Potts running two of his claims in Saturday stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Wayne Potts has run in five stakes the last two years. On Saturday, he’ll run in two stakes in about 35 minutes.

In the Grade 3, $175,000 Bold Ruler, Potts will send out Surveillance, who two starts back won the off-the-turf Grade 3 Troy Stakes at Saratoga. In the Grade 3, $250,000 Forty Niner Stakes, Potts has Nelson Avenue, a horse whose last two starts signal him as a live longshot.

Unsurprisingly, Potts found both horses at the claim box. On July 26, Potts claimed Surveillance for $62,500 out of a turf sprint he won by a half-length. The victory in the off-the-turf Troy and a seventh-place finish in the Harvey Pack on turf, confirmed Potts’s belief which surface Surveillance is best over.

“I think he’s much better on dirt,” Potts said.

The Bold Ruler will be the first start for Surveillance since Sept. 2, but that’s by design. Potts is hoping Surveillance can be a horse who participates in late fall and winter sprint stakes such as the Fall Highweight on Nov. 29 and the Gravesend on Dec. 28.

In the Bold Ruler, Surveillance will take on six opponents, including Top Gunner, recent winner of the Parx Sprint Handicap; Vosburgh runner-up Scotland; and Little Vic, winner of the 2023 Grade 3 Tom Fool and a recent allowance winner here Sept. 19.

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Also entered in the Bold Ruler are Twenty Four Mamba, My Buddy B, and Runninsonofagun.

Nelson Avenue, a 5-year-old gelding by Into Mischief, was claimed by Potts for $40,000 on Aug. 8 at Saratoga. He came back 10 days later to win a $50,000 claimer at Saratoga and then took a second-level allowance/optional $62,500 claimer by 1 1/4 lengths, earning a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I claimed him figuring the further he would go the better he would be,” Potts said.

Potts said going longer enables Nelson Avenue to get into the race a little earlier.

“I think he’s a little better when he’s tactically in front, we’ll give it a whirl and see what happens,” Potts said.

Dylan Davis rides Nelson Avenue.

Coastal Mission and Repo Rocks, the one-two finishers of the Parx Dirt Mile, and Messier, last seen winning the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes in May, head the Forty Niner, which can be used as a stepping-stone to the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile on Dec. 7 at Aqueduct.

Jefferson Street, second in the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga and in the Harrods Creek at Churchill Downs, is in the Forty Niner, as are Stage Raider, Winit, and Film Star.

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