Thinking It Over has hot team going for her in Franklin Square Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When in doubt, go with the hot hand.

That could be one way to approach handicapping Saturday’s $100,000 Franklin Square Stakes at Aqueduct, where there is nary a standout and perhaps only two throwouts among the nine New York-bred 3-year-old fillies set to run 6 1/2 furlongs.

Trainer Ray Handal and jockey Dylan Davis are 4 for 9 together at the Aqueduct winter meet. They team up with Thinking It Over, one of four debut winners making their second start in this spot.

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Thinking It Over won on Nov. 12 in an off-the-turf race here that went with 11 runners. Breaking from the outside post under Davis, Thinking It Over showed good tactical speed, racing a joint third while four to five wide down the backstretch.

She engaged the pace-prompter Bank On Anna in midstretch and gradually moved away from that rival to win by 1 1/4 lengths over a sealed, muddy track.

“She trained very forward in the morning,” said Handal, who is 5 for 19 at the meet. “I thought she would be pretty tough first time out just because she was sharp away from the gate. When she drew the outside post, I was even more confident. You worry about them getting kickback for the first time and we ruled that out with outside post.”

Thinking It Over again has the outside post. She also has a solid work tab in the interim.

“Naturally, she’ll progress like a lot of my horses do in their second start,” Handal said.

The horse Handal fears is Leeloo, who beat the Handal-trained Ribot’s Valentine by 7 3/4 lengths in a Dec. 11 maiden race. Ribot’s Valentine came back to win her next start by 6 1/2 lengths last Saturday.

Leeloo, a daughter of Practical Joke who brought $150,000 at auction as a yearling, ran a deceptively good sixth on debut. She was off slow, rushed into contention, fought on until deep stretch while not being asked for everything, and got beat two noses for fourth.

“She made a few mistakes – they were minor mistakes – got a good education and improved for her second run,” said David Duggan, who trains Leeloo for Kingsport Farm.

Leeloo was one of three next-out winners who finished behind Franklin Square entrant Sterling Silver in a six-furlong race here on Nov. 21. Sterling Silver was a fortunate winner of a bob and won despite lugging in some in the stretch.

“Maybe just greenness,” trainer Tom Albertrani said of the lugging in. “My horses don’t generally win first time out. They seem to get better with another race or two, so we’re hoping she makes a step forward.”

Moam won her debut with a rail run at Saratoga on Aug. 26, but hasn’t run since. She is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Sharp Starr.

Shesawildjoker has five starts with two wins. Trained by David Donk, she won the Shesastonecoldfox Stakes at Finger Lakes in October, sandwiched between third-places finishes behind unbeaten Classy Edition in the Joseph A. Gimma Stakes at Belmont and the Key Cents Stakes at Aqueduct.

Pace figures to be provided by Sandy’s Garden and Thin Legs. Flip My Id, who tries dirt for the first time, and Meraviglioso, a debut winner for maiden $40,000 claiming, complete the field.