Good Sam, Gerrymander on right track in Go for Wand

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Good Sam and Gerrymander give trainer Chad Brown a strong one-two punch in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand Stakes at Aqueduct.

Good Sam, who won the Tempted Stakes last year in her second start, is coming off a solid second-level allowance win going seven furlongs here on Oct. 4. A daughter of Good Samaritan owned by Peter Brant, Good Sam is 3 for 3 at Aqueduct.

Gerrymander, a 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, is coming off a 25-length win over Sunset Louise, her only rival, in the off-the-turf, scratch-riddled Noble Damsel Stakes here on Oct. 8. While it was her first win since she captured the Grade 2 Mother Goose in June 2022, Brown saw the performance as a step in the right direction.

“She did do it quite well. She was moving super through the lane,” Brown said. “I feel like she’s starting to train and run more consistent. She lost her way a little bit and was quite disappointing after looking so promising winning the Mother Goose. I do see a more consistent horse.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Good Sam from post 7 while Jose Ortiz rides Gerrymander from post 6.

Tizzy in the Sky is 3 for 5 at Aqueduct with a 9 3/4-length allowance win going 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 3 followed by a neck defeat to Interstatedaydream in the Turnback the Alarm Stakes on Nov. 3. While those two races were run at 1 1/8 miles, she is cutting back to a one-turn mile in the Go for Wand.

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“She has enough early speed. That shouldn’t be an issue with her,” said Byron Hughes, the New York-based assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher. “Her last few races she’s been pretty consistent. She came out of the [Turnback the Alarm] in pretty good shape.”

Luis Saez rides Tizzy in the Sky from post 5.

Dr B won last year’s Go for Wand impressively and had her connections hoping for a big 2023 campaign. Dr B has gone winless in five starts this year, but two of her losses have come to Echo Zulu and one was to Goodnight Olive, the two top horses in the filly and mare sprint division. Most recently, Dr B finished fifth against males in the Parx Dirt Mile over a sloppy track on Sept. 23.

The New York-breds Venti Valentine and Know It All Audrey show up in the Go for Wand. Venti Valentine had a two-race win streak snapped when she finished third behind Know It All Audrey in the Empire Distaff, a 1 1/8-mile race run over a sloppy track.

Venti Valentine is cutting back to a mile, a distance at which she is 4 for 5, including stakes victories in the Busher, Bay Ridge, and Johnstone Mile.

Know It All Audrey was second to Venti Valentine in last year’s Bay Ridge.

Saddle Up Jessie has won three of five starts since being claimed by Brittany Russell.

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