Litfin’s preview: Final day features 10-race card

Getaway day

After six long months, this is the final day of racing at Aqueduct until Halloween. For whatever reason, management saw fit to card 10 races, so the getaway event is a treacherous-looking $16,000 maiden claimer for New York-breds in which 7-year-old Centripital owns the top last-out Beyer Speed Figure. Let that sink in for a moment.

We are back on the turf for races 2 and 8.

As it is the last day, the entire pick six pool will be distributed whether anyone has all the winners or not. The must-pay sequence begins with race 5 at 3:16 p.m. Eastern. The only non-New York-bred runner in those six races is Hey Kiddo, a Pennsylvania-bred who is a 10-1 shot in race 9, the filly division of the New York Stallion.

Vyjack returns

Vyjack, last year’s Jerome and Gotham winner, and a close third in the Wood Memorial, makes his first start since the Haskell in race 3, an optional claimer with rare “four other than” allowance conditions. It’s been a long road back for the 4-year-old gelding, but he appears ready for a good effort, judging from a six-furlong workout in 1:10.40 last week.

“I don’t think we have him 100 percent, so the race looks like a good spot to start him,” said trainer Rudy Rodriguez. “If he runs the way we expect him to run, we’ll try to run him in the Met Mile at Belmont.”

Stakes twin bill

Divisions of the New York Stallion for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs go as races 6 (males) and race 9 (fillies).

In race 6, Loki’s Vengeance looks to be drawn favorably on the outside against five rivals and gets some class relief after dueling through enervating fractions along the inside in the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes.

His chief opponent is Empire Dreams, who won a New York Stallion race at the fall meet for Tom Albertrani and makes his second start of the year after chasing the older 10-time winner Bug Juice in the slop four weeks ago.

“We want to try to stretch him out,” said Albertrani.

In the filly division, Linda Rice has three of the eight fillies in the lineup, headed by Miss Narcissist, who is 3 for 3 in blinkers and makes her first appearance since being scratched from the Dec. 22 East View Stakes due to a gate mishap.

“She got spooked and was banged up pretty good,” said Rice, who also sends out Bella the Bandit and Champagne Ruby.

Rudy Rodriguez sends out morning line favorite Henry’s Gal, who was claimed for $75,000 March 2 and promptly won a starter allowance against open company by better than 11 lengths.