Few changes to 2019 stakes lineup

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association will offer 52 stakes worth $7.37 million at Aqueduct in the first third of 2019, according to the schedule it released Friday.

Aside from a few changes to the New York Claiming Championship Day on March 30 and the addition of the $100,000 Bernardini Stakes, the stakes program virtually mirrors that of 2018. The Bernardini, at 1 5/16 miles, will be run March 2.

New York’s series of 3-year-old races that offer qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby remains intact. That series begins with the $150,000 Jerome, a one-turn mile, on New Year’s Day, and continues with the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 2 and the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes, a oneturn mile, on March 9. The series concludes with the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles on April 6.

The Jerome and Withers offer 17 Derby points (10-4-2-1) to its top four finishers, while the Gotham offers 85 (50-20-10-5) and the Wood offers 180 (100-40-20-10).

The April 6 card will be the highlight of the Aqueduct schedule, with five graded stakes – the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, the Wood, Grade 2 Gazelle, Grade 3 Bay Shore, and Grade 3 Excelsior.

The March 9 card, topped by the Gotham, also includes the $250,000 Busher Invitational, Grade 2, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap, and the $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational.

The Busher, a one-turn mile; the Busanda, a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race on Feb. 3; and the Gazelle, a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race, offer qualifying points to the Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.

On March 30, there will be 10 starter races billed as stakes for claimers. The $90,000 Mr. Sinatra and the $80,000 Karakorum Elektra have been eliminated, replaced by the Dads Caps and Belle Gallantey, each worth $45,000 and for horses that started for a tag of $8,000 or less in 2018-19.

There will be 60 days of racing at Aqueduct from Jan. 1 through April 20. Racing will be on a fourday-a-week basis in January and February and three days a week in March. The spring April meet will be only 12 days, beginning April 5.

Racing moves to Belmont on April 26.

Possible delay for G1 winners

Complexity and Sippican Harbor, Grade 1 winners this year on the New York Racing Association circuit, are both recovering from minor issues that may delay their 3-year-old seasons.

Complexity, winner of the Grade 1 Champagne, came out of his 10th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with sore shins, according to trainer Chad Brown. Complexity is getting some time off at Stonestreet Farm in Ocala, Fla.

“I think they were bugging him a little bit on the final turn of the race,” Brown said. “He just wasn’t striding out right, wasn’t his normal self. We took some time to cool them out and address them and start back next year.”

Brown said Complexity will shorten up in distance for his 3-year-old season.

Sippican Harbor, winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, came out of her sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with a chip in an ankle that needed to be surgically removed.

Trainer Gary Contessa said Sippican Harbor is convalescing in Kentucky and will be sent to Palm Meadows, where he will have six or eight horses likely in January.

Dawn the Destoryer rebounds

Dawn the Destroyer ended a five-race losing streak dating to July 2017 with a 4 1/4-length victory in a second-level allowance race Thursday at Aqueduct.

It was her first start since April and first since undergoing a throat operation known as a tie-back, according to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. The tieback helps keep cartilage from interfering with a horse’s airway.

“She came back a different filly,” said McLaughlin, who trains Dawn the Destroyer for Stonestreet Stable. “She filled out, looks fabulous, and was working very, very well.”

Dawn the Destroyer covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:18.04 and earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.

McLaughlin said Dawn the Destroyer could stay in New York for the winter. McLaughlin also trains Dream Pauline, a 3-year-old, for Stonestreet. He said Dream Pauline is being considered for the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita.

Mr. Buff to Alex Robb

Mr. Buff, who won his second race in two weeks on Wednesday, will likely step back into stakes company in the $100,000 Alex M. Robb Handicap for New York-breds on Dec. 29, trainer John Kimmel said Friday.

Mr. Buff, running back 14 days after he won a first-level allowance, took Wednesday’s second-level allowance by 1 1/4 lengths in similar frontrunning fashion.