OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Just as the turf season is about to come to a conclusion in the Northeast, the Canadian-based Grade 1 winner El Tormenta is ready to resume his campaign. With limited options, El Tormenta, the 2019 Woodbine Mile winner, has landed in Saturday’s $100,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship. The six-furlong race drew a solid field of 10, including Therapist, winner of the Artie Schiller Stakes two weeks ago, and Archidust, third with trouble in the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint at Belmont last month. El Tormenta, a Canadian-bred son of Stormy Atlantic, hasn’t raced going as short as six furlongs since he finished fourth behind Wet Your Whistle in the Grade 1 Highlander Stakes at Woodbine in 2019. El Tormenta steadied multiple times in that race and came with a decent late run, and was beaten only 2 1/2 lengths. Wet Your Whistle this year has won the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. :: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more. In two starts this year, both around two turns at Gulfstream Park, El Tormenta finished last in the Grade 3 Appleton, a race in which he was just too keen early, and sixth to Halladay in the Sunshine Forever Stakes in May. He was subsequently diagnosed with an injury and didn’t return to the work tab until late August. El Tormenta shows 11 works for his return, and trainer Gail Cox said she preferred the six furlongs and one-turn configuration of this race to Gulfstream Park, where the turf sprints are run at 5 1/2 furlongs and the rest of the races are run around two turns. “I think he’s good and ready,” Cox said. “He has natural speed and six furlongs to a mile is up his alley.” Cox had removed blinkers from El Tormenta’s equipment for his last start and they remain off for this start. “He is racier now than he was when he was younger,” Cox said. Dylan Davis rides El Tormenta from post 7. Archidust has won four turf stakes going 5 1/2 furlongs and is coming off a third to Wet Your Whistle as the favorite in the Belmont Turf Sprint going six furlongs on Oct. 3. Archidust had a wide trip and just lost second by a nose to Chewing Gum. Nik Juarez rides Archidust from post 9. Trainer Christophe Clement is looking to squeeze one more race this year into Therapist, who won at six furlongs in his first two career starts, including the Laurel Futurity. His recent success has come in races from seven furlongs to 1 1/16-miles. Clement also sends out Maxwell Esquire, a New York-bred who has two wins and two seconds from his last four starts and, like his stablemate, figures to come with a late run. The speedy Sayyaaf makes his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Alex Daigneault. Sayyaaf is one of four horses the owners purchased privately from Shadwell Stable He is coming off a solid allowance victory going six furlongs on Sept. 26 when in the barn of Chad Brown. Lonhtwist, Battle Station, True Valour, Hollywood Talent, and Turned Aside complete the field. Central Park Stakes Even as he gets ready to run the 2-year-old Hard Love in Saturday’s $100,000 Central Park Stakes on turf at 1 1/16 miles, trainer Jonathan Thomas can’t help but look forward to next year and the series of marathon-distance stakes for 3-year-olds offered by the New York Racing Association. Hard Love, a son of Kitten’s Joy, was a pleasant surprise when he won at 11-1 on debut seven weeks ago, if only because Thomas expects 2021 to be when this horse hits his peak. “He’s a very growthy, kind of late-maturing type that looks like he wants more ground,” Thomas said. “If the race was a mile and a quarter versus a mile and a sixteenth on Saturday. I’d love him. He’s still got a bit of growing up to do, but we were really pleased with what we saw.” :: Start earning weekly cashback on your wagering today. Click to learn more. Hard Love ran away from the well-bet first-time starter Big Everest when winning his debut at 1 1/16 miles on Oct. 10, earning a 79 Beyer Speed Figure. Never Surprised, a son of Constitution, won his six-furlong debut by 3 1/2 lengths on Nov. 8 at Aqueduct, earning an 88 Beyer Speed Figure. Stretching out to 1 1/16 miles in the Central Park shouldn’t be a problem, said trainer Todd Pletcher. “I think that’s what he wants to do,” Pletcher said. Trainer John Terranova has the uncoupled pair of Breadman and Original entered in the Central Park. Original, a son of Quality Road, faltered on dirt in his debut, but came back with a front-running maiden win on turf here on Nov. 14. Breadman won at Belmont going a mile on turf in his debut before finishing third on dirt in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes. Completing the field are Catman, the Laurel Futurity winner; Scarlett Sky, a maiden winner in his third start on Oct. 23; Run Casper Run; Counterfeitcurency; and Royne.