Count Fleet Stakes – Season’s First Stakes Race Sets Off On Aqueduct This Saturday

By Author: Lee Lane-Edgar
Total Articles: 365
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The Count Fleet Stakes will be run for the 36th time this Saturday. Run annually for three year olds, the race lines up strong and ready contenders for the season being the first stakes race of the year. This year, the race has seven finalists competing for the $150,000 purse at the Aqueduct.
Chuck Russo’s Il Villano is by Pollard’s Vision through Do the Wekiva. With a pedigree such as that from a Pimlico Special Handicap second place finisher, Il Villano may have a tough task at hand but following the last year racing statistics comprising of four starts, Villano has managed all in the money. Having proven his comfort and consistence on dirt, the wins at Southampton Stakes and the Lord Henribee Stakes, the latter having been conducted at Aqueduct, Villano may exhibit his prior exposure to the track coupled with confidence. Though the distance will the longest for him for a real-time tournament, Pollard’s pedigree may show him the way.
Rapole Stable’s How Do I Win has been trained by Todd Pletcher and will be jockeyed by the renowned John Velasquez. Despite a not so overwhelming two year old racing season, ...
... the colt has managed to pull off two first place finishes in claiming and allowance races at the Belmont and Aqueduct respectively. Of the 5 starts from last season, How Do I Win stands at 3 in the money finishes and if Pletcher’s exceptional skills are to be believed with Velasquez’s riding, we might be in for some treat here.
Owner Michael Harrison may be gauging this three year old black colt’s capabilities as there isn’t much to show off from the previous season. Whistleblower may have the strong racing skills of the Florida gene but as of now, the colt has failed to establish any presence on the racing arena. Of the three starts last season, pulling off a single victory despite all the races being maiden special weights, the colt has a long way to prove. Trained by Kenneth McPeek, Whistleblower will be raced by Ariel Smith.
The A.P.Indy colt, Stephanoatsee through Oatsee, by the 1990 U.S. Champion Three Year Old, Unbridled, may face a surge of expectations owing to his prestigious pedigree. Sired by the Belmont Stakes winner 1992 along with the Breeder’s Cup Classic, the same year, Stephanoatsee has started thrice as a two year old. Finishing seventh in the Grade2 Remsen Stakes, he has also finished inthe first two place in the remaining two special weight races. Essentially, the Indy colt, half brother to horses like Rags to Riches and Bernardini, there is quite a reputation at stakes.
Sired by Bernardini, who in turn derives his aggressive racing passion from A.P.Indy, comes Alpha, who will be ridden in the Count Fleet Stakes by Garrett K.Gomez. With races like Champagne Stakes and Grey Goose Breeder’s Cup Juvenile in his two year old season, Alpha has already added two grade 1 starts to his maiden racing year and also finished in the money in one. He won his first maiden special weight race and has never been exposed to the Aqueduct racing track. Could that possibly pose a threat to his contention against those who have already raced the track?
With as many as five starts to boast of, comes Speightscity by Speightstown through My American Girl. Finishing eight in the Grade 2 Remson Stakes at 1 1/8 miles and the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles, the colt has experienced long distance races and from the final placements, a mile or longer may seem to pose some difficulty for the young three year old. Speightscity has successfully finished in the money in shorter distance allowance races, with two firsts out of five starts last season. He will be ridden by David Cohen and has been trained by Gary C. Contessa.
The seventh contender for the Count Fleet Stakes is Shakespeare’s trick with Tricky Mistress, Shkspeare Shaliyah. The three year old has started thrice last season with a Pilgrim Stakes, Grade 3 event win under his belt. Having finished ninth in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Turf, the colt’s tolerance of long distances has been tested and the one mile and seventy yards may not be a brand new experience, something that may add some advantage to his chances.
The race starting at 3:37pm on 7th January will be season’s first stakes; anticipations soaring high as the start will soon be followed with major events like Whirlaway Stakes, Whitney and Wood Memorial to name a few.
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