Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Stand the Rain likely to do better with added distance

Aqueduct | Race 4 | Post Time 2:38 p.m. (ET)

Christophe Clement holds a pretty strong hand in this maiden event, sending out two contenders including the likely heavy favorite. Love You More (#6) is obviously the one to beat off her solid debut performance, in which she finished third with a respectable 82 TimeformUS Speed Figure. That form was validated when the top two finishers came back to place second and fourth behind impressive winner Running Away in the Busanda last weekend. Love You More did take advantage of a pace that fell apart, and she failed to sustain her momentum over the last eighth. However, she really doesn’t have to improve much on that effort to beat this group.

I prefer the other Clement trainee, who will be a better price. Stand the Rain (#7) didn’t get much of a speed figure on debut, running 13 points slower than her stablemate. Yet she was chasing two to three wide on Dec. 27, a day that featured a strong rail bias. She also didn’t get much pace ahead of her as the race was dominated up front by the two speeds. She was never seriously involved after breaking a bit slowly, but she did hit her best stride late and galloped out with vigor after the wire. Her dam was a stakes winner going 1 1/8 miles on dirt, so she should appreciate the added distance, and she physically looks like one who will progress with more ground.