New connections dominate allowance feature

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Snow and single-digit wind chills prompted the cancellation of last weekend’s two racing programs at Aqueduct, but temperatures are forecast for the mid-to-upper 50s on Thursday, when racing is scheduled to resume with a nine-race card.

The afternoon’s feature is a starter allowance/optional $50,000 claiming race for 3-year-old males going a mile. The race drew a field of six, five of whom will be making their first start for new trainers. Combined, the six horses made their most recent starts at five different tracks.

Devine Dental comes off a nose loss in a first-level allowance/optional-claiming race at Laurel on Oct. 21 in which he was being offered for the $45,000 tag. Though not claimed, he was subsequently purchased privately by Steven Appel’s Wire to Wire Stable and transferred to trainer Jeremiah Englehart.

Englehart said the 12-week break between races was not by design but because he couldn’t find the appropriate spot for the son of Silver Train.

In his last start, Devine Dental looked like a sure winner with a four-length lead at the eighth pole. But he drifted out from the rider’s left-handed whipping and was caught on the wire by Monsoon K S A.

“I thought he made a little bit of an early move,” Englehart said.

Devine Dental had also acted up at the gate prior to the start. In his previous start, Devine Dental won a one-mile maiden race at Penn National by six lengths in the slop.

Oneballnostrikes comes off a 6 3/4-length first-level allowance win at Parx Racing going a two-turn mile Dec. 27. He is the only member of this field going out for the same trainer – John Servis – as he did in his last start.

Thursday’s card includes a modest pick-six carryover of $14,592 after it was not hit last Friday.

KEY CONTENDERS

Devine Dental, by Silver Train
Last 3 Beyers: 58-56-1

◗ Two best races have come on dirt, albeit over wet tracks. Rain was in the forecast Wednesday, so there could still be moisture in the track Thursday.

◗ Blew a four-length lead in his last start when he made a wide, early move. The third-place finisher from that race came back to win a stakes at Parx and got beat a nose in a Laurel stakes race.

Oneballnostrikes, by Include
Last 3 Beyers: 60-62-52

◗ Has run well in three of four career starts, with the lone bad race coming after a bad break.

◗ Was wide throughout at Parx when winning a first-level allowance/optional-claiming race by 6 3/4 lengths.

◗ Got beat by a repeating winner, Square Shooter, two starts back.

Bud Fox, by Dialed In
Last 3 Beyers: 46-52-57

◗ The horse was claimed by Ian Wilkes on behalf of Waldorf Racing Stables at Churchill Downs last November. David Wright, the principal owner of Waldorf, thought the horse would fit better in New York, so he sent him to trainer James Bond.

◗ Will be making his first start as a gelding.

“Ian went over him, and he was a little bit crampy, so we decided [castration] would be the best thing,” Bond said. “We’re going to see how he handles the inner, and with that change, hopefully it’s all good.”