Sassicaia will try to kick it into gear in Sunday feature

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The past few winters, trainer Chad Brown has used Aqueduct’s winter meet to advance the careers of horses such as Last Gunfighter and Zivo, who began or continued winning streaks here and eventually turned into graded stakes winners and millionaires.

Brown is hoping this winter marks the emergence of Sassicaia, an expensive juvenile purchase from 2013 who has, thus far, failed to live up to the price tag.

Coming off a maiden win four weeks ago, Sassicaia tries to take the next step in a $67,000 first-level allowance race at 1 1/16 miles, which serves as the featured event on Sunday’s nine-race card over Aqueduct’s inner track.

Sassicaia will take on seven rivals including Lunar Rover, runner-up in this condition on Oct. 24 at Belmont, and Misconnect, who is offered for the optional $75,000 claiming tag after winning a second-level allowance race last out at Belmont.

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KEY CONTENDERS

Sassicaia (Last 3 Beyers: 81-78-81)

◗ He is a son of Bernardini who, at $1.6 million, was the sale-topper at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year-olds in training sale. He went winless in four starts to begin his career before taking an off-the-turf maiden race here on Nov. 7 off a 5 1/2-month layoff.

“We had to stop on this horse for some minor issues, got them cleaned up, and he came back and trained well,” said Brown, who trains Sassicaia for Robert LaPenta. “I think he needed that race, and he’s really moved forward since. We’re looking forward to taking another step forward hopefully.”

◗ Brown said he’s not caught up in how much Sassicaia cost.

“Our approach has been he’s a horse that’s shown plenty of ability and he’s got the looks and the breeding to go with it,” Brown said. “Last Gunfighter and Zivo earned a million dollars; at this stage of their careers I don’t think anyone would have predicted that. This horse will have plenty of opportunities to be successful if he cooperates.”

Lunar Rover (Last 3 Beyers: 80-75-100)

◗ He earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure winning a maiden race at Saratoga by 9 3/4 lengths in July. Since then, he ran sixth in the Ontario Derby over synthetic and was second in this allowance condition to the front-running winner Sublime.

“We let that horse get in front of us too easily, which was probably my fault,” trainer James Bond said. “He probably should have put more pressure on that horse early.”

◗ Bond expects Lunar Rover to be more involved early on Sunday and added he wouldn’t mind a wet track should forecasted weekend rain come to fruition.

“Hopefully, he’ll be throwing mud at somebody else rather than having mud thrown at him,” Bond said.

Misconnect (Last 3 Beyers: 93-93-91)

◗ He is actually dropping in class after winning a second-level optional claimer race last time out.

◗ He is 3 for 4 in races at a mile or under, and is 0 for 2 – both stakes – in races beyond a mile. This race is run at 1 1/16 miles.

“I got a little question mark, but I don’t have much choice,” trainer Bruce Levine said when asked about the distance.