Friday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Mad Banker returns to appropriate level
Aqueduct | Race 3 | Post Time 2:23 p.m. (ET)
Dylan’s Ruby (#3) looks like the horse to beat in this starter/optional claimer as he comes to New York following a pair of efforts at Parx. He debuted for a $50k tag and won impressively against overmatched competition, drawing off late. He then stepped up to face a tougher field of winners last time, risked for a $75k tag rather than racing for the allowance condition. He appeared to be struggling a bit on the turn but he again found his best stride late to run into a clear second, albeit no match for a runaway winner. He doesn’t need to improve much on that 92 TimeformUS Speed Figure to beat this field, and it’s a good sign that the connections are now seeking out a protected spot in New York.
The Linda Rice entry could vie for favoritism with that horse, but I’m not thrilled with either of her runners at the expected short price. Remember the Name (#1A) is probably the stronger of the two after he chased home some more advanced rivals at this level last time. He’s been off for three months, and I don’t love that he’s now in for the tag upon return. Yet this might just be an appropriate spot. Stormquist (#1) is a little tougher to trust after he failed to deliver first off the claim in January. He ran well to break his maiden last September, but it’s unclear if he’s progressed since then.
My top pick is Mad Banker (#2). He comes off a poor effort in the Damon Runyon last time, but that was always going to be an ambitious spot for him. It would appear he was hustled into that small field to make it go, which tracks with the seven-day turnaround from his prior start. He’s now had some time to recover, and I think he has a chance to run back to his March 10 effort. He got a field-best 97 TimeformUS Speed Figure that day chasing home the superior duo of Lotsa Trouble and Brick Ambush. He had been cycling up to that improved effort since the claim by Wayne Potts over the winter. That was also notably his only start with Lasix, which he gets again here for the first time since then. I like the rider upgrade to Trevor McCarthy and view him as one of the primary contenders at a square price.