Castellano. Trainer Jose D’Angelo has the duo of Bronze Bullet, who cuts back to a sprint off a fourth in the one-mile English Channel, and Itza Lock, who rallied from well back to be fourth in the Palisades. Chasing Freedom comes off a maiden win at Fair Grounds in February. Capanaparo ran second in his lone try on turf. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.