Aqueduct
Two beaten favorites try to rebound
A pair of 2-year-old fillies who failed as odds-on favorites in recent New York-bred stakes following eye-popping maiden victories will try to redeem themselves when clashing in one of the two allowance races carded for Thursday at Aqueduct.
Jovanna, a 12-length winner on closing day of the Saratoga meet, and Noble Fire, a 6 3/4-length winner in September at Belmont Park, are among 10 statebred fillies entered in the eighth of nine races, a $49,000 entry-level allowance at six furlongs.
The other allowance, the fourth race, surely will be one of the final turf races of the fall season at Aqueduct. Only as many as eight fillies and mares will be allowed to start in the $56,000, entry-level allowance at a mile.
In the featured eighth, Jovanna looks like the probable favorite despite her failure to win at 1-5 in the Finger Lakes Juvenile Fillies in her last start Oct. 13. She regressed to a 59 Beyer Speed Figure when finishing second that day, some six weeks after earning an 87 in her Sept. 3 debut at Saratoga. Richard Dutrow Jr. trains Jovanna for the filly's breeders, Joseph and John Marino.
Her main rival appears to be Noble Fire, who sports a similar past performance. After winning for fun at 4-5 on Sept. 28 at Belmont, getting an 82 Beyer, Noble Fire wasn't quite as good next out when she earned a 69 to finish third, beaten a length, as the 3-5 favorite in the Fifth Avenue on the Nov. 11 New York Stallion Stakes program. Linda Rice trains Noble Fire for the Eklektikos Stable LLC.
Other logical contenders include a trio of fillies who won maiden races in their last starts: Palmetto Bluffs, Anlyn, and La Ransom.
In the fourth race, trainers Shug McGaughey and Kiaran McLaughlin appear to hold the strongest hands with Impressionism and Wild Hoots, the respective two-three finishers behind Love Cove in a similar race over the Aqueduct turf Nov. 7. In all, nine fillies were entered, but one of them, Moneypenny, is entered for the main track only.
The card also includes a $53,000 starter-allowance sprint (race 3), which drew a field of eight. First post is 12:30 p.m. Eastern.