Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Time to Roll should appreciate turnback in distance
Aqueduct | Race 7 | Post Time 3:35 p.m. (ET)
Pantherian (#2) is likely to be a clear favorite in this spot despite failing to cross the wire first on debut, only awarded that victory after the fact by the stewards. He was legitimately bumped by today's rival Wamo in the late stages of that race, but it's debatable that he was ever going by that foe. Pantherian is the only second time starter in this field so he inherently will be perceived as possessing more upside than the rest. He also gets a rider switch to Flavien Prat, another component that will weigh down his price.
Wamo (#3) might have run better than Pantherian when they met on Oct. 24, and he was clearly best last time when breaking slowly and making a wide run into contention. He had to work hard for that victory but was beating a pretty strong maiden group. He may need to run faster to win here, but he has been improving with every start.
Gaming Wizard (#5) is one of two horses exiting the Sleepy Hollow Stakes, where he chased the pace while racing wide throughout before fading to fourth. He failed to build on his impressive maiden score two back when he demolished an off the turf field by over 13 lengths. I do think this horse is talented enough to win at this level, but I'm not sure that the turnback to seven furlongs helps him.
I do like the turnback for the other horse exiting the Sleepy Hollow. Time to Roll (#7) actually broke his maiden on that same Sep. 26 card as Gaming Wizard, and did achieved the slower final time and speed figure. However, I liked the way Time to Roll put away his pace rivals and opened up on that field in upper stretch before getting leg weary late. He was another horse contesting the pace in the Sleepy Hollow, from which early leader Fourth and One came back to win last week with a career-best speed figure. Time to Roll has never raced shorter than a mile, but he is by versatile sire Not This Time out of a dam who was a pure turf sprinter. I think this shorter trip should suit him, and now he's drawn well outside of all the other speed.