OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Masmak has run very well three straight times in races contested at a one-turn mile, his trainer, Rick Dutrow, believes the horse truly wants to run farther. Friday, Masmak will get the chance to prove his trainer’s theory accurate when he tries 1 1/8 miles for the first time in a conditioned allowance/optional $62,500 claimer that serves as the feature on Aqueduct’s eight-race card. “I want to send him this long around two turns. I’m believing that it is going to be his true game at the end of the day,” Dutrow said. “He’s a grinder and keeps coming. He’s ready, he’s good, he drew a good post [the rail] for the mile and an eighth. We get to save ground around both turns naturally. So, I’m expecting a big run from him. I can’t wait to watch him run.” :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Masmak, a son of Vino Rosso, has run four times for Dutrow. Last September at Saratoga, in his first start off a nine-month layoff, Masmak finished second to the first-time starter Montalcino in a seven-furlong maiden race. Montalcino came back to win a first-level allowance and then finished a close second in the Thanksgiving Classic at Fair Grounds. Masmak came back to win a maiden race and a first-level allowance, both at a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. On Jan. 4, Masmak finished second to Ouster. “The track was playing against him, everything was speed, but he ran big,” said Dutrow, noting that Masmak finished in front of Kinetic Sky, also trained by Dutrow, who was entered to run Thursday. Peek successfully stretched out from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles when winning a first-level allowance race for leading trainer Linda Rice. “In his training I see him to be a bit one-paced in his stamina, so I thought I’d try him at the mile and an eighth and it worked out,” Rice said. “Obviously, this is a big step up in company from the one-other-than to the two-other-than.” Magical Ways ran a solid second behind the in-form Mama’s Gold two starts back in a second-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles. Last out, Magical Ways showed some late interest when finishing fourth, beaten only 1 1/4 lengths, going a one-turn mile. Olympic Dreams, a four-time winner at the distance, and Summer Cause complete the field. Colloquial heads maiden event In his one and only start, Colloquial set a track record at Aqueduct. And lost. That was in June when he was beaten a nose by Mentee, whose final time of 56.97 seconds for five furlongs established a track record for the distance, eclipsing the 57-second time first run in 1963. Friday, Colloquial makes his second career start in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race that goes as the seventh race at Aqueduct. Trainer George Weaver explained that a pre-sale exam following Colloquial’s debut “found a couple of places of concern” that not only scuttled the deal but prompted Weaver to give Colloquial time off. Though he’s been training in Florida since November, Weaver opted, for several reasons, to ship Colloquial north for his return. One, jockey Manny Franco gets to stay on the horse. Two, Weaver felt the race might be easier than a similar event for 3-year-olds Saturday at Gulfstream. “We figured 6 1/2 [furlongs] as opposed to six would be in his favor,” Weaver said. “We get Manny and a track he’s run on before and seen before. I like the pros of the race at Aqueduct more than the pros of the race at Gulfstream.” The race at Aqueduct has some interesting horses in it, including Grand Commander and Oh Nine Hundred, who finished second and third, respectively, behind T Kraft in a Jan. 11 maiden race here. Interestingly, T Kraft finished fifth in the June 15 race in which Colloquial was second. It took T Kraft five more tries to get his first win. That June 15 race did produce next-out winners Magical Bette and My Mitole, both of whom came off five-month layoffs to win their maidens. Another shipper in for this maiden race is Fanatical, trained by Will Walden, who finished third to Gunmetal in a swiftly run six-furlong maiden heat Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. Gunmetal came back to run third in last week’s Swale Stakes at Gulfstream. Mama’s Gold shortening up Mama’s Gold, who has run two triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in races run at 1 1/8 miles, will shorten up to seven furlongs in the $125,000 Say Florida Sandy Stakes for New York-breds on Feb. 15, trainer Jimmy Ferraro said. Mama’s Gold won a maiden $25,000 claimer by 21 1/4 lengths in January 2023 and was claimed out of that race by owner Joseph Hardoon. Ferraro has run the horse four times, three at 1 1/8 miles and once at one mile. Ferraro believes Mama’s Gold can be effective at seven furlongs. “Sometimes horses are like movie actors, they get pigeon-holed in a certain role or at certain distances,” Ferraro said. Mama’s Gold won the Empire Classic and then an open-company allowance, earning Beyers of 103 and 102, respectively. Ferraro gave him a little freshening afterward. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.