Pace duel would benefit Have Another in sprint feature

Blue Belt learned his lessons quickly. It took Horoscope longer to get going. The light bulb finally came on for Have Another in his last start. This trio of 3-year-olds will meet in the third race at Aqueduct on Wednesday, a first-level allowance at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Blue Belt has speed, but Horoscope may be faster. How these two sort out on the front end likely will determine the chances of the late-running Have Another. Any way you cut it, the race should be entertaining. Oddly, the two horses with stakes experience in the five-horse field, Always a Suspect and Jewel Heist, should be the longest prices.

Blue Belt was legged up at Arlington and Hawthorne by trainer Larry Rivelli and then, being a New York-bred, was sent east. He finished third in his debut but has since ripped off daylight scores over statebred maiden and allowance company. He faces open company Wednesday.

While Blue Belt is fast, he may be more tractable than Horoscope. The problem is that after breaking from the outside post in his first three races, he will start from the rail in this spot and may have to be used early to maintain position.

Horoscope, a New York-bred trained by David Cannizzo, won a statebred maiden race last time out in his ninth start. That is somewhat deceiving though because he ran lights-out in his prior start, losing a head bob to the talented Chad Brown-trained first-time starter Long Haul Bay after digging in gamely when headed in midstretch.

The 91 and 90 Beyer Speed Figures that Horoscope earned his last two races tower over those of his opposition.

Have Another, a Kentucky-bred who races for David Donk, closed well against maidens three starts back, finishing second, beaten three-quarters of a length. He was flat in his next start and finished fifth behind Cloud Computing, who is scheduled to run in Saturday’s Wood Memorial. In his most recent race, Have Another leveled off in upper stretch and finished strongly to inhale a trio of front-runners and win by four lengths.

He’s at a bit of a disadvantage here as his main rivals should dictate the pace, but his best races certainly seem to be in front of him. The extra sixteenth of a mile he gets here should help, but by all indications, seven furlongs or a mile would be better for him.

◗ The Wednesday card also includes a first-level allowance for New York-bred fillies and mares that features Kathryn the Wise, a 5 1/2-length debut winner for Brown in November. The 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo figures to be a very short price.