Waves of Blue goes for softer spot in Ruthless

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After Waves of Blue won her debut at Gulfstream Park, the logical next step for the young filly seemingly would have been Saturday’s Grade 3 Old Hat Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Logical perhaps, but trainer David Fawkes didn’t think it was the sensible spot.

Instead, Fawkes shipped Waves of Blue to New York, where she appears to have found an easier spot in Sunday’s $100,000 Ruthless Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going six furlongs at Aqueduct. Waves of Blue drew the rail in a field of six.

“We looked at the Old Hat, and it’s just too tough here for a second race,” Fawkes said Friday from south Florida.

Waves of Blue, a daughter of Quality Road who sold for $210,000 as a yearling, took advantage of a great break from the gate to record a 1 1/2-length, front-running victory Dec. 11 at Gulfstream. Running on a sloppy track and in a driving rain, she opened up a 5 1/4-length lead and then held off a run from Seam, a Todd Pletcher-trained first-time starter.

“She’s very, very fast, and that’s what I’m hoping is the advantage,” Fawkes said.

There is other speed in the Ruthless, most notably in Yorkiepoo Princess and Bride Street in posts 5 and 6.

Yorkiepoo Princess comes off a front-running score in the Furlough Stakes over Aqueduct’s main track on Thanksgiving Day. Trainer Ed Barker thought Yorkiepoo Princess might stalk the pace that day. Instead, she won gate to wire.

Despite the presence of other speed in the race, Barker said he thinks Jose Ortiz – filling in for his suspended brother Irad – should send Yorkiepoo Princess to the lead Sunday.

“I’ll leave it up to Jose, but if it was me, I’d go,” Barker said. “She’s a fighter.”

Barker also plans to run Kissin Cassie, hoping she can pick up a third-place finish and get stakes-placed.

Banty’s Girl, a maiden winner over the inner track Dec. 18, could be the beneficiary of a contested pace.

The Ruthless will go as race 3 on a nine-race card that begins at 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

KEY CONTENDERS

Waves of Blue, by Quality Road
Beyer: 67

◗ Looks like the one to catch and beat following sharp debut victory in the slop at Gulfstream.

◗ Waves of Blue is a half-sister to the graded stakes winner Glorious View, who was a two-time winner over Aqueduct’s inner track.

Yorkiepoo Princess, by Kantharos
Last 3 Beyers: 85-51-73

◗ Has had six weeks to recover from the fast-figured victory in Furlough Stakes.

“She’s been on top of her game since the day she came out of that race,” Barker said. “I backed off her a little bit for a couple of weeks because that race she ran was a freaky fast race. She’s a very, very easy horse to train.”

Bride Street, by Street Cry
Beyer: 66

◗ Used the rail and her speed to her advantage when recording a front-running victory in her career debut over the Aqueduct main track Nov. 27. The horse she beat that day, Forever Liesl, came back to win a maiden race at Laurel by 5 1/4 lengths Dec. 31.