Paulassilverlining back sprinting for Belle Harbor
The Aqueduct spring meet concludes Sunday with three stakes for 3-year-olds, each to be contested at 6 1/2 furlongs for a $100,000 purse. Racing will shift to beautiful Belmont Park on Wednesday.
The stakes are the Belle Harbor, an open event for fillies carded as race 3, and two divisions of the New York Stallion Stakes. The Times Square will lead off the program, while the Park Avenue, for fillies, is slotted as race 8.
The Times Square and Belle Harbor are light on horses, with five- and six-horse fields, but both offer reasonable matchups. The Park Avenue has a field of 11.
Paulassilverlining will be favored in the Belle Harbor. She won the Grade 2 Matron at Belmont last October and the Ruthless by a nose over Noble and a Beauty in January. While Noble and a Beauty came out of the Ruthless to win the March 15 Cicada Stakes by eight lengths, trainer Michelle Nevin took a different path with Paulassilverlining, stretching her out around two turns in the Feb. 21 Busher.
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Paulassilverlining was no match for Condo Commando in that race but finished more than 13 lengths clear of the third-place runner. Condo Commando, 5 for 6 lifetime, is a top player in next week’s Kentucky Oaks.
Following the Busher, Nevin opted to skip the Cicada with Paulassilverlining because of the three-week spacing between races. Paulassilverlining comes into the Belle Harbor off a nine-week break and seven workouts. Look for her to come from off the pace at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Nevin is off to a terrific start this year, with 23 wins from 95 starts (24 percent). She is 9 for 32 (28 percent) since March 29.
Perchance, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, and Lindisfarne, trained by Rudy Rodriguez, will test Paulassilverlining in the Belle Harbor.
If Nevin is on a hot streak, McLaughlin is on fire.
Since April 1, he has gone 16 for 37 (43 percent). As of Friday morning, McLaughlin was 7 for 16 at Keeneland and tied for fourth in the standings, only two wins off the lead.
Oddly, this winter and spring, McLaughlin has won at least six main-track races at Aqueduct or Keeneland with horses who had lost their prior start at Gulfstream Park. Perchance could add to that number Sunday.
Perchance began her career with back-to-back odds-on victories. Stepped up to the $75,000 Any Limit Stakes last time out at Gulfstream, she finished fifth at 9-5.
“She didn’t seem to handle the track,” McLaughlin said. “It was just a track we struggled with down there. She’s worked well since, ready to go.”
Lindisfarne is 2 for 2 at Laurel Park since being shipped to Rudy Rodriguez from Northern California. She rallied from off the pace to win a first-level optional claimer and then was sent back to Maryland to win the $100,000 Marshua Stakes.
Lindisfarne has been kept in steady training since the Jan. 29 Marshua and has worked nine times since Feb. 18.
Times Square wide open
There are only five entrants in the Times Square, but settling on a favorite isn’t easy.
Organic Gemini, trained by Steve Asmussen, has the best figures but is still a maiden and has finished second in three straight races. Disco Partner and Clockwork haven’t started since finishing second and third in a Dec. 28 New York Stallion Stakes. Disco Partner, the 1-2 favorite for James Ryerson, beat 3-1 Clockwork by a half-length that day.
Trainer Timothy Hills has since gelded Clockwork.
“He’s always been kind of studdish, but the reason we gelded him was because he started to get really big and heavy,” Hills said. “We were going to give him a break over the winter, and I didn’t want him carrying too much weight when we brought him back. In his last couple of works, even though the times aren’t fast, he finished up real nice. He has a good bottom on him for this race.”
Because Hills wintered in Florida, trainer Bruce Brown has been overseeing Clockwork’s training.
Two prime contenders in Park Avenue
The Park Avenue has 11 entrants, but it is hard to get past The Lewis Dinner and Freudie Anne.
The Lewis Dinner, trained by Rodriguez, hasn’t raced since winning a New York Stallion Stakes on Dec. 28 by almost five lengths. Prior to that, she won the statebred Key Cents by almost four lengths and a maiden race by 5 1/2.
Freudie Anne won the New York-bred East View Stakes at a mile and 70 yards by almost 10 lengths in December. Off that effort, trainer Eddie Kenneally sent her to Fair Grounds for the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra.
She bobbled at the break of that race and then drifted out on the first turn. Freudie Anne was pulled up at the top of the stretch after dropping far back but walked off the track under her own power. She comes into the Park Avenue off several sharp works.
The Lewis Dinner might hold an edge at 6 1/2 furlongs as she looks to be the quicker of the two.
– additional reporting by David Grening