Pebbles gets notable addition with Sweet Treasure

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There are a couple of significant changes to Sunday’s rescheduled Grade 3, $175,000 Pebbles Stakes at Aqueduct, which was originally carded to be run a week ago. The Pebbles was postponed when racing was canceled due to high winds.

First, the race will now be run at 1 1/16 miles over the outer turf course. Originally, the Pebbles, for 3-year-old fillies, was carded at one mile over the inner turf. Jockeys have expressed concern with the inner course and it will not be used again until next spring.

Second, the race picked up two new entrants, adding to its original six horse-field. The most notable new face is Sweet Treasure, a winner of 3 of 4 starts who ships in from Kentucky for trainer Brad Cox, who has already won four stakes races in New York this month and is 5 for 12 at the Aqueduct fall meet after he went 5 for 28 at the Belmont at the Big A meet.

Sweet Treasure won a second-level allowance at Churchill Downs on Oct. 31. The postponement of the Pebbles gives Sweet Treasure 21 days from that race, just her second start of the year after a lengthy layoff.

Cox said Sweet Treasure was entered in an allowance in April at Gulfstream Park but suffered a cut on her leg a few days before the race, which forced her to scratch and miss signficant time.

In her comeback race in September, Sweet Treasure was a bit headstrong and challenged the pace three wide before fading in the final furlong. Cox removed the blinkers for Sweet Treasure’s next start and she relaxed better and came from off the pace with a strong finish for a two-length victory.

“Going into that [first] race, I wish I didn’t have the blinkers on her,” Cox said. “We took them off after that and she responded, she relaxed better.”

Florent Geroux is named to ride Sweet Treasure from post 6.

The other new addition to the field is Starship Pegasus, a front-running winner of a New York-bred maiden race at Aqueduct on Oct. 24.

Fast Market shouldn’t have an issue with the distance change. She won a maiden race going a a mile on Sept. 21 and finished second, beaten a neck by Ready for Candy in the Grade 2 Sands Point

Fast Market, trained by John Terranova, will break from the rail under Flavien Prat. She originally had post 5 and Dylan Davis named. Davis was injured before last Sunday and Prat was named to replace him.

Peak Hype, trained by Chad Brown, should appreciate the added sixteenth of a mile. She is 2 for 3 at the distance, her lone defeat at the distance coming when she was trying to close behind a pedestrian pace.

Paradise City and It Ain’t Two, the latter stretching out from a sprint last out, are likely to be part of the pace.

Love You Anyway and Correto, third and sixth, respectively, in a first-level allowance race at Keeneland on Oct. 24, complete the field.

The undefeated New York-bred filly With the Angels is entered to run only if the race is transferred to the main track.