OZONE PARK, N.Y. – From how his career began last summer, Vibrant Express didn’t seem the type that would be going for a fourth consecutive victory in February. But that’s exactly what the 4-year-old gelding by Vekoma will be attempting to accomplish in a seven-furlong, second-level allowance for New York-breds that serves as the feature on Friday’s eight-race card at Aqueduct. Vibrant Express debuted for maiden $30,000 claiming at Saratoga last Aug. 31. Sent off the favorite in the eight-horse field, Vibrant Express set the pace before finishing fourth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths. A claim was put in for Vibrant Express, but it was voided after the gelding was found to have bled during the race. Nine weeks later, Vibrant Express returned in the same maiden $30,000 claiming condition. This time, he rolled to an 8 1/4-length victory, but nobody dropped a claim slip on him. Vibrant Express has since come back to win an open starter allowance and then a New York-bred first-level allowance, both in front-running fashion. “He’s always been athletic, a horse I liked, a horse I thought had promise,” trainer George Weaver said. “It’s just the way the game goes; he bled visibly in that debut race at Saratoga and we got lucky enough to keep him. “Getting a race under his belt, we were able to string together some races and he keeps doing better,” Weaver said. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Vibrant Express has good gate speed, which should help him navigate a front-running type trip from the rail Friday under Eric Cancel. “He’s got very similar qualities to his sire, who we’re very familiar with. One of those is he leaves the gate running nicely,” said Weaver, who trained Vekoma, a multiple Grade 1 winner. “He looks like a fast horse.” Vibrant Express will meet a group of seasoned runners, two of whom are in for the optional $45,000 claiming tag – Sheriff Bianco and Braciole. Sheriff Bianco has just one win from his last 28 starts, that coming in the Say Florida Sandy Stakes in February 2025. Braciole won a race similar to this on Dec. 10 when not offered for the claiming price. Rollin in Dough, a 6-year-old gelding, is making his just fourth career start, first since May 2024, and first for Amelia Green, who said she had the horse back in 2024 but had to stop on him due to injury. “He’s doing everything right and seems ready to run, but off a two-year layoff I wouldn’t necessarily be thinking he’s ready to win,” Green said. Green having solid winter Trainer Amelia Green, 14 months into her training career, is enjoying a solid winter. When Two Bits won the Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 6, it was Green’s fifth winner of the year from just 16 starters. It was her 24th career win, third in a stakes, since going out on her own in December 2024. In addition to her five wins in 2026, Green has 12 in-the-money finishes with strings in New York and Turfway Park in Kentucky. “I think a lot of the New York trainers will tell you they like the winter more than the summer when everybody else comes to town,” Green said. “I’m very lucky my horses are running very well right now, very proud of the whole barn.” Two Bits, who has won two of her last three starts, will likely run back in the Grade 3 Gazelle on April 4, Green said, hoping to earn her way to the Kentucky Oaks. This weekend, Green will run the 3-year-old Buntus Foclora, a maiden after five starts, in Sunday’s $500,000 Sunland Park Derby where Kentucky Derby points are being offered. “I wanted to get him on a faster dirt track,” Green said. “When he was doing well last summer, it was when the NYRA tracks were faster. He doesn’t do quite as well on a deeper track.” Green said she was looking to run in a Derby prep that didn’t have horses from the barn of Chad Brown, Brad Cox, or Todd Pletcher. Green entered Ivy Girl in the Sunland Oaks but said that filly will scratch to run in a first-level allowance race at Laurel on Saturday. On Command, who gave Green her first career victory as a trainer in December 2024, is entered in Saturday’s Barbara Fritchie at Laurel, but she will scratch to run in the Correction Stakes at Aqueduct on March 1. Minorinconvenience, a New York-bred 3-year-old who won the Funny Cide Stakes last August at Saratoga, is coming back after being sidelined due to bone bruising. He will be pointed to the Gander Stakes on March 7. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.