How 'bout No fares well on redraw

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If the last three legs of Thursday's late pick four at Aqueduct summon a sense of deja vu, it's because you have seen them before. A restricted claiming sprint carded as Thursday's ninth race was supposed to be race 6 last Saturday; and Thursday's two events that contain first-level allowance conditions, races 7 and 8, were originally races 5 and 6 last Sunday.

It would be unwise, however, to merely skim over the familiar-looking fields and arrive at the same handicapping conclusions.

For example, How 'bout No might have been a filly to bet against last Sunday. She was drawn widest in a field of nine older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles, and Tazaliya, a consistent shipper who had won three allowance conditions at Philadelphia Park, looked like the one to beat.

Now, however, How 'bout No must be seriously considered as she drops from the restricted Get Lucky Stakes into a $75,000 optional claimer for trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., because this time she drew the rail and Tazaliya was not re-entered.

How 'bout No, the lone entrant eligible to be claimed for $75,000, returned from a layoff during the first week of the year to run twice in four days. After contesting the pace over a sealed muddy track in a second-level allowance on New Year's Day, she wheeled back 72 hours later and ran into A True Pussycat, who is bound for graded stakes after winning right back in last Wednesday's Lady on the Run Stakes.

How 'bout No makes her third start of the meet, and it could be noteworthy that her two wins on the inner track last winter were her third and fourth starts off a layoff.

Other contenders include Fuego Grande, whose six wins from 22 starts last year were capped by a big-figure score in her first start at the winter meet; and Littletown Bridge, who rallied for second in her first U.S. start four weeks ago for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

The last time Littletown Bridge ran in a route race on dirt, she finished second in the 2005 running of the UAE Oaks in Dubai.

In race 7, a $43,000 allowance at six furlongs for New York-bred fillies and mares, the main contenders look like Baby Gray and Fast and Furious, who finished well to be second and third, respectively, in a similar spot last out. Cateleisha makes her first start in 11 months, and may be the one to catch from the outside post in a field of 10.