Works for Me wins an allowance June 27 at Aqueduct (NYRA/Coglianese)
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By Christian Abdo – NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – KatieRich Stables, Christopher Connors and Lawrence Appel’s New York-homebred stakes-winner Works for Me hopes to work out a winning trip in Friday’s $135,000 Carle Place, a six-furlong outer turf sprint for sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.
Trainer Joe Lee recently earned his first graded win with May Day Ready in the Grade 2 Jessamine on October 4 at Keeneland and he looks to continue the stakes success with Works for Me [post 2, Flavien Prat] in the Carle Place. The Daddy Long Legs chestnut has posted two works since a fifth in the 5 1/2-furlong Listed Mahony on August 11 at Saratoga Race Course.
“He’s doing good, feeling good. He’s a nice horse, I just wish the preparation was a little bit different going into this,” said Lee. “He lost a shoe and kind of grabbed himself, so we had to back off a little there, but nothing major, just things that happen.”
The Mahony did not go according to plan for Works for Me, finding himself 11 lengths back in last-of-9 early and only being able to get up for fifth, defeated 1 3/4 lengths by Fandom, who bested returning foe Run Carson by a neck.
“Unfortunately, we were a little further back than we had hoped. At the three-eighths pole, I’m not sure whether he was twelve or fifteen lengths back but usually he is more forward than that,” Lee said. “He still made up a lot of ground. He was wide, actually got bumped a couple of times in the lane, and still only got beaten one length and three quarters.”
Lee won his first stakes race as a head trainer last November with Works for Me in the local six-furlong state-bred Notebook on dirt. It was a breakthrough win for the horse as well, who had previously placed against open company in the Listed Futurity and Atlantic Beach here last fall.
“He is just getting bigger and stronger,” said Lee. “I think if we had a couple more weeks until the Carle Place, we’d be in very good shape.”
Works for Me, out of the winning Soldat mare Bella’s Game, boasts a lifetime record of 11-3-2-2 with $235,255 in earnings.
Boardwalk Racing, KEM Stables, Joseph Romano, William Belford and David Fishbein’s stakes-placed Little Ni [post 1, Dylan Davis] is set for his turf debut in his sixth career start.
Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the Mohaymen gray finished off-the-board last-out in the seven-furlong Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 24 at Saratoga Race Course. He did not run back to the form of his previous nose defeat to Grade 1-winner Book’em Danno in the six-furlong Jersey Shore on July 19 at Monmouth Park, when in the care of conditioner Eddie Owens, Jr. – a performance that garnered a field-high 101 Beyer Speed Figure, albeit on dirt.
Shane Tripp, assistant trainer to Casse, said Little Ni moved well over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training turf with a half-mile breeze in 48.65 seconds on September 20.
“He had a good work up there before we came down here, a little bit after the meet ended. Since he has been back here, he has really blossomed. He is really comfortable and has put on some weight,” said Tripp. “He is training forwardly so we are excited to run him.”
Little Ni entered the Jersey Shore a perfect 3-for-3, all comfortable victories sprinting six furlongs on dirt.
“I think he is going to like the grass,” said Tripp. “I still wouldn’t count dirt out of his future, but this will be a nice spot to bring him back. When he worked on the grass, we thought he really liked it.”
Little Ni is out of the winning Malibu Moon mare Elraazy, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winner J Be K.
Pura Vida Investments’ stakes-winner Smokey Smokey [post 9, Luis Rivera, Jr.] will get some class relief for trainer Mike Maker following an off-the-board finish in the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 1 Franklin-Simpson on September 7 at Kentucky Downs.
The Mendelssohn bay won the six-furlong Listed Paradise Creek in May here ahead of a fifth in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Quick Call presented by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in July at the Spa and the aforementioned Franklin-Simpson effort.
Bred in Kentucky by Sanford Robertson, Smokey Smokey is out of the War Front mare Weaponry, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-placed Jessica Krupnick.
Cypress Creek Equine’s Barksdale [post 6, Ramon Vazquez] has competed over a variety of surfaces and distances for trainer Will Walden, but one thing is for certain: the Street Sense dark bay has some serious early speed.
Barksdale has set or attended the pace in 6-of-7 starts this year, including in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun sprinting seven furlongs on dirt in June at the Spa and the one-mile Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on turf in August there.
Barksdale is set for his turf sprinting debut, as he looks for a trip to the winner’s circle for the first time since taking a seven-furlong dirt starter allowance in April at Keeneland.
Rounding out the field are stakes-placed Run Carson [post 4, John Velazquez] for trainer Kelsey Danner and Typhoon Fury [post 7, Ruben Silvera] for conditioner John Toscano, Jr.; three-time winner One Sharp Cookie [post 3, Jose Lezcano] for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.; and a pair of George Weaver-trainees in four-time winner Live High Live Low [post 8, Manny Franco] and maiden-winner Twisted Filigree [post 5, Eric Cancel, blinkers ON].
The Carle Place is slated as Race 9 on Friday’s 10-race card, which also features the re-scheduled Listed $150,000 Glen Cove in Race 5. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
