OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It may seem strange that a horse based in Chicago who just won a $250,000 stakes in Ohio would ship to New York for an allowance race. Upon further review, Monday’s $82,000 New York-bred no-condition allowance race makes perfect sense for the 3-year-old Dugout. “There are no other races for him,” said trainer and part-owner Larry Rivelli. “We opted to try facing olders for a purse a lot less than we ran for the other day.” In the summer of 2018, Dugout, a gelding by Adios Charlie, won the first three races of his career against statebreds, including the Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga and the Breeders’ Futurity at Finger Lakes. He finished sixth as the 5-2 favorite in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Belmont, but came out of the race with a chipped knee and a chipped ankle. Following surgery and ample time off, Dugout returned to win an allowance race at Arlington in August. After a couple of second-place finishes, he won an allowance at Hawthorne and, in his most recent start, the $250,000 Steel Valley Sprint Stakes at Mahoning Valley. In the Steel Valley Sprint, the normally forwardly placed Dugout came from off the pace, owing to the speed of Dare Day. “We had a good post and that guy was hell-bent on making the lead no matter what,” Rivelli said. “I told the kid to ride him anyway you see fit.” There appears to be ample speed in Monday’s allowance with Eye Luv Lulu to Dugout’s inside and Tribecca to his outside. Eric Cancel will ride Dugout from post 5. Monday’s race marks the return to action for Honor Up, who last winter reeled off three consecutive wins over Aqueduct’s main track, including the Say Florida Sandy and Haynesfield stakes. Following a third to World of Trouble in the Grade 1 Carter, Honor Up finished fifth in the Commentator on May 27. Monday’s race is at six furlongs, a distance at which Honor Up has only run once without success. Honor Up breaks from the rail under Manny Franco. “He’s a very versatile horse, he can go to the lead, he can sit off, he’s very rateable,” trainer Michelle Nevin said. “Hopefully, Manny can work out a trip. I’d love to get him back to the form that he was in when he was running well. This race is a good starting out point.” There is a forecast for rain on Monday and both Dugout and Honor Up are proven over such a surface with the latter having won 3 of 4 starts. Eye Luv Lulu, an 8-year-old gelding trained by Jason Servis, has recorded 8 of his 11 career wins over a wet track. He is coming off a second-place finish to Build to Suit in the Hudson Handicap at Belmont on Oct. 19. Tribecca, claimed for $25,000 by Chris Englehart out of a winning effort in Saratoga in August has since gone 3 for 3 at Finger Lakes, including a win in the Leon Reed Memorial Stakes over a sloppy track in October.