Zoomer, Answer In rematch highlights New York Claiming Championship Day

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Last Dec. 17, Answer In beat Zoomer by a neck in a $40,000 claiming race at Aqueduct. For trainer Robert Falcone Jr., that result was a mixed bag. He lost the race and also Zoomer but he won an 11-way shake to claim Answer In.

Saturday, Answer In and Zoomer meet again in the $80,000 Caixa Eletronica, the richest of 10 starter stakes at Aqueduct on New York Claiming Championships Day. The card offers $620,000 in purses. First post is 1:20 p.m.

Answer In could be part of a big day for Falcone, who has contenders in four of the 10 starter races.

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Answer In has run just once since the Falcone claim, that being a second-place finish to Big Engine, a multiple New York-bred stakes-placed runner, in a high-priced optional claimer on Feb. 19. Falcone had Answer In entered in a race on Feb. 3 but had to scratch when the horse showed signs of colic. The Feb. 19 race had a tougher field.

“He was training real well. I said let’s put him in there and he ran a good race,” said Falcone, who believes the seven furlongs is an advantage for his horse compared to the six furlongs when he last faced Zoomer.

Zoomer is one of the most popular horses on the grounds. Since January 2021, he has been claimed seven times for a total of $367,500.

Since Zoomer’s narrow loss to Answer In, he has won two straight and been claimed out of both races. On Feb. 26, trainer Linda Rice won a five-way shake to claim Zoomer for $62,500. While Zoomer has won five of his last six races contested around one-turn, he is 0 for 2 at seven furlongs.

More Graytful, third behind Answer In and Zoomer on Dec. 17, is back in this field.

Another horse popular at the claim box is Customerexperience, who has been haltered 10 times for $347,500. Falcone has her now and she is one of several contenders in the $60,000 Sis City Stakes going a mile.

“I like her a lot,” Falcone said. “She likes training, her gallops are strong, her breezes are in hand. I’m looking forward to her running a big race. I think she’s better sprinting, but I thought the mile was an easier spot than 6 1/2-furlong [Xtra Heat].”

Among her rivals in the Sis City are Daria’s Angel, who won this race in 2019 and was second in it last year. She is now in the barn of Gary Contessa, a former leading trainer on this circuit who is now based in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Bee Bit and Honey Money are others to consider in the contentious Sis City.

Falcone has had success this winter wheeling back horses on short rest. In the $45,000 Dads Caps, the last race on the card, he runs Magnetron back one week after claiming the gelding out of a win for $10,000. The negative for Magnetron is that was only his fourth win from 45 starts.

Falcone said he thinks No Salt, who has been competitive in the New York-bred allowance ranks, is a standout in the Dads Caps.

“You can’t be afraid to run because of one horse,” Falcone said.

A look at the rest of the starter races:

◗ Supreme Aura hasn’t sprinted in nearly three years, but he could get a nice setup going 6 1/2 furlongs in the $70,000 Peeping Tom. The race is his first start off the claim for Wayne Potts, who is 7 for 14 in March between Aqueduct and Oaklawn Park.

Supreme Aura should get pace in front of him with South Sea and Aristocratic in the field.

◗ Talk about class relief.

Not too many horses running on this card have Life Is Good in their past performances. Last September, Doubly Blessed finished third behind Life Is Good in the Grade 2 Kelso. In his only start since, Doubly Blessed finished second to Green Light Go in the Stymie.

Doubly Blessed should find the company in the $60,000 More to Tell more to his liking. He qualifies for this race because he ran for $16,000 in January 2021.

Tiergan is 5 for 12 since finishing second to Double Blessed in that January race, and looms the biggest threat.

◗ In her two most recent starts, It’s Cold in Dehere rallied to finish second to Glass Ceiling and Hey Mamaluke, both of whom went on to win a stakes. It’s Cold in Dehere seems to have found class relief in the $75,000 Xtra Heat, the first race on the card. She will have to overcome the rail draw but she should get some pace with Cazilda Fortytales and Shesalittle Edgy in the field.

◗ Witch Hunter looks like a short-priced favorite in the $45,000 Belle Gallantey Stakes for fillies and mares who started for a tag of $8,000 or less going seven furlongs. She has three wins and four seconds in her last eight starts. Dylan Davis rides for trainer Charlton Baker.

◗ With three wins and a half-length loss in his last four starts, Dark Money looks very much like the horse to beat in the $55,000 Kelly Kip Stakes at six furlongs. Dark Money has been claimed seven of the last nine times he’s run, and an additional claim was voided. Trainer Tom Morley won a three-way shake to get him for $25,000 on Feb. 19, when Dark Money won by four lengths.

◗ Rob Atras thought he had the horse to beat with Musical Heart in last year’s $75,000 Stud Muffin, a 1 3/8-mile marathon. Musical Heart was defeated by Air Attack, who had been claimed from Atras in his start prior to the Stud Muffin. Atras now trains Air Attack, and he hopes the horse can put up a repeat performance in the Stud Muffin.

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Original Intent, in from Oaklawn, and Blewitt are others in the field who figure to relish the distance.

◗ Ok Honey and Bustin Bay appear to be getting some class relief when they square off in the $55,000 Videogenic for fillies and mares at six furlongs. Bustin Bay beat Ok Honey the last time they met on Jan. 2. Bustin Bay finished fifth in a statebred optional claimer from which he was taken for $45,000 by Potts.