Sunday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Harvard ready for more advanced assignment

Aqueduct | Race 3 | Post Time 2:26 p.m. (ET)

I respect the talent of both likely favorites in this optional claimer, but I don’t really want to bet either one at short prices. Bendoog (#1) obviously showed quality overseas, placing in multiple stakes in Dubai before running respectably in last year’s Dubai World Cup. He was pretty disappointing when he first showed up in the U.S. for Bill Mott last fall, losing at 1-2 while lugging in through the stretch and flattened out late. He got some more time off and returned earlier this month with a much better performance. He sat farther off the pace and launched a powerful run to lead at mid-stretch. He still had trouble putting the race away late, but the runner-up is a nice horse and he got a strong 117 TimeformUS Speed Figure. My issue is that he’s now stretching out to 9 furlongs, and his overseas form suggested that shorter might actually be better for him.

Main rival Leading Contender (#2) is another who has been popular with the bettors lately. He’s lost at extremely short prices in his last couple of starts at this level. He did have a mild excuse two back when never inside over a rail-biased surface, but I was hoping to see more from him last time when he just lacked late punch after getting a good trip.

Rocco Strong (#7) didn’t finish that far behind him on Mar. 1, and it’s easy to excuse his last effort when stepping up against stakes company in the Excelsior. Now he’s back at the right level where he can again race on Lasix. It’s unclear if he’s quite as talented as the aforementioned pair, but he does figure to be a more palatable price.

My top pick is Harvard (#5). There was a time when this guy would have been among the favorites in a spot like this. He looked so promising early in his career, winning an allowance going this distance with a 112 TimeformUS Speed Figure back in 2021. However, a lot of time has passed since then, and he was off for the better part of two years before returning this winter. He found 6 1/2 furlongs to be too short coming off the layoff, and he probably needed that start anyway. He fared better on the slight class drop last time. He was keen racing behind rivals along the inside and got mildly shuffled back on the far turn before staying on well late. It’s interesting that Jacobson now moves him back up into a protected spot, since he is 9 for 36 (25%, $3.50 ROI) going from claiming to allowance races on dirt at NYRA over 5 years. Distance isn’t supposed to be an issue, and he might be cycling back up to a better effort.