Searching for past glory, Resilience meets similar allowance foes
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When Resilience last ran at Aqueduct in April 2024, he was preparing for the race of his life. Winning the Grade 2 Wood Memorial catapulted him into contention for the Kentucky Derby, where he finished sixth at 31-1. He was among the best in his class, but the road from there was tough.
After a poor effort in the Belmont Stakes, trainer Bill Mott was forced to put the Into Mischief colt on the shelf for nearly a year. He has not run in another stakes since and lost seven straight allowances as a 4-year-old.
On Friday, Resilience will return to Aqueduct for his 5-year-old debut, far removed from the Triple Crown glory he tasted two years ago. In the seventh race, a 1 1/8-mile, second-level allowance with an optional $75,000 claiming tag, he will enter as a tepid 5-2 morning-line favorite.
The Mott-trained horse is not alone in his search for better days, as most runners in the field of seven have enjoyed similarly accomplished careers.
Dreamlike, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Linda Rice, famously came within a head of earning his maiden victory in the 2023 Wood Memorial for Todd Pletcher. He also finished second in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and ran in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.
But after a distant finish in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster in June 2024, Dreamlike’s 4-year-old campaign came to a grinding halt. He was gelded during the long layoff and has not run in another stakes since. Rice claimed him for $50,000 last August and he has since picked up two victories in seven starts, never finishing out of the money.
“I thought he was really cut out to be a nice horse when I claimed him at Saratoga,” Rice said. “I’d seen that he competed in [the Wood and Pennsylvania Derby]. Clearly, they had high hopes for him and it didn’t quite work out, but he still has been a very useful horse for us.”
A first-level allowance winner at 1 1/8 miles in December, Rice said she believes that distance is his best. He will stretch back out against a highly seasoned group Friday.
Society Man, the runner-up behind Resilience in the 2024 Wood Memorial, went on to finish 16th in that year’s Kentucky Derby before winning the Grade 3 Matt Winn. He has not won in nine starts since for trainer Danny Gargan.
The grizzled allowance field also features Wynstock, a New York-bred once based on the West Coast with Kentucky Derby hopes for Bob Baffert. Winning the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby in 2024 remains a high point for a horse who has since changed hands twice through $45,000 claims.
In his first start for Brad Cox in January, the 5-year-old improved to win a statebred allowance by 7 1/4 lengths. He will make his second start off a short layoff after finishing 11 1/4 lengths back in a $100,000 claiming race on March 5.
Rudy Rodriguez entered Whittington Park and Le Gris, a pair of geldings who also have graded-stakes experience way back in their careers. The only one without such experience is Makes Sense, a 4-year-old colt who earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure in a five-length allowance victory for Chad Summers last time out.
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