Holiday Disguise rallies to win eventful Distaff Handicap

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The seasons may change, but trainer Linda Rice’s stranglehold on Aqueduct stakes for fillies and mares hasn’t.

On opening day of the Aqueduct spring meet – a day that began with a winter feel but gradually improved weather-wise – Holiday Disguise ran by her stablemate Sounds Delicious to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap by a length. Though Sounds Delicious held second by a head over Divine Miss Grey, she was disqualified by the stewards and placed fourth for interfering with fourth-place finisher Torrent in deep stretch. Divine Miss Grey was elevated to second, Torrent to third.

Holiday Disguise gave Rice her eighth stakes victory with a filly or mare this year at Aqueduct. Holiday Disguise, who won the Biogio’s Rose in February, is the older half-sister to Midnight Disguise, who is scheduled to run as the favorite in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle Stakes.

Holiday Disguise finished second to Divine Miss Grey in the Heavenly Prize here on March 10. That day, Divine Miss Grey got loose on the lead and Holiday Disguise simply chased her home.

Friday, Sounds Delicious proved faster than Divine Miss Grey and set fractions of 22.41 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.99 for the half-mile, chased by Divine Miss Grey.

Meanwhile, Irad Ortiz Jr. had Holiday Disguise in fourth, but within three lengths of the lead down the backstretch.

Midway around the far turn, Divine Miss Grey went after Sounds Delicious, but Sounds Delicious kept her at bay.

In the stretch, Sounds Delicious, under Junior Alvarado, was in the two path, leaving room along the rail for Torrent, ridden by Jose Lezcano. Divine Miss Grey, under Kendrick Carmouche, was fighting on as Holiday Disguise had a clear path while widest of all.

Inside the sixteenth pole, Sounds Delicious and Torrent bumped, while Holiday Disguise passed them both about 50 yards from the wire.

The stewards deemed that Sounds Delicious was at fault in the incident with Torrent. Steve Lewandowski, the New York State Gaming Commission steward, said that because the disqualified horse and the winning horse had the same trainer, the stewards had the option of disqualifying Holiday Disguise from first. But, Lewandowski said the stewards didn’t feel that Holiday Disguise received an unfair advantage from the bumping incident.

“We had the right to consider it, but we treated [the winner] as an individual,” Lewandowski said.

Holiday Disguise, a 4-year-old New York-bred daughter of Harlan’s Holiday owned by Sheila Rosenblum, covered the seven furlongs in 1:22.98 and returned $10.20 as the third choice.

Ortiz, just back from Gulfstream where he won 101 races during the winter meet, said he was happy to be as close as he was early on Holiday Disguise because “it’s been a little hard to come from off the pace today, so I let her be there.”

Rice said, “that filly keeps getting better and better.”

Rice, after looking at the replay of the disqualification, wondered aloud if Jose Lezcano, aboard Torrent, didn’t cause the bumping when he hit his filly left-handed. She called the disqualification of Sounds Delicious “unfortunate.”

Following Sounds Delicious in the order of finish were Picco Uno, Berned, and Anydayismyday.

Rice said she would look to try Holiday Disguise in the Grade 2, $250,000 Ruffian at Belmont on May 6 while pointing Sounds Delicious to the Grade 3, $200,000 Vagrancy at Belmont on May 12.