Toni Tools risks win streak, stretches out in Maddie May
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Toni Tools will put her three-race winning streak on the line while attempting two turns for the first time in Sunday’s $100,000 Maddie May Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.
Toni Tools will take on five horses who all have just won their maidens in the Maddie May, which goes at one mile and 70 yards as race 7 on the eight-race card.
Toni Tools began her career in the barn of Dominick Schettino. After finishing 10th in her debut on turf at Belmont, she finished second in an off-the-turf maiden race at Saratoga on Aug. 26.
Transferred to Todd Pletcher after a merger of ownership stables, Toni Tools won a maiden $40,000 claiming race on dirt at Belmont. She won a starter allowance Nov. 23 before rallying from last, 10 lengths back, to win the Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series going six furlongs on the inner track.
Toni Tools is a daughter of Roaring Fever, who won the Alysheba Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at the Meadowlands and is out of the Smart Strike mare Patine, whose lone win from 14 starts came going 5 1/2 furlongs.
“The way she trains, the way she runs give us confidence that we can stretch her out and give her a shot,” Byron Hughes, the Belmont Park-based assistant for Pletcher, said about trying two turns with Toni Tools.
Cha Cha Heels, trained by Rudy Rodriguez, won her maiden by nine lengths going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 3. Prior to that, she ran two solid races on turf going a route of ground.
Bree’s Got Heart, Dublin Girl, Bliss to You, and Treatherlikestar complete the field.
KEY CONTENDERS
Toni Tools, by Roaring Fever
Last 3 Beyers: 57-55-57
◗ Brings a three-race winning streak into this spot, albeit all in sprint races.
DRF FORMULATOR Fact: Over the last three years, Pletcher is 3 for 22 with a $2.33 ROI in restricted or statebred stakes while going from a sprint to a route.
Bree’s Got Heart, by Colonel John
Last 3 Beyers: 47-56-43
◗ She has finished in the money in all five of her dirt starts, including thirds in two statebred stakes races.
◗ Ran a very good second in a statebred allowance Dec. 8, when she was bumped by the eventual winner three times in the stretch before losing by only a length. An objection by jockey Frankie Pennington against the winner was surprisingly disallowed.
◗ Finished third behind Bonita Bianca in the East View over a wet track.
“She’s a bit of a quirky filly,” trainer Butch Reid said. “She seems like she gets to the horses at the head of the lane, then backs off a little bit and comes again. I’m hoping that Frankie knows her now and that you can’t quit riding on the turn because she’ll come on again.”
Cha Cha Heels, by Mission Impazible
Last 3 Beyers: 52-59-53
◗ Benefitted from a perfect trip when coasting to a nine-length win over the main track Dec. 3.
◗ Beaten a neck in a maiden turf race last November by Fifty Five, who came back to win an open first-level allowance at Gulfstream on New Year’s Day.
