Gargan has two for Karakorum Elektra Starter Stakes

Four of the 10 New York Claiming Championship races at Aqueduct on Saturday are for older fillies and mares, capped by the $80,000 Karakorum Elektra, which is preceded by the $55,000 Videogenic (race 1), the $70,000 Xtra Heat (race 3), and the $60,000 Sis City (race 8). All the races are run under starter-allowance conditions.

The seven-furlong Karakorum Elektra attracted a field of 11, the largest of the day, and is the last leg of a $200,000-guaranteed late pick four that begins with race 7, the Stud Muffin Stakes, which goes at 4:38 p.m. Eastern.

On paper, there is no shortage of early speed in the Karakorum Elektra, where two of the principal pace protagonists are La Inesperada and Nuffsaid Nuffsaid, each trained by Danny Gargan for Midwest Thoroughbreds.

La Inesperada was claimed for $40,000 last fall and is two photo finishes away from a four-race win streak for her present connections. Nuffsaid Nuffsaid has been sidelined since haltered in mid-January but has historically run well fresh and has won three times on the Big A’s main track.

Among four shippers are Brenda’s Way, who has been freshened up by Damon Dilodovico since runner-up finishes in the Nellie Morse and Conniver stakes at Laurel Park; Stroke Play, fourth in the Grade 3 Comely and the Ladies Handicap in two local tries for the Parx-based Ramon Preciado; and Winning for Sarah, who comes off two hard-fought wins at Gulfstream Park for Jena Antonucci.

Inner-track training titlist Rudy Rodriguez sends out Champagne Ruby and Natalie Victoria. The latter won her two starts at the winter meet by open lengths.

Bi Light of Day, Rare Medal, Stoneheartedlover, and Sun and Moon also entered.

A California flair runs through the first three filly-and-mare races, as owner and trainer David Jacobson has the contenders Two Step Flor in the Videogenic, Sweetrayofsunshine in the Xtra Heat, and Can Can Babe in the Sis City. All three will be ridden by Jose Ortiz, the leading rider on the inner track for the second straight season.

◗ The six-furlong Videogenic kicks off the whole shebang at 1:20 p.m.

Two Step Flor, recently claimed at Golden Gate Fields, figures to supply a good deal of early speed in her local debut. While Two Step Flor has been running on Golden Gate’s Tapeta surface since last fall, she is a five-time winner on dirt. Two Step Flor faces an early duel with Bileaps and Bounds, a last-out claim by Rodriguez.

The “now” horse is Midnight Champagne, a midwinter claim by Jeffrey Englehart who swept all four of her starts at the winter meet.

The Maryland invader Sweet On Smokey, a bargain $12,500 pickup last summer for Claudio Gonzalez, wheels back quickly after a fourth-place finish in last Saturday’s Primonetta Stakes. She had been in career-best form at Laurel prior to that, winning the What A Summer Stakes in her seasonal debut and running fourth in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie.

“When she started to run [at Laurel], she started to run big,” said Gonzalez.

Liberty Fuze rounds out the quintet in the Videogenic.

◗ Five also went in the six-furlong Xtra Heat, where Sweetrayofsunshine makes her second local start and figures to vie for favoritism with Distinctive Lady and Stormy Sky.

Sweetrayofsunshine won 10 of her first 21 starts in Southern California while running for as little as $8,000. Jacobson claimed her for $40,000 in February and shipped her across the country to run second as the odds-on choice in an allowance dash on the inner dirt three weeks ago. She has never been worse than second at six furlongs.

Enduring Touch and Northern Screamer also entered the Xtra Heat.

◗ The Sis City shakes out as a catch-me-if-you-can scenario for Can Can Babe, claimed for $25,000 by Jacobson from her third consecutive front-running win over the winter. A versatile sort, Can Can Babe won on dirt, turf, and synthetic in California.

Giving chase will be Darnley Bay, Doinwhatshelikes, Just Got Out, Light Years Away, Pushme Pullyou, Reversiontothemean, and Shakesperian Dream.