McKellen restarts 3-year-old campaign in Bay Shore
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – McKellen, derailed from an attempted trip down the Triple Crown trail, looks to jump-start his 3-year-old season in Saturday’s $150,000 Bay Shore Stakes going seven furlongs at Aqueduct.
McKellen won his debut in October at Gulfstream Park before running a solid second behind Disco Time in an allowance on Nov. 30 at Churchill. Disco Time came back to win the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds before having to be stopped on by trainer Brad Cox.
McKellen, meanwhile, ran in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes on Jan. 4 at Gulfstream Park, finishing a dull sixth behind Guns Loaded. Though entered in a couple of spots since that race – including the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on March 1 – McKellen will be making his first start in 105 days in the Bay Shore.
“He had a problem with his teeth that we fixed and he’s trained very well,” trainer Jose D’Angelo said. “You can see his race at Churchill Downs was very good against Disco Time, so I feel we have a good chance with him.”
McKellen does show a couple of bullet works at Palm Meadows in South Florida. He will break from the outside post in this five-horse field under Javier Castellano.
Faster Gator and Pascaline both ship in from Maryland for the Bay Shore.
Faster Gator won his debut in June at Laurel and then didn’t run again until March 7, when he won a first-level allowance race, also at Laurel. Trainer Anthony Farrior said the long layoff was precipitated by having to remove a chip from an ankle.
Noting that Faster Gator was immature in his debut win, Farrior added blinkers to Faster Gator’s equipment for his return race, which he won by 1 1/4 lengths.
“I was happy with the way he ran,” Farrior said of his second start. “He broke bad, but [Arnaldo] Bocachica was very patient with him. I was a little nervous on the turn, they were getting away from him a little bit, but when Bocachica asked him he responded.”
Though his two races came at five and 5 1/2 furlongs, Faster Gator is bred to handle longer distances, Farrior said. He is by Vekoma and had a half-sibling who won races at a mile and 1 3/16 miles in Dubai.
“He trains like he wants to go long,” Farrior said. “Seven-eighths is hopefully a stepping-stone.”
Pascaline, a West Virginia-bred son of Upstart, won his maiden at Colonial Downs last August and then captured the off-the-turf Laurel Futurity, going a one-turn mile. He spent the winter at Tampa Bay Downs, lighting up the work tab in the mornings for trainer Arnaud Delacour.
Mo Plex, winner of the Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga and the Funny Cide Stakes, restricted to New York-breds, cuts back to seven furlongs for his second start off a layoff. In his return, he finished third, beaten a half-length, in the one-mile Gander Stakes for New York-breds.
Share the Ludt, a New York-bred trained by Melanie Giddings, comes in off a six-length maiden victory in his sixth career start.
◗ Following Saturday’s card, Aqueduct is dark on Easter Sunday, but will race Wednesday, a card to make up for the March 30 cancellation due to noise from a nearby car show.
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