Trip will be key for allowance favorites

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Bullheaded Boy and Tizquick didn’t have smooth sailing when finishing heads apart while second and third behind Good Luck Gus in the $100,000 Damon Runyon Stakes here Dec. 14.

Handicappers likely will try to determine which one had more difficulty when deciding whom to back in Friday’s $57,000 allowance feature for New York-bred 3-year-olds at Aqueduct. A field of 10 was entered for the race at a mile and 70 yards.

It would appear that both horses do their best running from off the pace, but perhaps Bullheaded Boy was forced farther back than his connections might have preferred after bumping with horses on either side of him at the start of the Damon Runyon.

Meanwhile, Tizquick was actually last and forced to steady entering the first turn. He raced widest of all before making what looked to be a winning move in the stretch and flattening out.

Those looking to beat the two likely favorites may land on All Is Number, who will have to overcome the outside post 10 in his first start around two turns after winning his debut sprinting.

KEY CONTENDERS

Bullheaded Boy (Last 3 Beyers: 70-69-72)

◗ He has four stakes placings since winning his debut sprinting at Saratoga in July.

◗ Last after the opening quarter-mile in the Damon Runyon, he launched a bid 4 1/2 furlongs from the wire. Inside for a good part of that bid, he had to await running room before being switched to the outside by Jose Ortiz.

“He got shuffled back, put in a very good, long, sustained run,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He’s always been a little green on changing leads and polishing off the end of a race. He’s got some talent. It would be nice to see if we can get him into the flow of a race a little earlier and see what happens.”

Tizquick (Last 3 Beyers: 70-56-72)

◗ After breaking slowly, he was impeded by stablemate J C’s Not Brown in the early stages of the Damon Runyon. He made an early move that he could not sustain through the stretch but was beaten only 1 1/2 lengths by Good Luck Gus.

“The horse is really a nice mover; a big, solid horse,” trainer John Kimmel said. “Once he got in a good rhythm, he wound up still making a run. If he had any kind of breaks in the race, he might have won.”

◗ Kimmel noted that Tizquick is a notoriously bad gate horse.

All Is Number (Beyer: 75)

◗ Trained by Rick Violette, he was confidently handled when pressing the pace three wide en route to a good-looking 3 1/4-length debut win over a sealed, muddy surface Dec. 3.

◗ Chasing Bubbles, last in that race, came back to win two straight, including a division of the New York Stallion Stakes. Apollo Eleven, fourth in that Dec. 3 race, was beaten a neck when second in his next start. Those are the only two horses to have run back from that race.