Lead Guitar tuned up for Autumn Days Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Lead Guitar will look to complete a successful tour of the New York Racing Association’s turf courses when she heads a field of 10 entered in Sunday’s $100,000 Autumn Days Stakes for fillies and mares going six furlongs at Aqueduct.

Lead Guitar brings a three-race winning streak into the Autumn Days, beginning with a New York-bred allowance score at Saratoga in August and continuing with an allowance win and a victory in the Floral Park Stakes, both at Belmont, in September and October.

It was Lead Guitar’s emphatic 3 1/4-length victory over Madeleine Must – a next out winner who is also back in this field – that impressed trainer George Weaver the most.

“In general, when you start seeing an open-lengths margin on the turf, to me it’s a sign of better things to come,” Weaver said.

:: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more.

That victory came on firm turf. Lead Guitar’s victory in the Floral Park came over soft ground, which Weaver says Lead Guitar “tolerated.”

“She didn’t look as impressive to me as she did running over the firm turf,” Weaver said.

The ground Sunday at Aqueduct figures be good.

A Great Time ships up from Maryland for Mike Trombetta. A Great Time won an allowance over the synthetic surface at Presque Isle Down, then she came from the last under Julian Pimentel to win the $100,000 The Very One Stakes over yielding turf at Pimlico.

“The outside horses were going for absolute broke,” Trombetta said. “They were going as hard as they could to get to that short run-up to the turn. Julian had the good sense to sit still and stay in there and let things happen and take advantage of it. She’s in a good place right now and I’m looking forward to running her.”

Jose Ortiz rides A Great Time from post 10.

Trainer Christophe Clement is wheeling Madeleine Must back 15 days after she won a second-level allowance. He also runs Rose Flower, third in this race last year and 0 for 2 this year.

Rose Flower finished sixth, beaten 18 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 3 Intercontinental at Belmont in June off a seven-month layoff. Clement acknowledges that placement was a bit ambitious. She ran better with a wide trip when fourth to Lead Guitar in the Floral Park.

Saratoga Treasure seeks her first victory since winning this race last year at 17-1. She is trained by David Donk for owner Patricia Generazio.

Ode to Joy, Risky Mischief, I’llhandalthecash, Dendrobia, and Mentality complete the field.

Invincible Gal stays for Tepin

Trainer Graham Motion believes Invincible Gal was compromised by her outside draw in the 14-horse Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She finished 11th, beaten seven lengths.

When Invincible Gal drew post 13 for Saturday’s Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar, Motion wasn’t going to relive the nightmare. Thus, Motion entered her back at Aqueduct in Sunday’s $100,000 Tepin Stakes, and Invincible Gal drew post 4 in a field of nine turf runners. There are also three main-track-only entrants, but the forecast bodes well for turf racing Sunday.

:: Start earning weekly cashback on your wagering today. Click to learn more.

Invincible Gal, a Great Britain-bred daughter of Invincible Spirit, won going 5 1/2 furlongs at first asking at Saratoga. She then twice finished second as the favorite, in the one-mile Sorority Stakes at Monmouth under Jorge Vargas and in the 1 1/16-mile Selima Stakes at Laurel.

“I thought the race at Monmouth she was little unlucky,” Motion said. “Jorge got stuck in the last sixteenth. I thought at Pimlico the ground was as soft as they ever run and she was pretty game to hang in there.”

The Tepin, run at 1 1/16 miles, will be Invincible Gal’s fifth start of the year.

“She’s just really taken her races really well, which is surprising because she’s a nervous filly,” Motion said. “It’s probably a bit easier on her to ship to Aqueduct than put her on a plane to California after shipping to Kentucky.

Jose Ortiz rides.

Lovestruck was an impressive maiden winner on closing day of the Saratoga meet, Sept. 7, and the Tepin will be her first start since. She was subsequently scratched from the Miss Grillo at Belmont on Oct. 3 due to a temperature and the Chelsey Flower at Belmont on Nov. 1 due to soft ground.

Island Treasure was a second-out maiden winner at 33-1 for trainer Shug McGaughey.

Fifth Risk, a daughter of Outwork, will try the turf for the first time after winning a maiden race at Saratoga on debut. She is going out for the Estate of Paul Pompa Jr., an owner who died last month, which prompted the scratch of Fifth Risk from the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont.

Big Time Lady, Lexinator, Thursday, Bravo Regina, and Frost Me complete the field on turf.