Rodriguez has contenders in both allowance races

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Rudy Rodriguez has twice as many seconds as he does wins at this meet, something he hopes starts to turn around Friday when he sends out live contenders in a pair of New York-bred first-level allowances.

In race 7, a six-furlong race on dirt, Rodriguez sends out Trinni Luck, who finished sixth in a similar spot May 22. Rodriguez said Trinni Luck was compromised by a poor break that day and he hopes the addition of blinkers will help her on Friday.

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“I thought she ran a good race, considering everything she went through,” Rodriguez said. “She got bumped leaving the gate, she didn’t break good, and then she got a lot of kickback. That was the first time she got a lot of kickback, and she was fighting the whole way around.”

The horse to beat is Laura’s Bellamy, who finished second, beaten a neck, in the same race in which Trinni Luck ran sixth.

In race 8, a six-furlong allowance on turf, Rodriguez sends out Scuttlebuzz, who finished second, beaten a half-length, in this same condition on May 15.

“That horse is training very good,” Rodriguez said. “I wish it was seven-eighths.”

Veterans Beach, twice second in this condition, makes his first start since Sept. 27. Joel Rosario rides for Christophe Clement.