Great Stuff earns 102 Beyer in Toboggan

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The 6-year-old Great Stuff earned a lifetime-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102 winning the Grade 3, $100,000 Toboggan Stakes last Saturday at Aqueduct.

There are several logical options for Great Stuff, depending how he trains the next few weeks. The most obvious one is the Grade 3, $250,000 General George Stakes on Feb. 17 at Laurel Park. The General George, like the Toboggan, is run at seven furlongs.

If he needs more time, there is the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap, a six-furlong race March 10 at Aqueduct. The Tom Fool is the local prep for the Grade 1 Carter here April 7.

In the Toboggan, Great Stuff took advantage of a great setup to record his first stakes victory. He was fifth of six early, about seven lengths off a hot early pace, rallied wide in the stretch, and drew clear under Dylan Davis.

Great Stuff is a son of Quality Road whom trainer David Jacobson claimed for $50,000 in the summer of 2016 for owner Bruce Golden.

◗ Matt Graves, a longtime racing writer and handicapper for the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union, died Saturday night after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 70.

Graves covered racing at the Times Union for nearly 25 years before retiring in 2005. Since then, he worked on the notes team for the Breeders’ Cup and the Preakness. He also freelanced for the Times Union in recent summers at Saratoga.

Graves is survived by his wife, Debbie, his daughter Jennifer from a previous marriage, and two brothers and two sisters.