Rodriguez loaded for New York Claiming Championships

The New York Claiming Championships will be held for the third time Saturday at Aqueduct. Based on the starter-allowance format of the Claiming Crown, the Championships are open to horses who have raced for various claiming prices in 2016 and 2017.

Ten races were originally planned, but the Peeping Tom wasn’t used. As it stands, there are 63 entries on the card, an average of seven per race. A total of $625,000 in purses will be up for grabs.

Not Surprisingly, Rudy Rodriguez leads all trainers with nine entrants in seven races. Jeremiah Englehart is second with six horses in four races, and David Cannizzo has four entrants.

Cannizzo will send out Fox Rules, the horse to beat in the richest race of the day, the $90,000 Mr. Sinatra. The 1 1/8-mile race is for horses who have started for a claiming price of $40,000 or less since Jan. 1, 2016.

Cannizzo claimed Fox Rules, an 8-year-old New York-bred, out of his 44th career start for $40,000 on Jan. 13. It was the first time Fox Rules had been claimed since he started racing in the summer of 2011. He had campaigned his entire career for Langpap Stables and had made 42 starts for Finger Lakes-based horseman M. Anthony Ferraro.

“I’ve watched this horse run for years up at Finger Lakes and down here,” Cannizzo said. “I tried to buy him a year and a half ago, but they wanted too much money, so when they put him in for the tag, it was time to get him.”

Cannizzo said he had his eye on the Feb. 11 Haynesfield Stakes for statebreds and the Claiming Championships when he claimed Fox Rules, a 16-time winner.

Fox Rules lost a heartbreaker in the Haynesfield, where he was nailed on the wire by Send It In after setting the pace in the 1 1/16-mile stakes over the inner track. Send It In came back to finish a charging third in the Stymie Stakes after racing in tight quarters following the start and then again entering the clubhouse turn.

“It was good to see Send It In come back to run good,” Cannizzo said. “It means it was a productive race.”

Cannizzo, 34, had his most successful season as a trainer in 2016, winning 45 races. He said he is looking forward to trying Fox Rules on the turf.

“He won his maiden and an allowance race on turf at Saratoga and Belmont early in his career,” he said.

Although the Mr. Sinatra has a six-horse field, it is not an easy spot. Shalako and Stormin Monarcho, who both race for Rodriguez, are coming off second-level optional-claiming wins and figure to give Fox Rules a run for his money.

In other races on Claiming Championships Day:

◗ Caixa Eletronica, race 3: Rodriguez holds a strong hand in this seven-furlong race for horses who have started for $40,000 or less, as he will send out the two favorites in Story to Tell and Eye Luv Lulu.

Rodriguez claimed Story to Tell out of a seven-length win for $40,000 in November. He has since won a $25,000 starter by 5 1/4 lengths, finished a close fifth in the Toboggan after battling for the early lead with Green Gratto, and has been the runner-up in a second-level optional claimer.

Eye Luv Lulu, in his first start after being claimed for $40,000, won a no-conditions New York-bred allowance sprint by a neck over Rectify, who was coming off a front-running win in a second-level statebred optional claimer.

◗ Stud Muffin, race 4: Do Share figures to be a solid favorite in this one-turn mile for $25,000 company, but Praetereo looks like a viable alternative on a card that could produce a number of predictable winners.

Do Share, trained by Linda Rice, has won three of his last four starts, and his form is obvious. Praetereo, on the other hand, is coming off a dull effort while in for a $62,500 claiming price at two turns.

If you can forgive Praetereo for that performance and trust Steve Klesaris to have him back in form for this race, he fits well at this level. A 10-time winner, Praetereo has always been at his best going seven furlongs or a one-turn mile.

◗ Kelly Kip, race 5: Bass River Road is in the midst of a somewhat unusual four-race winning streak and is the likely choice over nine rivals in this six-furlong sprint for $12,500 runners.

He won a $6,500 claiming race at Finger Lakes in October – which made him eligible for this race – and then was claimed by Rodriguez for $25,000 out of a November victory at Aqueduct. He has since won a second-level statebred optional claimer and a $12,500 starter.

◗ Karakorum Elektra, race 6: She’s So Fine may be a bit of a price in this seven-furlong race for fillies and mares who have raced for $32,000 since Chorus Line and La Inesperada both figure to take money.

She’s So Fine fits the pattern of a successful starter-allowance horse. Claimed for $40,000 out of an eighth-place finish by trainer John Toscano Jr. in November, she returned in January for a $20,000 price – the lowest of her career – won by 10 lengths, and was not claimed. She has since won a $50,000 starter race and a first-level optional claimer.

A late-running two-turn horse throughout her career, She’s So Fine will be shortening up to one bend and should be rolling in the stretch.