My Boy Tate full of himself coming into Thunder Rumble

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – My Boy Tate, a five-time stakes winner over Aqueduct’s main track, will seek to add to his résumé Sunday when the 7-year-old gelding heads a field of 12 entered to run seven furlongs in the $150,000 Thunder Rumble division of the New York Stallion Series.

My Boy Tate won this race in 2019 and was beaten a neck by Funny Guy last November. His other stakes wins at Aqueduct include two runnings of the Hollie Hughes, the Say Florida Sandy in 2018, and the Haynesfield in March. Overall, My Boy Tate is 7 for 13 at the Big A.

My Boy Tate is coming off a six-length victory in the Leon Reed Memorial last month at Finger Lakes, a race that was a confidence booster for both the gelding and trainer Michelle Nevin.

“I definitely think it picked his head up,” said Nevin, who is the breeder and co-owner of this son of Boys At Tosconova. “He was in the right kind of company.”

In his last start on this circuit, My Boy Tate finished second to Wondrwherecraigis in the Tale of the Cat Stakes at Saratoga. That result looks a little better when you consider Wondrwherecraigis won the Grade 3 Bold Ruler at Belmont Park after being disqualified from first in the Grade 3 De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park.

Though he’s proven to be versatile, My Boy Tate has done his best running from a stalking position.There does appear to be ample speed in this field.

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Nevin also sends out Our Last Buck, who looks to rebound from a sixth-place finish in the Hudson Handicap on Oct. 30. That race was run over a sloppy track.

“I could see he was not handling it. I’m just throwing it out,” Nevin said. “He’s been training really good.”

Two starts back, Our Last Buck finished second to Aloha West in a third-level allowance at Saratoga. Aloha West won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last month.

An interesting horse in the Thunder Rumble is the 5-year-old gelding Rinaldi, a four-time stakes winner on turf who will be trying dirt for the first time Sunday.

“We had this in our thought process for three months,” trainer James Bond said. “He’s a good workhorse on dirt. He gallops out strong whereas most turf horses fall apart after the wire. Every rider who’s been on him said ‘Why don’t you give him a try on dirt?’ So, I’ll have a lot of riders to blame if it doesn’t work.”

Jemography, a stakes winner at Finger Lakes two back, will try to work out a trip from the rail. Captain Bombastic, a NYSS winner at Saratoga in 2020, will try to do likewise from post 12.

Trainer Gary Sciacca has entered full brothers Lobsta and Chowda in this spot.

Trinni Luck tries to bounce back

Trinni Luck had a three-race win streak snapped when she finished ninth of 10 in the $250,000 Empire Distaff at Belmont on Oct. 30.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez is hoping the combination of a sloppy track and Trinni Luck going too fast early were the reasons she didn’t fire that day.

Sunday, Trinni Luck will try to rebound in the $150,000 Staten Island division of the New York Stallion Series for fillies and mares at seven furlongs. Among her six rivals is the streaking The Important One, a winner of three straight races, including the Iroquois Stakes on that same Oct. 30 card.

The Empire Distaff was the first race in which Trinni Luck was not permitted to race on Lasix. Rodriguez said he has scoped the filly multiple times and hasn’t found her to have bled.

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“I’m going to blame it more on the sloppy track than anything else,” Rodriguez said. “I broke in front but I wanted to stay behind. I drew a line through it. She looks like she’s come back good out of the race and she’s training very, very well. Seven-eighths might be her best distance.”

Trinni Luck’s three recent wins have all come in front-running fashion, including a second-level statebred allowance win at Saratoga going seven furlongs. Trinni Luck might have to chase The Important One, whose last three wins also have all come on the lead.

Trinni Luck breaks from post 3 under Manny Franco. The Important One breaks from post 6 under Jose Lezcano.

“If Jose wants the lead we’ll give it to him, if he doesn’t want it, we’ll take it from him and hope for the best,” Rodriguez said.

Bank String makes her second start since getting scraped up in a gate mishap that forced her to scratch from the Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park. Bank Sting finished fifth in the Empire Distaff, her first start off a five-month layoff.

Fight On Lucy, Mad for Fame, Awillaway, and Byhubbyhellomoney complete the field.

◗ Sunday’s 10-race card features six turf races on what is the final day of grass racing on this circuit for the year. Given the favorable weekend forecast, the 15-day fall meet should conclude with 74 turf races run and only six scheduled for the turf transferred to the dirt.