Dr B defends her title in the Go for Wand (G3) Dec. 2 at Aqueduct (Chelsea Durand)
By Keith McCalmont – NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Cash is King and LC Racing’s Dr B will look to cap her racing career in style in Saturday’s Listed $150,000 Interborough, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Butch Reid, Jr., Dr B has won the last two runnings of the Grade 3 Go for Wand in frontrunning fashion over wet tracks here, making the grade in December 2022 with a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure in the one-turn mile contested over a sloppy and sealed track. Last out, on December 2, Dr B successfully defended her title over muddy and sealed footing. The winning effort, which came more than two months after a distant fourth against the boys in the Parx Dirt Mile, garnered an 86 Beyer.
“It was a big effort,” Reid, Jr. said of the title defense. “She really likes that track up there and plenty of time between races seems to be her best M.O. We did the same thing with that in mind coming into this race and hopefully it will work well for us.”
Reid, Jr. noted that the 6-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Liam’s Map, who has banked $583,240 through a record of 22-6-7-2, will likely make her final outing Saturday.
“This will probably be her last start,” Reid, Jr. said. “Right now, the plan is to breed her after this one regardless of the outcome.”
Dr B has breezed back twice at her Parx Racing base, including a half-mile effort in 49.90 seconds Friday in a work that Reid, Jr. indicated was well within herself. The veteran Parx-based conditioner, a six-time stakes winner here at the Big A, said he expects another prominent effort from Dr B exiting post 5 under returning rider Jose Lezcano.
“She broke real sharp last time and was sharp coming into the race. Either on or close to the lead coming away from there has certainly worked well for her,” Reid, Jr. said.
Dr B, out of the graded stakes-placed Proud Citizen mare Boleyn, is a half-sister to the Reid, Jr.-trained stakes winner Stand Up Comic as well as stakes-winner Hi Holiday.
NYRA’ s 2023 leading trainer Linda Rice will saddle a pair of contenders in KEM Stables’ Hot Fudge [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche] and Ron Stewart’s Ain’t Broke [post 7, Eric Cancel], who both enter on a three-race win streak.
Hot Fudge, a 5-year-old Liam’s Map dark bay, missed her 3-year-old campaign but returned in top form last season by posting a record of 7-5-0-1. She completed the comeback campaign with her first career stakes win last out on December 9 here with a neck score in the six-furlong Garland of Roses.
Hot Fudge, whose second dam is the graded stakes-winning Boundary mare Lady Belsara, was purchased for $235,000 at the 2021 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. She has now banked $356,405 through a record of 11-6-1-1.
Ain’t Broke, a 5-year-old Dialed In dark bay, was haltered for $75,000 out of a winning effort for her former conditioner Bret Calhoun in September at Churchill Downs. She is perfect in two optional-claiming starts since at the Big A, drawing off to a 5 1/2-length score in November in a one-turn mile ahead of a five-length romp in a seven-furlong sprint on December 14 over next-out winner Starship Defiant.
Ain’t Broke, a full-sister to dual Grade 3-winner Mr. Wireless, is out of the Arch mare Voussoir, who is a half-sister to stakes-winner Drogue.
Stacy Lalman’s 11-time winner Mosienko [post 1, Luis Rivera, Jr.] will look to pick up her first career back type in just her third attempt.
Trained by Dennis Lalman, the 7-year-old New York-bred daughter of Hat Trick parlayed a four-race win streak in 2022 to a start in that October’s state-bred Iroquois where she finished a non-threatening eighth.
Mosienko, who has had her picture taken six times at the Big A, returned to winning form in March here with an open allowance score ahead of a pace-pressing fourth in the Grade 3 Vagrancy in May at Belmont Park.
The ultra-consistent bay sports a ledger of 42-11-7-4 for purse earnings of $619,806 and arrives from a strong 2 1/4-length score in an open optional-claiming sprint on December 17 here.
Bred in the Empire State by Anthony Grey, Mosienko, a half-sister to stakes-winner Howdyoumakeurmoney, is out of the Elusive Quality mare Exclusively Yours, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-placed General Charley and stakes-winner Truly Lucky.
Mike G. Rutherford’s Kentucky homebred Rosebug [post 2, Manny Franco] will look to improve on a third-place finish last out in the six-furlong Mahoning Distaff on November 20 at Mahoning Valley Race Course.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 5-year-old American Pharoah dark bay boasted a perfect in-the-money record of 6-2-2-2 last year that included back-to-back optional-claiming sprint scores in pace-pressing fashion to start her campaign at Gulfstream Park in January and at Belmont Park in May.
Rosebug, a half-sister to stakes-winner Montauk Traffic, is out of the graded stakes-winning Menifee mare Taittinger Rose, who is a half-sister to multiple group/graded stakes-winner Le Bernardin.
Rounding out the field are stakes-winner Secret Love [post 4, Romero Maragh] for trainer John Kimmel; and nine-time winner Self Isolation [post 3, Isaac Castillo] for owner/conditioner David Jacobson.
The Interborough is slated as Race 8 on Saturday’s nine-race card. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.
