Patty H figures to be tough in second start following layoff

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Patty H ran too good to lose when nipped at the wire by Mosienko in her first start off a nine-month layoff here Oct. 6. With that race under her belt and a quartet of workouts in the interim, Patty H figures tough to beat in Friday’s second-level allowance/optional $62,500 claiming feature at Aqueduct.

Patty H, claimed for $80,000 by owner Timothy O’Toole and trainer Tony Dutrow in October 2021, was sidelined by an abscess in her right hind leg following a fourth-place finish in this condition Jan. 6. In her Oct. 6 return, Patty H was able to get clear on the front end, only to be run down late by Mosienko, who got up to win her fourth consecutive race.

“Nine months away, she came back well, we were very happy with her,” Dutrow, who is three wins shy of 2,000 for his career, said Wednesday. “She’s trained good for this race.”

While she easily made a clear lead in her last start, Patty H may have to work attain the front end on Friday as the majority of her five rivals look to be forwardly placed runners. Breaking from post 5 in the six-horse field should allow jockey Javier Castellano to see how the race is developing inside of him.

“Javier will play the break,” Dutrow said. “She’s won from on the pace, but not in front. If Patty H breaks well, I’m not concerned with the rest of the race.”

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Friday’s race is at six furlongs, a distance at which Patty H has a 4-3-0 record from seven starts. Her previous two races came at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Snicket is a New York-bred daughter of Lemon Drop Kid who is coming off a front-running score in a first-level allowance here Oct. 20. Everyoneloveslinda set the pace before fading to third in the off-the-turf Glen Cove Stakes on Oct. 14 at Aqueduct.

Violent Vixen, drawn outside of Patty H, comes off a front-running first-level allowance win here Nov. 13. Sister Annie, going first off the Mertkan Kantarmaci claim for $32,500 is another with speed. Secret Love has proven best from off the pace but two starts back finished fourth, 4 1/2 lengths behind second-place finisher Patty H.

Later on Friday’s card, the New York-bred 3-year-old Curlin’s Wisdom steps into open company for the first-time in an entry-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles. In a 25-day span in October, Curlin’s Wisdom won two restricted allowance races and finished second in the $250,000 Empire Classic.

“I thought he ran great, maybe if he had gotten him away from the dirt sooner, he maybe could have gotten there,” trainer Linda Rice said of the Empire Classic. “I think he likes the mile and an eighth. I looked at the Discovery, all those horses had already won their a-other-than, so I said you know what, let’s just go in here.”

An interesting contender in the field is Gasoline, a 3-year-old by Curlin who was gelded following a third-place finish in this condition Sept. 29. Prior to that, Gasoline had won a nine-furlong maiden race at Saratoga by 6 1/4 lengths.

Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Gasoline from post 2.

I Am the Law comes into this race off a starter-allowance win in an off-the-turf race going a mile here Oct. 2.

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