Hushion thinking wire job

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Speed and the rail are usually a lethal combination on Aqueduct's inner track. Breaking from the rail under Ramon Dominguez, Rereadthefootnotes looks to be the speed of Wednesday's featured first-level allowance race at six furlongs over Aqueduct's inner track.

Rereadthefootnotes, a New York-bred son of Read the Footnotes, comes out of a swiftly run first-level allowance race here on Dec. 12. He set a contested pace, was able to open a length lead in midstretch, but was run down by Wall Street Wonder, who is being pointed for Saturday's $65,000 Paumonok Stakes.

"It was an extremely fast race,'' said Mike Hushion, who trains Rereadthefootnotes for West Point Thoroughbreds.

Because of how fast a race it was, Hushion gave Rereadthefootnotes some extra time to recover from the effort. He was planning to run the horse back later this month, until this race showed up as an extra on the overnight. Though there is some other speed in the field, Hushion feels if his horse breaks alertly under Ramon Dominguez, he's strictly the one to catch.

"He's a nice horse," Hushion said. "He's a fast horse; he's a runner. He's extremely fast early, too. If he breaks, I don't think there's anybody that can run with him."

Unbridled's Ghost, who has not run since November, has shown enough speed out of town that he could possibly put some heat on Rereadthefootnotes early.

If so, that could set things up for several horses, chief among them being Frenchonionsoup. Claimed for $25,000 two starts back by Scott Schwartz, Frenchonionsoup finished second in a starter allowance, a race in which he didn't have a clean trip. After getting bumped at the break and forced to take up, Frenchonionsoup raced in mid-pack and was caught behind horses twice in the stretch. Once he got clear, he made up some ground, falling 1 1/4 lengths short.

"He didn't come out clean, he had to play catch-up," Schwartz said. "He had an opportunity around the quarter pole to either stay or try to come out. He came, and that's when a hole closed on him and he tried to go back to the inside. He finally got through the last 50 yards."

C.C. Lopez, aboard Frenchonionsoup that day, has the return call on Wednesday.

Other contenders include Clerick, who defeated Frenchonionsoup on Dec. 30; Citifest, third in the Hudson Handicap at Belmont in October; and Great Emperor, second to Have You Ever in a swiftly run first-level allowance here last out.