Saturday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Quiescent should appreciate switch to turf
Aqueduct | Race 9 | Post Time 5:38 p.m. (ET)
TimeformUS PPs are now available on DRF.com. Go to PPs
Both horses who could vie for favoritism in this maiden special weight finale make plenty of sense. Miss San Gabriel (#10) caught a pretty talented field when she debuted last summer at Colonial. The winner of that race, Danse Macabre, has since won two turf stakes, including the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride. It came up a fast race, and horses have generally confirmed that field’s quality. Now she returns from a layoff for Graham Motion, who is 31 for 141 (22%, $2.90 ROI) off layoffs of 180 days or more on turf, and 4 for 16 in sprints over the past five years.
Accept the Outcome (#6) also figures to take money as she makes her second start for Chad Brown. She just didn’t seem mentally prepared for the challenges she faced on debut. She got extremely rank soon after the start, fighting the jockey’s restraint into the clubhouse turn. She did eventually settle on the backstretch, but lacked a kick in the late stages. I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually prefers shorter trips as a daughter of No Nay Never. Plus Chad Brown is 6 for 19 (32%, $2.32 ROI) with maidens going from routes to turf sprints over the past five years.
They’re both logical, but there are some interesting runners trying this surface for the first time. Dekanter (#7) ran well in her dirt debut at Gulfstream last month and has pedigree for this surface. The same can be said of Dark Dahlia (#8) as she switches over from synthetic and returns from a layoff for Jeremiah Englehart.
I’m most interested in another running trying turf for the first time. QUIESCENT (#3) was deceptively live in her debut last summer at Saratoga. She could have been any price on debut in a tough maiden event at Saratoga, and she actually took some money to go off at 20-1. She had trained well into that race, and delivered a solid effort, just getting nipped for second behind a runaway winner. She now returns from a layoff while switching to turf, and she does have pedigree for this surface. Nyquist is a good 15-percent turf sprint sire. While the dam’s four progeny to try turf failed to win over it, two of them ran well and one sibling, Tweaqued, earned career-best speed figures in turf sprints. Quiescent shows a quick gate workout last week and gets Lasix for her return.