Friday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: My First Love can rebound back in Atras barn

Aqueduct | Race 6 | Post Time 3:42 p.m. (ET)

Linda Rice obviously holds a strong hand in this $16,000 claiming race sending out the two likely favorites. Coquito (#3) owns the better recent form, having hit the board in seven of her last eight starts. She most recently won against $20,000 foes, but that was a conditioned claiming race, and this might be a slightly tougher spot. She's claimed back by Linda Rice, who failed to get a win out of her when she previously had her in the barn during a couple of periods last year.

Rice's other runner, Curlin's Magic (#4), doesn't have nearly as much tactical speed as her stablemate. That worked against her last week, when she was never a factor at a much higher level than this. She was competing during that period of time when there was a significant rail bias at Aqueduct, and she was outside throughout. She's placed realistically in her second start off the claim for Rice, but she needs a setup.

I'll try to beat that pair with My First Love (#1). This 7-year-old mare has been competitive at this level for a long time. It might appear that she's gone off form in recent starts, but she was against a track bias Jan. 11, when she was glued to the rail throughout. That particular day didn't feature quite as strong a dead rail as the surrounding days, but it still wasn't ideal to spend all that time inside. She's sprinted recently, but five of her eight career victories have come at this one-mile distance. She's been claimed back by Rob Atras, who has had success with her in the past, and it's encouraging that he scratched her out of an easier spot last week for this instead.