Friday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Attorney Wade should benefit from outside draw

Aqueduct | Race 8 | Post Time 4:42 p.m. (ET)

This state-bred maiden special weight appears to boil down to a contest between a pair of second-time starters. The one likely to attract more wagering support is Counter Move (#6), who exits a strong third-place finish in his debut. He was dismissed at 11-1 by bettors, largely due to the fact that he was the second George Weaver runner in the field along with heavy favorite Vekinda. Counter Move arguably ran a better race than that stablemate, who narrowly defeated him in a photo for second, since he was wide every step of the way after breaking from the far outside post position. Counter Move looked like a threat to forge past the leaders in upper stretch, but he just got a little tired late. He will be tough to handle with any improvement from that debut effort, yet I wonder how much upside he has, given that he was so professional and got a clear outside run avoiding kickback first time out.

I prefer the other second-time starter, Attorney Wade (#8). This colt was dismissed at an even bigger price in his debut, going off at 19-1 and outrunning those odds to get up for third. He was beaten by the same favored rival, Vekinda, who also settled for second in that January maiden event. Both Vekinda and winner Prince Valiant have since returned to confirm the quality of that race, with Prince Valiant improving by 10 TimeformUS Speed Figure points when he beat allowance foes next time out. Attorney Wade got some education in the January race, as he was forced to rate behind the leaders from an inside post position. He moved up along the rail in traffic, never got discouraged, and was still finishing with good energy even as the top two sprinted home after setting slow fractions. He should benefit from this switch to an outside post, which will allow him to make better use of his tactical speed. John Kimmel is 5 for 22 (23%, $2.89 ROI) with maiden second-time starters in dirt sprints over five years.