Jockey Ben Curtis might have been as tired as the filly he road, Drexel Hill, after winning the $200,000 Busher Invitational on Saturday at Aqueduct. Drexel Hill stumbled slightly just after the start of the one-turn mile Busher and Curtis had to ride her down the backstretch just to maintain his position racing seventh of eight. Drexel Hill moved up mildly into the far turn and came under Curtis’ crop past the five-sixteenths pole and into the homestretch. The filly responded, closing steadily under heavy urging on Amarth and Volleyball Princess, splitting them past the sixteenth pole, and going on to a three-quarters length score. “I’m so proud of her, and Ben gave her a fantastic ride,” said Whit Beckman, who trains Drexel Hill for Legion Racing. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Amarth, a 23-1 shot, made a bold wide bid around the turn and took a lead to the stretch call, but could not hold clear the winner while finishing four lengths in front of fading pacesetter Volleyball Princess. The winner and the runner-up both wintered at Fair Grounds, where Drexel Hill finished fifth in the Untapable Stakes on Dec. 26 and an improved third Jan. 18 in the Silverbulletday. Amarth, trained by Eddie Kenneally, was making her first start since a sixth in the Untapable. The Busher is part of Churchill Downs’ Road to the Kentucky Oaks and the first five finishers earned, respectively, 50, 25, 15, 10, and 5 qualifying points toward the Oaks, which is capped at 14 runners and typically attracts more potential entrants than that. Fortuna Mia came from last for a modest fourth, with Ramify fifth. Liam in the Dust, the 2-1 favorite, stalked the leaders and faded to last of eight. Drexel Hill, who returned a generous $12, was timed in 1:41.46 racing over a fast track and earned a 79 Beyer Speed Figure. Drexel Hill made her first four starts over the Tapeta Surfaces track at Woodbine while trained by Barbara Minshall before Legion sent her to Beckman to see how the filly acted on dirt. Drexel Hill lacked focus and didn’t want to run straight in the Untapable, so Beckman fitted her with blinkers for the Silverbulletday, where Drexel Hill showed more speed than Beckman thought was ideal but still checked in an improved third. The blinkers came off for the Busher, which marked a cutback from two turns to one and required a long ship. Beckman chose the race in part to separate Drexel Hill from two other Oaks hopefuls he trains, Simply Joking and Her Laugh. “She seemed to fit on the numbers, but she didn’t give me a lot of confidence when she stumbled and took awhile to grab the bit,” Beckman said. “The cutback was a little bit of a gamble, but it worked out.” Drexel Hill shipped from Fair Grounds to Turfway Park, where she turned in her final work for the Busher. She returns to Turfway on Sunday with enough points to get into the Oaks after a hard-fought victory in New York. Full Moon Madness takes Tom Fool; Bank Frenzy scores in Stymie Full Moon Madness ground out a win in the Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool Stakes, while Bank Frenzy sailed to an easy victory in the $150,000 Stymie earlier on the Aqueduct card. Bank Frenzy ($8.60) won his third race in a row while starting for the first time since Dec. 28 and looked like a sure winner of the Stymie as soon as jockey Manny Franco gave the gelding his cue while racing wide on the far turn. Bank Frenzy quickly swept to the lead and never faced a challenge through the homestretch, clocking 1:40.29 for one mile over a fast track. Worcester finished 3 1/2 lengths behind the winner after rallying steadily from last, with Coastal Mission, the tepid 2-1 favorite, a fading third, 3 1/2 lengths out of second. Bank Frenzy, by Central Banker out of Storm Now, by Tiznow, came into the Stymie having won two New York-bred stakes, but this marked his first open stakes win. Rudy Rodriguez trains Bank Frenzy for LSU Stables. The gelding was bred by Chester Broman and Mary Broman. Bank Frenzy earned a Beyer of 90 for the victory. Full Moon Madness ($8) won a pace battle with 5-2 favorite Top Gunner, pulling clear from his speed rival past the three-sixteenths pole and comfortably holding clear an outside bid from Surveillance. The winning margin was 1 1/4 lengths with Top Gunner 4 1/2 lengths behind Surveillance while finishing third. Full Moon Madness earned a new career-best Beyer of 98. Full Moon Madness, a 5-year-old Jay Em Ess Stable homebred, was ridden by Kendrick Carmouche for trainer Michelle Nevin. The gelding is by Into Mischief out of By the Moon, by Indian Charlie. He was timed in 1:11.10 for six furlongs over a fast track while winning for the fourth time in a dozen starts. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.