Money Multiplier looks to bounce back in Red Smith

The cup runneth over at Aqueduct on Saturday, as the nine-race card, topped by the $200,000 Red Smith, is long on both quality and quantity.

The program averages more than 10 betting interests per race. In addition to the stakes, there are four other grass contests. The card includes two optional claimers, an allowance, and a pair of 2-year-old maiden sprints.

Don’t forget your coat. Temperatures are forecast to peak in the lower 40s.

The Grade 3 Red Smith has 11 turf entrants and a main-track-only runner. Money Multiplier will be favored but comes into the Smith off a disappointing effort in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

Other contenders in the 1 3/8-mile marathon include the late-running Hunter O’Riley, trained by Jimmy Toner; the consistent New York-bred Get Jets, who races for Tony Dutrow; and Call Provision, who, like Money Multiplier, is from the barn of Chad Brown.

Money Multiplier was 9-2 in the 11-horse Hirsch but threw his head a few times early in the race as jockey Javier Castellano tried to settle him while 147-1 shot Converge opened a lengthy lead. Money Multiplier lodged a bid after his stablemate Beach Patrol, the eventual winner who took the lead nearing the stretch, but then came up empty and tired to finish eighth.

Money Multiplier has worked four times since the Hirsch, and it would be no surprise to see him rebound. In the first two starts of his 5-year-old season this year, he won the Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes and finished a close second to the powerful closer Sadler’s Joy in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga.

Hunter O’Riley has improved mightily since the spring. He enters off two good efforts at Saratoga, a win in the Grade 2 Bowling Green and a fourth in the Sword Dancer. But Toner has been battling foot issues for much of the season with Hunter O’Riley, and he was forced to skip the Hirsch.

“We had a patch on it, but he popped another quarter crack, and we had to let things quiet down,” Toner said. “I lost two weeks of training with him, and we missed the Turf Classic.”

Toner is confident he has Hunter O’Riley ready for Saturday.

“I’ve got four breezes into him, and he should be all set,” he said. “He’s a handy little horse that gives you everything he’s got every time.”

While Money Multiplier and Hunter O’Riley have obstacles to overcome, Get Jets is at the top of his game and has won statebred stakes in his two most recent starts, the West Point at Saratoga and the A.T. Cole at Belmont Park. Dutrow opted to skip the $200,000 Mohawk at Belmont on Oct. 21 in favor of this race.

The Smith will be the first start for Get Jets beyond 1 1/8 miles.

“We passed the Showcase Day race with him to give him the added distance the Red Smith offers,” Dutrow said. “How he runs will help us plan his 5-year-old campaign.”

Call Provision finished second by a nose to Get Jets in the Cole and has since won a high-level optional claimer. He closed strongly to win that 1 3/8-mile race and earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, making him a player here.