Weigh the Risks might be something special on dirt

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though she had always trained well on dirt, Weigh the Risks was intended to be good on turf. At least that’s what trainer Chad Brown believed.

“With all the Mendelssohns I had, they were better on turf, so I was really excited about her that if she’s better on turf based on her solid works on dirt, I might have something special,” Brown said.

Weigh the Risks had just one win from six starts on turf. Based on her one race over a dry dirt surface, Weigh the Risks still has time to be special. Sunday, she will seek a second straight dirt win in a second-level allowance at one mile that serves as the feature on Aqueduct’s eight-race card.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

On Nov. 16, Weigh the Risks romped to a nine-length win going a mile in a first-level allowance at Aqueduct. She earned an eye-catching 96 Beyer Speed Figure.

Brown said he went into that race with a little trepidation only because her previous dirt race last May resulted in a seventh-place finish. That race did come over a sloppy Churchill Downs track.

“That race kind of confused us,” Brown said. “She worked better than she ran. I guess it was the surface.”

If Weigh the Risks runs another good race on dirt Sunday, Brown said he would likely point her to the $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational here on Feb. 22.

Trainer Linda Rice entered the pair of Just Music and Sue Ellen Mishkin in this race. Rice said Friday that Just Music would run, but Sue Ellen Mishkin likely will not. Just Music won a first-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles on Dec. 6, but did win a starter allowance going a mile at Saratoga in August.

“She’s pretty versatile, you can put her on the lead and she can come from behind,” Rice said. “I like her better at a mile and an eighth, but I think she can do the mile, and that’s the way the [condition] book lays it out.”

Courbe, fourth in this condition to the repeating winner Patricia Ann, and Midtown Lights and Golden Rocket, third and fourth, respectively, in the Bay Ridge Stakes for New York-breds last out, are others to consider.

Ward eyes Derby preps

Trainer Wesley Ward is looking at upcoming Kentucky Derby points-scoring races from coast to coast for two of his 3-year-olds.

Touchy, second as the favorite in the Turfway Prevue Stakes on Jan. 4 at Turfway Park, is being pointed to the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes on March 1 at Aqueduct. Clock Tower, winner of the Cecile B. DeMille Stakes on turf at Del Mar, is being pointed to the Grade 3, $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 1 at Santa Anita.

Touchy, a son of Nyquist, has raced three times on dirt, winning a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race at Keeneland in October after racing twice in stakes – a second in the Tremont and fourth in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special – to begin his career.

Ward said he knew Touchy was not totally prepared from a fitness standpoint for the Prevue, a 6 1/2-furlong race run over synthetic.

“He only had a couple of works going into the race,” Ward said. “I thought he’d win based on his ability, but the other horse [Coming in Hot] came back on short rest and just smoked us. No real excuse. Joel [Rosario] made a middle move, he rushed up from the back of the pack, bullied his way though. I don’t know if the fitness factor got us a little bit.”

Clock Tower, a son of Not This Time out of a Grade 3 dirt stakes-winning mare, had a second and a third on dirt in maiden races before going 2 for 3 on turf, including the DeMille on Dec. 1 at Del Mar. The Robert Lewis is expected to be the 3-year-old debut for Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull.

“He was second at Saratoga going a mile and he’s doing really well,” said Ward, who has two horses stabled at Santa Anita this winter. “We got to hook Citizen Bull, which the good news is Citizen Bull could scare off some of the competitors, but the bad news is we have to go against Citizen Bull. But we’ll see what we have.”

Nakatomi possible for Tom Fool

Nakatomi, who won the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga in July, will return for his 6-year-old season, and that may begin in the Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool Stakes on March 1 at Aqueduct.

Ward said that he is trying to get Nakatomi back to the Grade 1, $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen in April at Meydan. Nakatomi finished third in that race last year. In 2024, Nakatomi prepped for the Golden Shaheen in the Pelican Stakes at Tampa, where he was third. In 2023, Nakatomi finished third in the Tom Fool.

Nakatomi, who finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, worked a half-mile in 49.40 seconds Thursday morning at Payson Park in Florida.

◗ Principe d’Oro, a 6-year-old ridgling by Medaglia d’Oro who had won two straight races, suffered a fatal breakdown during a workout Friday morning at Belmont Park. Trainer Gustavo Rodriguez said the horse had a non-salvageable injury to his right ankle.

Jockey Romero Maragh was aboard for the workout. Maragh went to a local hospital, where X-rays were negative, but he took off his mounts Friday due to elbow and general body soreness, according to his agent, Rudy Rodriguez Jr.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.