Sassy Agnes, Espresso Shot get rematch in East View Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When Sassy Agnes defeated Espresso Shot in the Key Cents Stakes on Nov. 23, the six-furlong distance and speed-favoring nature of Aqueduct’s main track were kind to the former and worked against the latter.

On Saturday, the two meet again in the $100,000 East View Stakes at Aqueduct, and at the very least, the one-turn-mile configuration of the race should give Espresso Shot a chance to turn the tables on Sassy Agnes.

The East View drew a field of 11 New York-bred 2-year-old fillies, with Sassy Agnes and Forever Changed the only members of the field to have won more than once.

Espresso Shot, trained by Jorge Abreu, broke slowly in the Key Cents, and after saving ground under Eric Cancel was tipped five wide for the stretch drive and closed strongly to get second by a neck over Take Me to Hardoon while finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind the front-running Sassy Agnes.

“She made up a lot of ground to be second,” Abreu said Thursday by phone from Florida. “I don’t think she’s a three-quarters-of-a-mile horse.”

Espresso Shot came back with a five-furlong workout in 59.82 seconds over Belmont Park’s training track on Sunday, the fastest of 34 works at the distance that morning.

“I think that day, the track was a little quick, but I was pretty pleased with her breeze,” Abreu said. “She came out of it well, she looks good. It’s up to her on Saturday.”

Espresso Shot breaks from post 7 under Cancel.

The victory in the Key Cents was the third straight for Sassy Agnes, who had that streak snapped on Dec. 15 when she finished second in the Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes series as the 1-2 favorite. The quick turnaround plus the extra two furlongs could make Sassy Agnes vulnerable in this spot.

“Leaning towards running but still thinking about it,” Linda Rice, the trainer of Sassy Agnes, said Thursday.

Rice noted that there is no sprint race available for Sassy Agnes until the $100,000 Franklin Square Stakes here on Feb. 23.

Take Me to Hardoon was beaten a neck by Espresso Shot when third in the Key Cents. Trainer Jeremiah Englehart had equipped the filly with blinkers for that start and thought she was more aggressive than she had been.

Forever Changed has won two straight since trainer Charlton Baker put her on Lasix following a runner-up finish in her debut at Belmont in September.

Shelley Ann, who won when blinkers and Lasix were added, and Elegant Zip, second in the one-mile Maid of the Mist Stakes in October, also are contenders in the East View.

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