OZONE PARK, N.Y. - McAfee, the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, was scratched the morning of the race due to a small leg infection, according to trainer Rick Dutrow, making the one-mile stakes for 3-year-olds even more wide open than it originally appeared. Coming off a maiden win and a narrow defeat against winners, both at Churchill Downs, in a three-week span in November, McAfee, a half-brother to presumptive 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, looked like a serious contender. McAfee had a solid work on Tuesday and drew an outside post. Dutrow will still be represented by Ican, who is coming off a second-place finish behind Jerome contender Cyclone State in a first-level allowance on Dec. 6. In that race, Ican stumbled badly at the break, was well back early, yet persevered to get second. “I thought he ran big last time, he fell on his head coming out of the gate and when he came up both horses [on either side] squeezed him and, man, he kept to it after that,” Dutrow said. “I couldn’t believe how big he ran, so we’re going to run him and see where he puts himself in the game.” Manny Franco rides Ican from post 3. Cyclone State, a son of McKinzie, has won two straight on the front end for trainer Chad Summers. Last week, Summers worked Cyclone State behind a horse, though he knows it’s plausible his horse might be a need-the-lead type. “If you win this race and are able to sit off horses and finish like a good horse, okay,” Summers said. “If you don’t and you learn that you need the lead, it doesn’t mean you’re not a good horse, it means you got to go a different path.” The cleverly named Omaha Omaha, by Audible, would certainly benefit from a pace battle. He has won two straight races from well off the pace including an allowance race at Laurel run around two turns. Trainer Michael Gorham said he’s concerned about cutting back to a one-turn mile, but the timing of the race could set him up for longer races such as the Withers at 1 1/8 miles here on Feb. 1. “That’s the idea, timing-wise it’s pretty good, he gets a race, hopefully he can win it or at least show up and give a good effort,” Gorham said. The Maryland-based Studlydoright has already shipped to New York to win two stakes, including the one-turn Nashua here on Nov. 2. Most recently, he finished fourth behind Poster and Aviator Gui in the Grade 2 Remsen at 1 1/8 miles. Mansetti, a stakes winner on Woodbine’s synthetic, Georgia Magic, a debut winner at Aqueduct, and the speedy Enduring Spirit complete the field. The Jerome goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that begins at 12:10 p.m. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.