Interborough could be next for Newly Minted

Newly Minted, a dominant allowance winner last Sunday at Aqueduct, could make her next start in the $100,000 Interborough Stakes here on Jan. 20, trainer Linda Rice said Thursday.

Newly Minted, a three-time New York-bred stakes winner in 2019, scored a 7 1/4-length victory in front-running fashion in an open-company allowance race, under a hard ride from Jose Lezcano. Newly Minted covered a mile in 1:37.53 and earned a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure.

“It was nice to see her get back to her brilliant self,” Rice said.

As a New York-bred, Newly Minted has several options for a next start, including the La Verdad Stakes here on Jan. 4. But Rice felt that race was too close to her most recent start. Rice prefers the seven furlongs of the Interborough to the 1 1/8 miles of the Ladies Stakes on Jan. 19. If all else fails, Rice could wait for the Biogio’s Rose, a New York-bred stakes Feb. 9 going a mile.

Newly Minted’s win on Sunday came one day after Rice won four races at Aqueduct. Rice, the leading trainer at the 2018-19 Aqueduct winter meet, is now atop the 2019-20 winter standings with eight victories, four more than Rudy Rodriguez.

Luzzi sidelined due to hernia

Jockey Mike Luzzi will be out likely until the end of January after undergoing hernia surgery on Dec. 18.

Luzzi popped a hernia while pulling up on the horse Angry Moon on Dec. 8 at Aqueduct.

Luzzi said he will meet with his doctor at the beginning of January to get a clearer definition of when he can resume getting on horses.

Luzzi, the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice rider of 1989, the Mike Venezia Award winner of 2001, and George Woolf Award winner of 2015, has 3,517 winners in his career.

◗ Independence Hall, the 12 1/4-length winner of the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes here Nov. 3, worked a half-mile in 49.40 seconds Wednesday morning over the dirt surface at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. He is preparing for a start in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct next Wednesday.

The Jerome, a one-turn mile, offers 17 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby to its top four finishers (10-4-2-1). The race drew 17 nominations. Among those under consideration to run are Laddie Liam, Celtic Striker, and Bourbon Bay.