Tabeguache streaks into Discovery Stakes

The list of runner-up finishes in stakes for 3-year-olds run in New York this year for trainer Brad Cox is as impressive as it most assuredly is frustrating.

Cox’s 3-year-olds have finished second in races like the H. Allen Jerkens (Verifying), Jim Dandy and Dwyer (Saudi Crown), Wood Memorial and Gotham (Slip Mahoney), and the Gold Fever (Squire Creek). This all after Hit Show won the Grade 3 Withers for Cox in February.

On Friday at Aqueduct, the Cox-trained Tabeguache will be front and center in the $150,000 Discovery, the final stakes restricted to 3-year-olds scheduled on the NYRA calendar in 2023.

The Discovery and the $150,000 Turnback the Alarm, are the co-features on Friday’s 10-race card that begins at 12:15 p.m.

Tabeguache, a son of Into Mischief, brings a three-race winning streak into the Discovery, run at 1 1/8 miles. He won a maiden and a first-level allowance at Horseshoe Indianapolis before shipping to FanDuel Sportsbook and winning the $250,000 St. Louis Derby, beating his stablemate Slip Mahoney by a head. Slip Mahoney, who finished 8 1/2 lengths clear of the field that day, came back to win the Harrods Creek Stakes at Churchill Downs.

“I like the distance for him; he stays on. He ran well last time in St. Louis,” Cox said. “The horse that was second to him came back and won, so we’ve been pointing to this for a while. I think it’s a good spot for him.”

Tabeguache will be ridden by Jose Lezcano from the outside post. Six were entered in the Discovery, but Drake’s Passage ran in Sunday’s $250,000 Empire Classic, where he finished fifth, and is expected to scratch from this spot.

Crupi, after losing his first seven starts, broke through with a maiden score at Monmouth and a first-level allowance win at Saratoga in an off-the-turf race. Sent off at 25-1 in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, Crupi rallied from 11th to be fifth, though he got shut off some late, missing third by one length.

“I think it certainly cost him third,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, a six-time Discovery winner. “He’s a horse, similar to Dreamlike” – the Pennsylvania Derby runner-up who is running in Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic – “that always promised more, but maybe he’s starting to put it all together now.”

Kendrick Carmouche rides Crupi from post 2.

Army Times, a son of Into Mischief, looks like the speed from the rail under Feargal Lynch for Chad Brown.

Winters Lion and Dats Mr. Mo complete the field

Turnback the Alarm

Interstatedaydream, a four-time stakes winner, will try for another one in Friday’s $150,000 Turnback the Alarm Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.

Interstatedaydream won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico and the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks at 3. This year, she won the Allaire duPont at Pimlico and, most recently, the Twixt Stakes at Laurel.

“She shipped up there and settled in well. I loved her last work; it was with Timberlake,” said Cox, referring to the Grade 1 Champagne winner who a contender in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. “She’s a good work horse, that’s one reason why we worked her with Timberlake. Looking forward to getting another run into her.”

Pletcher sends out Tizzy in the Sky, who rebounded from a 24 3/4-length defeat at Saratoga to record a 9 3/4-length, front-running score in a second-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 4 at Aqueduct.

“That filly trained exceptionally well. We were very disappointed in her first race at Saratoga,” said Pletcher, who has only had Tizzy in the Sky for two starts. “We kind of chalked it up to the funky dynamics of the mile chute, maybe she didn’t care for it. Last time was more of what we expected – for her to break sharply, show good speed, and keep going. We’ll try to use similar tactics.”

Carmouche rides Tizzy in the Sky from post 2, one slot inside of Trevor McCarthy on Interstatedaydream.

Bellamore, third in the Grade 1 Spinster, Morning Matcha, and Fireline complete the compact field.

The Turnback the Alarm is carded as race 3.