OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On the Ledge had seemingly found himself a new home on turf before he had to go to the sidelines last summer. Nothing major, trainer Bruce Brown said, but he knew the horse well enough not to press on. “No surgeries or anything, just him tailing off a little bit,” Brown said. “Just figured rather than keep running him into the ground, freshen him up. He’ll give you his best races fresh. He’ll give you good races, half a dozen if you’re lucky.” Thursday, On the Ledge makes his return to the races off a 250-day layoff in a first-level allowance race for New York-breds scheduled for six furlongs on turf. Over the last three years, according to DRF Formulator, Brown is 3 for 16 with a $3.49 return on investment with horses returning from a layoff of 180 days or longer. On the Ledge has twice won off lengthy layoffs, including exactly one year ago (April 23, 2025) when he took a $16,000 claimer on dirt off a 259-day layoff. In 2024, then in the barn of Michelle Nevin, On the Ledge won a maiden $30,000 claimer off a 427-day layoff. Both of those races were on dirt. It was at Aqueduct last June that On the Ledge first raced on turf, winning a starter allowance/optional $40,000 claiming race at odds of 12-1. He then ran twice in the New York-bred first-level allowance condition at Saratoga, finishing third in July and fourth in August. Both races turned out to be productive, with the top two finishers from the July race coming back to win their next starts. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The races at Saratoga were contested at 5 1/2 furlongs, whereas the sprints at Aqueduct are at six furlongs. “Five and a half is a different ballgame,” Brown said. “I think six is a little better for him.” Regular rider Chris Elliott will be aboard On the Ledge, who breaks from the rail. Seven of the eight rivals On the Ledge faces on Thursday are 3-year-olds, including Funny Factor who finished third, beaten just one length, in the Notebook Stakes last November for trainer Jimmy Ryerson. Cerro Rico and Three Thirteen, both maiden winners when last seen at 2 last fall, and Burning Bridges, a maiden winner over Gulfstream’s synthetic surface in March, are among the other 3-year-olds in this field. Scaramanga is the other older horse in the field. He is 4 for 32 lifetime, 0 for 5 on turf. The co-feature on Thursday’s card is a first-level allowance on dirt going six furlongs. Linda Rice, who is on her way to adding the Aqueduct spring meet title to her winter crown, has the uncoupled pair of Oil Capital and Pair of Socks entered while Wesley Ward brings the New York-bred Bostontonian back to the races. Oil Capital, a 4-year-old son of Maclean’s Music, is coming out of a 3 3/4-length starter-allowance victory on March 21 going 6 1/2 furlongs. That was his second win from three starts since Rice claimed him for $50,000 last November at Churchill. Pair of Socks won a starter allowance on Feb. 12 and then finished second and third in this allowance condition. Pair of Socks may appreciate the turnback to six furlongs, a distance at which he has won four times. It’s tough to discount anything Ward runs at Aqueduct. Since Jan. 1, 2025, Ward is 18 for 32 at Aqueduct, including three winners from four starters at this spring meet. His only loss came with Dinatale, who finished second to the Ward-trained Dangherecomesshang here last weekend. Thursday, Ward sends out Bostontonian, a gelding by Bernardini, who won his first four starts including an open starter allowance at Keeneland last October and a first-level New York-bred allowance at Aqueduct in September. Bostontonian has not run since finishing eighth in a 13-horse field in an open allowance at Del Mar where he was part of a contested half-mile in 43.92 seconds. Dylan Davis, aboard for Bostontonian’s statebred stakes win at Finger Lakes in 2024, is reunited with the gelding on Thursday. This field has some depth with the Louisiana-bred Benji Star shipping in for Michael Stidham and Private Desire coming off a second to next-out winner Illuminare in an overnight handicap on March 12 at Colonial Downs. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.