Atras enjoys 8-for-10 week, jumps to second in standings

Trainer Rob Atras enjoyed an incredible week at Aqueduct, winning with eight of the 10 starters he sent out from Friday through Sunday. Add in a victory with his lone starter on March 5 and Atras has gone 9 for his last 11 at the Big A.

Atras won six consecutive races at Aqueduct, beginning with Super Quality winning a maiden $20,000 claimer March 5. Atras went 4 for 4 on Friday, including a win by Super Quality for $16,000 claiming. After the streak ended when Jokemeister finished last in Saturday’s sixth race, Atras came back later Saturday to win the $100,000 Correction Stakes with Rossa Veloce.

On Sunday, Atras went 2 for 3, winning a $25,000 claimer with Captivating Cara; finishing second, beaten a halflength, with Old Point; and then winning a New York-bred second-level allowance with Excellent Timing.

Only one horse that Atras sent out last week went off at odds of higher than 3-1, Simply ($9.90), who won a statebred allowance. All five favorites Atras sent out won.

“It’s one of those things where everything was kind of in the right spot,” Atras said. “The previous three weeks I knew we didn’t have a shot where some were in the wrong spots. It was a bit of a struggle. This week, everything lined up.”

The nine wins give Atras 20 for Aqueduct’s winter meet. That puts him second in the standings, nine behind Linda Rice, who enjoyed a four-win day herself Sunday and is 29 for 112 here this winter. The winter meet ends March 26.

The run for Atras was similar to one he enjoyed at Aqueduct in March 2021, when he won eight races from 14 starters in 13 races. That streak also included a victory in the Correction with Sadie Lady. On March 13, 2021, he won four races from five starters.

In winning Saturday’s Correction, Rossa Veloce won for the fourth time in five starts since Atras claimed the filly for $32,000 for owner Robert Derr. Stakes options on this circuit are somewhat limited for the New York-bred mare, so Atras may have to look out of town for her next start.

Excellent Timing, a 5-yearold New York-bred gelding by Not This Time, gave perhaps the most eye-catching performance for Atras, rolling to a 7 1/4-length victory under Manny Franco for his first victory in two years. Excellent Timing ran six furlongs in 1:09.83 – the second fastest of 97 six-furlong races run here this winter – and earned a careerbest 94 Beyer Figure. Excellent Timing hadn’t won since March 2021, when he took the Damon Runyon Stakes. Always fast, Excellent Timing had flashed his speed but couldn’t see it out before Sunday.

“We always thought that horse had that kind of ability,” Atras said. “He always showed in the morning he had a lot speed. He’s a tricky horse to train; he’s a run-off type. My exercise rider has done a very good job with him. Between the exercise rider getting him to relax a bit in the morning and the way Manny rode him, managing his speed early in the race, that made all the difference.”

Excellent Timing could be a candidate for the Affirmed Success Stakes on April 30 at Aqueduct.

When racing resumes Friday, Atras will have two runners on the eight-race card, including Honey Money in the secondlevel allowance/optional $62,500 claiming feature and Twice Smitten in a $12,500 claiming race.

Atras does not have any horses nominated to either of this weekend’s stakes at Aqueduct.

Rice, though, seems to have a pair of top contenders for Saturday’s $100,000 Cicada Stakes in Downtown Mischief and Fancy Azteca. Downtown Mischief, a New York-bred daughter of Into Mischief, is 2 for 2, while Fancy Azteca, whom Rice claimed for $20,000 on Jan. 22, won a starter allowance on Feb. 2.

There were only eight nominees to the Cicada, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies.

Sunday’s $100,000 Damon Runyon for New York-bred 3-year-olds at six furlongs is expected to attract Andiamo a Firenze, Bobby Ride, D’ont Lose Cruz, East Coast Girl, Looms Boldly, and What’s Up Bro.

Capitol rally to support loan

Horsemen, backstretch workers, business leaders, organized labor, and about a dozen or so members of the New York state legislature attended a 30-minute rally Monday at the State Capitol in Albany to support a budget proposal to grant the New York Racing Association a $455 million loan to redevelop Belmont Park.

Supporters are hoping the proposal is included in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget, which is due to be passed by April 1. Hochul has previously announced her support for the plan, which would create thousands of new jobs and ideally stimulate economic activity in Elmont and surrounding areas.

The loan, which would be paid back by NYRA over 20-plus years from proceeds it receives from VLT revenue, would go to renovating Belmont’s dirt main track and two turf courses and perhaps adding a synthetic surface. It also would go toward replacing the current grandstand with a smaller, more modern one. Belmont would also open the infield for fans.

The end goal would be to move all downstate racing to Belmont and allow the state to find a way to best monetize the property in Queens on which Aqueduct sits.