Interborough Job 1 for Saguaro Row

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In the winter, trainer Michael Stidham splits his stable between Fair Grounds in Louisiana and Tampa Bay Downs in Florida. This winter, he left one horse behind at Fair Hill, the training center in Maryland where Stidham is based spring through fall.

Stidham has concluded that Saguaro Row is at her best running 6 1/2 to seven furlongs, distances unavailable at Fair Grounds or Tampa, but readily available at tracks in the Northeast. There are two seven-furlong races Stidham is targeting for Saguaro Row, starting with Monday’s $100,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct.

“We felt that was a good spot,” said Stidham, who has an assistant taking care of Saguaro Row’s daily requirements at Fair Hill. “If we run well here and come out of it in good shape, we’ll go to the Barbara Fritchie.”

The Grade 3, $250,000 Barbara Fritchie is run Feb. 15 at Laurel Park.

The last time Saguaro Row ran seven furlongs at Aqueduct she won the Pumpkin Pie Stakes by 4 1/4 lengths on Nov. 9. The third-place finisher from that race, Pink Sands, came back to win the Grade 3 Rampart at Gulfstream Park.

Most recently, Saguaro Row finished second to the loose-on-the-lead winner Spiced Perfection in the Grade 3 Go for Wand going one mile here.

“Stretching to the mile is probably stretching her out of her comfort zone,” Stidham said. “The winner was a Grade 1 winner, so we got beat by a legit horse.”

Saguaro Row has a relatively light work tab since the Go for Wand, but Stidham said that was by design.

“She’s dead fit,” he said. “We didn’t need to do a whole lot with her. She’s a filly that gets a lot out of her gallops.”

Stidham said he would like to see some pace in the Interborough. How the pace develops could depend on how well New Year’s Wish breaks. Since returning from an eight-month layoff, New Year’s Wish has had trouble at the gate in both her races. She overcame the trouble to win an allowance by 3 1/2 lengths on Nov. 9. She couldn’t overcome a slow break in the Dec. 8 Garland of Roses, finishing third.

Trainer Linda Rice said New Year’s Wish’s “behavior around the gates was a little peculiar,” following her Nov. 9 victory. Rice has brought New Year’s Wish to the gate often, but admitted, “I don’t know if it’s completely solved yet.”

The main speed in the Interborough is Our Circle of Love, who chased the fast Pauseforthecause around the track when finishing second in the Garland of Roses. She is winless in two tries at seven furlongs.

Another potential pace factor is Abounding Joy, who makes her first start in eight months and first for trainer Bill Mott. When last seen in New York, Abounding Joy won a second-level allowance going 6 1/2 furlongs here in April for Rodolphe Brissett. She has raced once since, a non-effort in a route stakes at Prairie Meadows last May.

Honor Way, Slimey, Piedi Bianchi, and Champagne Bliss complete the field.

The Interborough goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m.