Wednesday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Top Gun Rocket should appreciate turnback in distance

Aqueduct | Race 4 | Post Time 2:42 p.m. (ET)

The main contenders are pretty hard to separate in this allowance/optional claimer that serves as Wednesday’s co-feature. Toxic Gray (No. 4) bounced back to form in his second start off the layoff last time. He was no match for the talented One Nine Hundred, who looks bound for stakes events, but he did finish well clear of the rest while earning a 118 TimeformUS Speed Figure, the highest of his career. A similar performance in this spot makes him a major player, but he will have to stretch his speed to seven furlongs.

That distance also is a minor concern for Vettriano (No. 7), who may play out as the controlling front-runner from his outside post. He finished well behind Toxic Gray in that Jan. 9 race at this level, but he was racing on the wrong part of the racetrack. Outside paths were preferred that afternoon, and Vettriano was stuck down on the rail nearly throughout. I still have some reservations about taking him going this far, but he is a rebound candidate.

I'm going in a different direction with Top Gun Rocket (No. 3), who is actually cutting back in distance for this race. He caught a pretty tough field at this level last time when beaten by the talented Todd Pletcher-trained duo of Donegal Surges and Be You. He also didn’t get a particularly good trip in that spot, getting steadied badly at the quarter pole before trying to rally in tight quarters down inside late. He doesn’t really want to go two turns, so I can excuse his effort two back, and he got a wide trip out of the Wilson chute in his only other poor performance back in August. This horse had sprinted effectively in late 2024, and I believe he’ll be capable of achieving a better result as he finally turns back to a shorter distance.

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