By Mary Eddy – NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Pine Brook Farm’s impressive maiden winner Foggy Night will step up to face winners for the first time in Sunday’s $150,000 Tempted, a one-mile main track test for juvenile fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Foggy Night, trained by Butch Reid, Jr., was last seen dominating a one mile and 70-yard maiden special weight on October 19 at Parx Racing on the heels of two sprints to start off her career. She led at each point of call and extended her margin to win by an impressive 11 1/4 lengths under Paco Lopez in a final time of 1:46.04.
“She came out of her last race well, and we knew the distance is what she needed,” said Reid, Jr. “She really stepped up for us with her maiden win. She handled it very well.”
It was the third start for the Florida-bred daughter of Khozan, improving from a pair of runner-up efforts in her first two outings at 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 furlongs, respectively. She was defeated 5 1/4 lengths by returning rival Rosie’s Alibi in her second start, but Reid, Jr. said he is hopeful she can get the better of her familiar rival at a longer distance.
“She was a little green in her first two starts, but that’s part of the learning process for these young fillies,” said Reid, Jr. “She’s learned her lessons well and that’s why I decided to take a shot in here. I would have preferred two turns, but this is what we’ve got right now and I don’t think she’ll have any problem.”
Reid, Jr. said Foggy Night has matured throughout the year.
“She’s come along very well,” Reid, Jr. said. “She was a little high strung when she first came to us from the farm in Florida, and she has really learned to settle down. She trains better and better every day. She was putting a little too much into her morning work, but now she’s learning to enjoy herself. I think that will reflect on her performance as well.”
Lopez will return to the irons from post 3.
MyRacehorse’s Rosie’s Alibi makes her third career outing for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in her first appearance since graduating in the aforementioned maiden over Foggy Night. A bay daughter of Justify, Rosie’s Alibi dueled with Por Una Cabeza for the first two points of call before pulling away at the top of the stretch and scoring a 5 1/4-length victory under Irad Ortiz, Jr. The victory saw her improve from a distant sixth-place finish in her August 21 debut at Saratoga Race Course where she trailed throughout and never fired.
Flavien Prat picks up the mount aboard the $625,000 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale purchase from post 6.
George E. Hall and Annestes Racing’s Crypto Mama arrives as the only horse in the field with stakes experience after finishing second last out in the White Clay Creek on October 14 at Delaware Park.
Trained by Kelly Breen, the daughter of Cloud Computing has finished on the board in each of her four starts, including a maiden score at third asking on September 15 at Belmont at the Big A. There, she led wire-to-wire to score the 1 1/2-length victory under Joel Rosario and defeated a field that included next-out maiden winner Oh Donna.
In the White Clay Creek, Crypto Mama demonstrated her usual frontrunning tactics over a muddy and sealed main track and led through the first three quarters, but was collared in the turn and defeated 3 1/4 lengths by Alma Rosa, who will contest Friday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland.
Trevor McCarthy will pilot Crypto Mama from post 1.
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown and owner Peter Brant, the leading trainer and owner at the recently concluded Belmont at the Big A fall meet, will send out debut maiden winner Good Sam off her pacesetting win on October 2 over a sloppy and sealed Aqueduct main track.
Good Sam, a Good Samaritan bay, broke alertly under Irad Ortiz, Jr. and held a slim advantage over Spelterini for the first half-mile before showing a strong turn of foot and romping to a 4 3/4-length victory in a final time of 1:17.28.
Good Sam has breezed back over the Belmont dirt training track three times since, most recently covering a half-mile in 48.48 seconds on Saturday. A $310,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Good Sam is out of the Twirling Candy mare Twizzler, whose dam is multiple graded stakes winner Twist Afleet.
Irad Ortiz, Jr. retains the mount from post 4.
Rounding out the field are second-out maiden winners Binsky [post 2, Jose Lezcano] for owner D.J. Stable and conditioner Linda Rice; and La Vita Sofia [post 5, Jose Gomez] for trainer Rudy Rodriguez and owners Sofia Soares, Matthew Mercurio, Michael Imperio, Douglas Allocco, Gary Cioffi and Vincent Valente.
The Tempted is slated as Race 3 on Sunday’s 10-race card, which also features the Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua in Race 9. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.
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