Joint Return will make 2015 debut in Top Flight Handicap

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Joint Return, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes last year, will kick off her 4-year-old campaign in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct.

A field of nine fillies and mares was entered for the Top Flight, scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on the dirt.

House Rules, the runner-up as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Royal Delta Stakes last out, likely will go off favored in the Top Flight.

Joint Return, a daughter of Include trained by John Servis, has not run since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx last Sept. 20. It was the ninth race of her 3-year-old season.

“We kicked her out and let her be a horse for a while and freshened her up,” Servis said. “With her pedigree, we felt she would get better this year. She’s grown a lot, filled out some. I’m anxious to get her started.”

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Servis said the Top Flight wasn’t necessarily his first choice of races to get Joint Return started. Servis had her pointed for races at Gulfstream Park and then Pimlico that didn’t fill.

“She’s been ready for a while, and I didn’t think this was coming up super-tough for a graded stakes, though it’s not easy,” Servis said.

Joint Return is the second highweight at 118 pounds. She will break from post 3 under Kendrick Carmouche.

From the rail out, the Top Flight field is: Amulay, House Rules, Joint Return, Got Lucky, Agawa, Shayjolie, Holiday’s Jewel, Before You Know It, and JC’s American Dream.