Weaver trio tough to separate in Key Cents
?q=100)
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer George Weaver sends out three runners in Thursday’s $125,000 Key Cents Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct and it’s not easy to separate them in the nine-horse field of 2-year-old fillies going a mile on turf.
Boomington and She’s Country were both debut winners at Saratoga before running in open company stakes. Fancy Lights took three times to win her maiden but did so nicely and the belief is she’ll handle stretching out in distance.
“Not one of them will be a shock to me if they win,” Weaver said.
Boomington, a daughter of Maxfield who brought $260,000 as a yearling at the 2024 Saratoga sale, will be the one running late. In her debut, Boomington had to alter course inside the final furlong but once clear she showed a powerful late run under John Velazquez to get up by a nose.
In the Grade 2 Miss Grillo, Boomington got squeezed back to last at the break and was far off the pace. Still at the back at the head of the lane, jockey Luis Saez did not persevere with her in the stretch. She finished 5 3/4 lengths behind Ground Support, who came back to run a good third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Deep Learning, second in the Miss Grillo, came back to win last weekend’s Chelsey Flower.
“She’s not the quickest horse out of the gate, that puts you at a little bit of a deficit sometimes,” Weaver said. “Certainly, she had too much to overcome in the Miss Grillo. Johnny’s back on her. This is a little softer spot than the Miss Grillo. She’s been training very well, hopefully, she can overcome what deficit she hands herself out of the gate.”
She’s Country, a daughter of Combatant, won her debut by six lengths at Saratoga. She next ran in the Selima Stakes, where she again stalked the pace, but was repelled by pacesetting Celebrity Warrior and ended up fourth to Ultimate Love, who was winning her third consecutive race.
“You couldn’t ask for a better debut. Tried her against better horses, she ran well, but not well enough to hit the board,” Weaver said.
Weaver expects She’s Country to be a forward factor under Javier Castellano while breaking from the rail.
Fancy Lights, a daughter of Galilean, was a pace-pressing winner of a six-furlong maiden race on Oct. 5. Though Ricardo Santana Jr. won on Fancy Lights, he is named to ride Sacred Goddess on Thursday. Flavien Prat has picked up the mount on Fancy Lights.
Maria Callas, a daughter of Caravaggio trained by Chad Brown, finished ninth behind Boomington on debut then came back to win a six-furlong maiden race on Oct. 3. Brown said keeping Maria Callas with New York-breds is key and that’s why she’s in this spot.
“I don’t want to condemn her two-turn race. It was her debut, a mile and a sixteenth, Saratoga, maybe I didn’t have her prepared mentally,” Brown said. “Her sprint was very good. Maybe that’s what she wants to do, but it’s too early in her career to pigeonhole her.”
Miss Moxee, a daughter of Son of Thunder trained by Linda Rice, won two of three starts over the synthetic surface at Presque Isle Downs and makes her turf debut in this spot.
Cosmic Candy Girl, beaten a nose by Boomington at Saratoga, came back to win a maiden race on Sept. 27.
Neshika comes off a maiden win here on Oct. 23. Considerate City and Sacred Goddess complete the field.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.