Lubash out to show 8 is the new 4
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Lubash was older but perhaps never better than he was at age 7, finishing first or second in all seven of his starts in 2014. On Sunday, he tries to continue that trend when he makes his 8-year-old debut in the $100,000 Danger’s Hour Stakes going one mile over Aqueduct’s turf course.
Originally scheduled for April 4, the inaugural Danger’s Hour was postponed by bad weather and a lack of entries. Six horses are entered for the turf Sunday. Two other horses were designated to run only if the race is moved to the main track.
Lubash, a New York-bred son of Freud, has won 12 of 39 starts and earned $1,010,599. He surpassed the million-dollar mark in earnings when he won the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap at Gulfstream Park West last November.
Lubash has run well off layoffs. In 2014, he won a New York-bred allowance race at Aqueduct in his seasonal debut. The previous two years, he finished second in his seasonal debut, once at Belmont and once at Aqueduct.
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“He wintered very well,” said Christophe Lorieul, assistant to trainer Christophe Clement. “The only thing we changed this year was he stayed with us at Payson. He’s a cool horse; he always gives his best.”
Junior Alvarado rides Lubash, the 123-pound highweight, from post 3.
The Clement stable also will send out Chamois, who was supplemented to the race and is 3 for 3 at Aqueduct. Chamois also was entered in Saturday’s Henry Clark Stakes at Pimlico but is expected to run here.
Also entered for the turf in the Danger’s Hour are Aztec Brave, another who was cross-entered in the Henry Clark, Mutin, Awesome Vision, and Shkspeare Shaliyah.
KEY CONTENDERS
Lubash (Last 3 Beyers: 99-99-100)
◗ He is as consistent as they come, having finished in the top three in his last 10 starts.
◗ A bit keen in his youth, Lubash has done his best work recently as a closer.
“He’s a bit more settled as he got older,” Lorieul said. “You still have to cover him up, but he’s more mature that way. Junior knows him very well; that’s a good combination.”
Chamois (Last 3 Beyers: 79-97-97)
◗ He has not been out since getting injured when finishing last in the Grade 1 Manhattan last Belmont Stakes Day.
“He went wrong after the Manhattan,” Lorieul said. “He didn’t come back very well. We had to give him time.”
◗ He is 3 for 3 over Aqueduct’s turf course, including a win off a four-month layoff in April 2013.
Aztec Brave (Last 3 Beyers: 88-90-48)
◗ Claimed for $30,000 by Joe Sharp last October, Aztec Brave has two wins and a second in three turf tries. His only bad start was a last-place finish in the off-the-turf Woodchopper at Fair Grounds in December.
◗ He could play out as the primary speed under Manny Franco from the inside post.
Mutin (Last 3 Beyers: 83-93-97)
◗ He came off an eight-month layoff last fall to win a stakes-caliber allowance race over this turf course.
◗ Bad starts compromised him in pair of graded stakes at Gulfstream Park this winter.