Dr B after her win in the G3 Go For Wand (Joe Labozzetta)
NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Cash is King and LC Racing’s Dr B made the grade with a terrific frontrunning performance in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand, a one-turn mile for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Butch Reid, Jr., the 4-year-old Liam’s Map bay splashed her way to a 4 1/2-length score over graded-stakes placed New York-bred Bank Sting to provide jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. with a record 77th stakes win in a single North American season.
Dr B, who garnered a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure, covered the distance over a sloppy and sealed main track in 1:35.18, besting the 1:35.53 posted by Mind Control one race later in the featured Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets.
“I knew it was a fast race when she ran faster than the Cigar Mile. She’s amazing,” said Reid, Jr. “She speed-popped ’em. I think Irad had that in mind. I saw him giving her a good warmup and I thought he had something on his mind and he did – and he was right.”
Reid, Jr. and Ortiz, Jr. teamed up on November 21 at Mahoning Valley to win the Youngstown Oaks with Disco Ebo to provide the rider with his 76th stakes win of the season, tying the record of the late Garrett Gomez.
The Parx-based conditioner has enjoyed past success with the three-time Eclipse Award-winner for Outstanding Jockey with Ortiz, Jr. guiding Poseidon’s Warrior to a 36-1 upset score at Saratoga in the 2012 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap to give the trainer his first Grade 1 win.
“I got my first Grade 1-winner with Irad and it was his second Grade 1 at the time,” Reid, Jr. said. “To be able to tie and break this record for him is a really neat thing.”
Reid Jr. said Dr B has exited her stellar effort in good order and could target the Grade 3, $250,000 Barbara Fritchie on February 18 at Laurel Park.
“She’s sound and happy, but good and tired. She’ll get a nice rest off that big race before we plot our next step with her,” Reid, Jr. said. “With the kind of numbers she’s throwing out there now, we’ll be looking for some big game. I think the Barbara Fritchie is a possibility. There’s a lot of other spots, so I’ll get together with the owners and talk about a strategy.”
Pine Brook Farm’s Foggy Night finished sixth in the Grade 2 Demoiselle on the Cigar Mile undercard after enduring a troubled trip under Paco Lopez. The Khozan chestnut, runner-up in the Tempted in November here, was in search of a forward trip out of post 3 but Reid, Jr. said she was hampered by the eventual pacesetter, Tribal Queen, who dictated terms from the outermost post 7.
“Going into the first turn, she really got sawed off. The horse from the outside came all the way over to the rail and I thought it was an abrupt move,” Reid, Jr. said. “It took the racetrack away from her and Paco had to take a little hold on her. She kind of threw her head and jumped up and down for a little bit.
“It really cost her position and I believe it took away from her finishing,” added Reid, Jr. “I believe she would have been on the lead had all that not happened and it might have been a different outcome. Paco made his move on the turn and she made the lead very briefly, but once he saw she wasn’t getting there he didn’t abuse her which I really appreciate.”
Reid, Jr. said Foggy Night exited the race in good order and is likely to return to New York and take another shot in a Kentucky Oaks prep.
“She’ll be hanging out up here with us this winter, so she will undoubtedly end up back in New York at some point,” said Reid, Jr. “We haven’t lost any faith in her, she’s a real nice filly and I don’t think the mile and an eighth is a problem.”
Eloquist, a last-out winner of the nine-furlong Discovery on November 27 here, is likely to return to the Big A for the nine-furlong $150,000 Queens County on New Year’s Eve and could be joined by graded-stakes winner Ridin With Biden. Both horses are owned by Cash is King and LC Racing.
Eloquist, a sophomore son of Nyquist, won a pair of optional-claimers ahead of his gate-to-wire score under Lopez in the Discovery, besting multiple stakes winner Barese by a nose in a hard-fought affair over a muddy and sealed main track.
“He was a little tired afterwards with shipping and racing, but he ran the race of his life last week,” Reid, Jr. said. “I’m real happy with how he came out of it, nice and sound. He’s galloping every day and showing a little bounce in his step.”
Reid, Jr. said LC Racing, Cash is King and Gary Barber’s multiple graded-stakes placed Morning Matcha has earned some time off following her rallying third-place effort in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Comely on November 25 at the Big A.
“She had a really rough trip in there, but I was happy with her effort,” Reid, Jr. said. “She’ll be heading down to Barry Eisaman’s place in Ocala. She’s been going steady for well over a year since last Saratoga. She hasn’t missed a dance and has done us proud every time she’s run. She deserves a good two, three months in the sunshine and munching on some grass, and that’s what she’s going to get.”
The 3-year-old Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Central Banker, purchased for $18,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale, boasts a record of 17-4-5-5 for purse earnings of $653,390. She captured the Main Line in March at Parx and earned graded placings when third in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks in July and a solid runner-up try in the Grade 1 Cotilion in September at Parx.
Reid, Jr. has enjoyed a solid run of form in the past month in Big A stakes, posting a record of 5-2-1-1. He could look to improve on that record on Saturday with Cash is King and LC Racing’s multiple stakes-winner Disco Ebo in the $120,000 Garland of Roses at six furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.
The Weigelia sophomore has won her last two starts, including an optional-claiming sprint in October at Penn National ahead of her aforementioned Youngstown Oaks score on November 21.
“I haven’t confirmed that yet, but it’s not out of the question. It’s a little quicker back than I wanted, but she’s training very well and very happy,” Reid, Jr. said. “We’ll see how she is the next couple of days and decide if we’re going to enter on Wednesday or not.”
Reid, Jr. said he is really appreciative of his successful recent run in the Empire State.
“It’s a tough place to win races, but I’m fortunate to have quality horses with good owners, who give me the opportunity to compete in these kind of races,” Reid, Jr. said. “I’m glad for everyone involved. My assistants and the grooms and hot walkers have all done a sensational job. A lot has to go right to have that kind of success and we’ve been very fortunate that it’s worked out.”
