OZONE PARK, N.Y. – While he only beat two horses in a scratch reduced field of three Thursday at Aqueduct, Yo Daddy’s five-length victory in the allowance/optional-claimer likely earned him a shot in the $150,000 Stymie Stakes going one mile here on March 1, trainer Linda Rice said. Over a sealed, muddy track, Yo Daddy rated just off pacesetting Tabeguache, took over from that one leaving the three-eighths pole and while kept in the five-path by Kendrick Carmouche in the stretch, glided away from runner-up Classic Catch. Yo Daddy ran one mile in 1:36.27 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 95. That was the third win from the last four starts for Yo Daddy, a 4-year-old son of Yoshida who Rice trains for Winning Move Stable. The lone defeat in his last four races was a third behind the in-form Mama’s Gold going 1 1/8 miles on Dec. 12, but he bounced back to win a second-level allowance on Jan. 12 by a neck over stakes winner General Banker. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “He seems to like the mud a little bit, the last race was very, very competitive and he ran well,” Rice said. “You never expect a three-horse field, but he ran very well again.” Yo Daddy gave Rice her meet-leading 24th victory, 17 more than Rob Atras who ranks second with seven through the first 21 cards of the winter meet. While Rice is pointing Yo Daddy to the Stymie, she is strongly considering running St. Benedicts Prep in next Saturday’s $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park. St. Benedicts Prep ran three times in January, winning an allowance at Aqueduct on Jan. 2, finishing second by a nose in the What a Summer Stakes at Laurel on Jan. 18, and finishing second in the Interborough at Aqueduct on Jan. 25. If no snow, Spikezone’s a go A forecast that calls for three to five inches of snow, as well as some ice, Saturday night into Sunday morning could put Sunday’s eight-race Aqueduct card in jeopardy of being run. If, however, there is racing, Spikezone will be in from Parx in search of starting a new winning streak in a conditioned allowance scheduled for 6 1/2 furlongs. With 11 wins from 14 starts – including six straight to end the year – Spikezone won the second most races of any Thoroughbred in 2024. He had his win streak snapped on Jan. 28 when he blew the break, rushed up, and finished second to Veeson in a no-condition allowance/optional $100,000 claimer at Parx. While this is a short turnaround for Spikezone, trainer Jamie Ness said when you find a non-stakes race for which Spikezone is eligible, you run. “He’s a horse that I kind of stay away from stakes races. He’s a little bit Lasix dependent so finding races for him is very hard,” Ness said. “The short rest is not ideal so when you find a non-stakes race at that level, when they pop up, you gotta go.” Linda Rice has two of the five runners in this field in El Grande O and Surveillance. El Grande O came off a seven-month layoff to win two allowance races at this distance before finishing a well-beaten sixth in the Alex M. Robb going a one-turn mile on Dec. 28. “We don’t know for sure, he might be better short,” Rice said. “He might be better on Lasix. I may have run him off of a lifetime best too soon back, he could have bounced if you believe in those theories.” Surveillance, in his first start off the claim for $62,500 ran second behind Top Gunner in an optional $80,000 claiming race. Last summer, when in the barn of Wayne Potts, Surveillance won the off-the-turf Troy Stakes at Saratoga. Twenty Four Mamba, now in the barn of Michelle Giangiulio after making his last 15 starts for Charlie Baker, is dropping back to allowance company after running in seven stakes in his last eight starts. He’smyhoneybadger, claimed seven times in his career for a total of $507,500, makes his first start since August when he finished fourth in an allowance at Delaware Park. Civaci, Martinez off mounts Jockey Sahin Civaci took off his mounts at Aqueduct on Friday through the weekend due to back pain he incurred during the running of the races on Thursday, his agent Mike Sellitto said. Sellitto wasn’t sure exactly when Civaci first suffered the back pain but he did complete his commitments through the end of the card. Sellitto said that the stewards wanted to speak to CIvaci about not fully riding out one horse, which is believed to be Fromanothamutha, who it appeared Civaci eased up on in the stretch in race 6 and was beaten a nose for fourth. Civaci, the leading rider at Woodbine last year, has made a favorable impression on horsemen and bettors so far this meet, his first in New York. Civaci has 15 wins from 88 mounts, good enough for fourth in the standings. Meanwhile, Francisco Martinez took off his mounts Thursday through at least Saturday as he was still banged up from a Wednesday spill in which he was involved at Parx. Agent Richard Englander said Friday he was keeping his scheduled mounts for Sunday while Martinez gets further evaluation. Martinez, a five-pound apprentice, is tied for third in the Parx standings with nine wins. He is tied for 10th at Aqueduct with six wins. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.