Temple City Terror avoids trouble, rallies to win Long Island Stakes

Temple City Terror rallied for a 1 1/2-length win over Rocky Sky in the Grade 3, $300,000 Long Island, one of four stakes run Friday at Aqueduct. It was another 6 3/4 lengths back in third to Kalifornia Queen.

Also on the card, Sixtythreecaliber ($24.40) held off Kathleen O. to win the Grade 3 Comely, Nothing Better led throughout to win the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship, and Acoustic Ave won his third straight stakes in the Notebook.

Temple City Terror ($3.30) settled off the pace set by Big Time Lady, who led through an opening six furlongs in 1:15.70. The eventual winner advanced, as did Kalifornia Queen along the inside, but things became tight along the rail and Big Time Lady and Kalifornia Queen both steadied in a chain-reaction incident that led to a stewards’ inquiry. Temple City Terror went on and moved to the lead in the stretch, proceeding to cover 1 3/8 miles for fillies and mares on firm turf in 2:15.56.

“We got a great trip and then it was a bit of a mess with the horses in front of me at the three-eighths pole, but that honestly helped me and cleared the way for me,” winning rider Jose Ortiz told the publicity department for the New York Racing Association.

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“She has a beautiful turn of foot and when I wanted to go, she was there for me. I was just the pilot, and she was much the best. I just hand rode her and I knew she had it.”

Following the race, there was no change made to the order of finish.

Brendan Walsh trains Temple City Terror for Town and Country Racing. She was coming off a win in the Grade 3 Dowager over 1 1/2 miles on the grass Oct. 23 at Keeneland. Temple City Terror has now won 7 of 29 starts for earnings of $861,218. She is a daughter of Temple City.

“We’ll talk to the guys and see where we go from here, but my vote would be to keep going with her,” Walsh said of the 6-year-old mare who earlier this month sold for $600,000 at auction at Keeneland.

Temple City Terror was making her first start for Town and Country Racing.

“I would say that our plan was not to take off and run, but we got to looking at it, talked to Brendan and figured it would be the right thing to at least take a chance,” Shannon Potter, CEO of Town and Country Racing, told NYRA. “She showed us today that she’s not done. We’ll continue to see what happens. Running her as a 7-year-old is not out of the question now.

“Brendan’s team has done a wonderful job with her. All the credit goes to them. We bought in within the last month. He gets all the credit, just telling us what to do. And now, as he says, she’s getting better with age and keeps rolling. We’ll probably keep going with her through Gulfstream Park.”

Acoustic Ave takes Notebook

Acoustic Ave won his third consecutive stakes race Friday, when he won a stretch battle with Don’t Lose Cruz for a half-length victory in the $100,000 Notebook. The six-furlong race was for 2-year-olds bred in New York.

Acoustic Ave ($5.60) came into the Notebook off wins in the Aspirant and New York Breeders’ Futurity – both at Finger Lakes. He settled in second Friday, tracking leader Don’t Lose Cruz through an opening quarter in 23.38 seconds and a half-mile in 47.59. Acoustic Ave took after the leader from there and was determined to get past Don't Lose Cruz late while covering the distance on a fast track in 1:13.68.

Manny Franco was aboard the winning son of Maclean’s Music for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and trainer Christophe Clement.

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