Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Indianquest should appreciate added distance
Aqueduct | Race 6 | Post Time 2:40 p.m. (ET)
Paddington (#2) is clearly the class of this field as he drops out of first-level allowance races into this conditioned claimer. He looked so full of promise when he made his first start off the claim for Linda Rice, winning by more than eight lengths two summers ago. However, he has failed to win again in six subsequent starts while producing highly inconsistent form. He’s only made three racetrack appearances in 2024 and he appears to be tailing off once again, failing to make an impact when last seen in September. Rice is now dropping him down to a level at which he should be competitive, but I’m always reticent to take short prices on horses like this.
The Jamie Ness entry looks like his biggest rival, though only one of the pair will participate with apprentice Francisco Martinez named on both runners. Arrow Speed (#1A) looks to be the slightly stronger candidate, having won four of his last seven starts, including two in a row against starter-allowance competition. However, I don’t love that he’s dropping back in for a tag. Jamie Ness has had success on the NYRA circuit recently, but he is just 1 for 27 (4%, $0.32 ROI) with horses racing for a claiming tag at NYRA over five years. That same statistic applies to entrymate Melt With You (#1), who is also in good form but has faced slightly weaker company recently.
Prove Worthy (#5) has the back class to be competitive in a spot like this, but he’s seeking to recapture his best form after taking a steep drop in class at Saratoga this summer. This deep closer often leaves himself too much ground to make up, but he was staying on well at this level last time and shouldn’t mind this stretch-out in distance.
My top pick is Indianquest (#3). He may look slightly overmatched at first glance, but this gelding did show potential early in his career, winning his first couple of starts over a mile. His connections subsequently embarked on a turf experiment that just didn’t work out, and he hasn’t quite regained his best form since coming back to dirt. However, he had a right to need that return from a layoff in October when only beaten a length by former stablemate Prove Worthy. He was claimed out of that spot by low-profile trainer Emron Ibrahim and cut all the way back to 6 1/2 furlongs last time. This long-striding son of Nyquist wants no part of a sprint distance, and he was predictably outrun before staying on late. That race probably served as a means to an end, as he was gradually making up ground across the wire and galloped out with purpose ahead of the entire field. Now he stretches out to a distance that should suit him, and gets a rider upgrade to Dylan Davis. I’m expecting a much better effort at a square price.