Turco Bravo coming into Queens County a fresher horse

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The last time Turco Bravo raced over Aqueduct’s inner track, he won the $98,000 Stymie Stakes as the 9-1 longest shot in a five-horse field. It’s his only win in nine starts in 2015.

On Saturday, Turco Bravo will return to Aqueduct’s inner track and likely be a longshot again in the $100,000 Queens County Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.

Turco Bravo, a 6-year-old Chilean-bred gelding, went to the sidelines after a seventh-place finish in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup at Parx on Sept. 7. That was his 12th race in 11 months since coming to the U.S. from Chile. He has made 11 of those starts for Winning Move Stable and trainer Gary Contessa.

“We probably went to the well once too often,” Contessa said. “I was probably a little overzealous. After that race, he was a dead-tired horse. He bled a little bit, got a little sick. We gave him a break.”

Contessa is ecstatic with the way Turco Bravo is training coming into the Queens County. Turco Bravo twice breezed a mile, including last Sunday, when he went that distance in 1:43.55 over the Belmont training track.

“That was as good as I’ve ever had a horse work,” Contessa said. “He was full of run at the end. I could not ask for him to be training any better.”

Turco Bravo finished fifth in last year’s Queens County. He finished second to Micromanage at 18-1 in the Jazil Stakes and was third to North Slope at 7-1 in the Evening Attire before winning the Stymie.

Contessa said Dylan Davis will ride Turco Bravo in the Queens County against a field that is expected to include Tommy Macho, Kid Cruz, Desvelo, Perfect Title, and possibly Financial Modeling.

◗ Jockeys Gabriel Saez and Junior Alvarado were assessed three-day riding suspensions for recent incidents at Aqueduct. In both cases, the suspensions were reduce from five days for the riders waiving their right of appeal.

Saez will sit out Wednesday through Friday for allowing his mount Bonnie K to drift out and impede The Giant is Lit during the ninth race Dec. 6. Bonnie K finished fifth, and The Giant is Lit finished ninth, though the stewards did not take any action regarding the order of finish.

Alvarado will sit out Friday through Sunday for his ride on Piloting, who came out and impeded two other horses in last Friday’s fifth race. Piloting was disqualified from first and placed third.