Finger Lakes: Horse of the meet Frisky Warrior stretches out

Frisky Warrior, honored as the top horse on the grounds at Finger Lakes this season, will make a rare start around two turns in Tuesday’s closing-day feature.

The 4-year-old Frisky Warrior will seek his sixth win of the year in a $21,600 allowance at 1 1/16 miles that goes as the ninth of 10 races on a program that begins at noon Eastern.

All five of Frisky Warrior’s wins this year came in sprints. In his lone try around two turns this season Sept. 30, Frisky Warrior tried to rally from fifth in deep stretch, but his path was impeded. He wound up fourth, beaten 1 1/4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite, but was moved up to second via disqualification. The 83 Beyer Speed Figure he earned that day stamps him as a contender in Tuesday’s seven-horse field.

Idle since winning back-to-back six-furlong races in October, Frisky Warrior will break from post 3 under the meet’s leading rider, Jaime Rodriguez. His owner and trainer, Ralph D’Alessandro, shows a 2-for-10 record with a profitable $3.36 return on investment with horses switching from sprints to routes following a break of 31 to 60 days.

The two runners who will break inside of Frisky Warrior – More Zen Tea and No Mine – along with 2012 New York Derby winner Fox Rules, pose a threat to the 2013 horse of the meet.

Since returning from a year’s absence and moving into the barn of M. Anthony Ferraro, the 5-year-old More Zen Tea has been part of the exacta in all six of his starts. He has had to settle for second, however, in each of his last three outings.

No Mine spent the summer racing on the Tapeta surface at Presque Isle Downs, where he won three of four starts while running for claiming tags between $16,000 and $25,000. He failed to fire when he returned to Finger Lakes following a three-month layoff but drew clear by two lengths last time out Nov. 20 while racing a mile and 70 yards against $12,500 claimers.

Fox Rules always runs well at Finger Lakes, where he has three wins and a second in four lifetime starts. He will be making the second start of his form cycle after a dull performance in the Move It Now Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct in mid-November.