NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Curragh Stables’ graded stakes-placed Fluid Situation will make both his return to the races and to the main track in Friday’s featured Race 7, a 6 1/2-furlong third-level optional claiming tilt, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by John Terranova, the son of Warrior’s Reward has not raced since a narrow victory in an October optional claimer at Belmont at the Big A where he sported blinkers for the first time and led at each point of call before fending off the bid of Legends Can’t Die to win by a nose. He completed the six furlongs in a final time of 1:08.73.
“It was first-time blinkers, so that kind of got him real focused,” said Terranova. “Ever since then, he’s been really in the zone. Let’s hope this surface suits him on Friday.
“We just didn’t know where we were going and we wanted to find this type of race down south, but nothing was really written,” Terranova added about the nearly two-month gap in starts. “We won the ‘2X’ twice, so this is just how it worked out.”
Friday’s race will mark the 5-year-old’s first start over dirt since finishing a prominent third in a seven-furlong optional claimer in December 2022 at Tampa Bay Downs. He graduated at third asking on the dirt in a seven-furlong maiden in March of that year at Tampa ahead of a distant third-place finish in the one-mile Grade 3 Dwyer two starts later at Belmont Park.
Terranova said he is pleased with Fluid Situation’s recent breezes, including a three-furlong move in 37.01 seconds yesterday over Belmont’s training track.
“Turf is his thing, but he’s a big, strong colt and is doing very well,” said Terranova. “We just figured this race is coming up and he’s doing so well – why don’t we try it again? He’s run some good races on the dirt and he does handle it, depending on how the track is. He likes a tighter track, so we’ll see. Everything is going really well.”
Terranova added Friday’s contest, which features a field that includes multiple graded stakes-placed entrants Factor It In and Nova Rags, could serve as a springboard to the five-furlong Turf Dash on February 17 at Tampa, a race he finished third in last year.
“He could end up down in the Turf Dash,” said Terranova. “We just wanted to keep him competitive.”
Fluid Situation, who boasts a 15-4-0-5 lifetime record, will emerge from post 5 in rein to five-pound apprentice Luis Rivera, Jr.
