Someday Jones shortens up off Maker claim

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Last Saturday, a horse claimed for $62,500 late in his 7-year-old season made a successful 8-year-old debut winning the $100,000 Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct.

Thursday, the new connections of Someday Jones hope to duplicate the feat of Pete’s Play Call when they run the 8-year-old gelding in the $88,000 allowance/optional-claiming feature on Aqueduct’s eight-race card.

Owners David Staudacher and Paradise Farms Corp. and trainer Mike Maker claimed Someday Jones for $62,500 out of a third-place finish here Dec. 20.

“Old classy horse, felt like he still had some run in him,” said Maker, when asked why he and his owners put in a claim.

Someday Jones is cutting back to a one-turn mile coming off a pair of 1 1/8-mile races run here in an 11-day span.

“We think he wants longer, but short field and paying a premium we thought we’d give it a shot,” Maker said.

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That this will be Someday Jones’s third race in four weeks does not concern Maker.

“He’s a pretty hearty horse, very sound, old hard-knocker,” Maker said.

Someday Jones will get the services of Jorge Vargas Jr., who, after a 1-for-39 start to the winter meet, won four races from six mounts over the weekend, including the $100,000 Gravesend aboard Pete’s Play Call.

Someday Jones is one of two horses in this six-horse field available to be claimed for $80,000. The other four horses are running under the third-level allowance condition.

That includes Mihos, who finished second to the repeating winner American Power in a similar spot as this on Dec. 11. In that race, Mihos raced wide and in the clear and showed good determination to get past Lil Commissioner who is back in this field.

Trevor McCarthy rides Mihos from post 3.

Two starts back, Lil Commissioner won an optional claimer going a one-turn mile. He’ll have the services of Kendrick Carmouche on Thursday.

Looking at Bikinis is making his third attempt at clearing this allowance condition. Two starts back at Keeneland, in a race off a 10-month layoff, Looking at Bikinis raced on the pace and tired to fifth in a 12-horse field. On Nov. 27, at Churchill Downs, he made a mild bid while racing wide to finish fourth behind the Grade 1 winner Hog Creek Hustle.

Manny Franco rides Looking at Bikinis from post 5 for trainer Chad Brown, who is 3-2-2 with eight starters at the meet.

Rock On Luke, a front-running winner of two straight allowance races at Parx, ships in for trainer Tim Shaw and has attracted jockey Jose Lezcano.

Whistling Birds, who won a New York-bred maiden race here in February 2019, ships in from Parx for trainer Louis Linder.

With eight races scheduled for Thursday, first post is 12:50 p.m.