1/09/20
My Boy Tate seeks an encore in Aqueduct stakes
By NY Hot List Staff
My Boy Tate will try to make it twice as nice in the Say Florida Sandy Stakes as the 6-year-old gelding will take aim at a second victory in Saturday’s featured race at Aqueduct.
Two years ago, My Boy Tate notched a front-running three-length victory in the seven-furlong stakes for New York State-breds and he’ll try for an encore Saturday against six rivals.
The Say Florida Sandy was the fourth of five straight wins for My Boy Tate back in the winter of 2018, who tailed off at the end of the year and then was sidelined for more than a year.
He made his return to the races Nov. 24 and showed no signs of rust as he surged to a 1 ¾-length victory in a New York Stallion Series Stakes at the Big A.
Unraced since then, My Boy Tate has worked sharply for trainer and part-owner Michelle Nevin and looks like one of the horses to beat in Saturdays stakes.
“He just had some minor issues,” Nevin said. “We started back trying to get him fit and he was struggling to get there. It took a little longer than what we thought. He had been training well up towards that last race and he’s come out of that race well and has continued to train well. We’re hoping with that race under his belt he’ll do it again.”
Among the rivals who will tackle My Boy Tate is T Loves a Fight, who was second to him in the Nov. 24 stakes and was third, beaten less than two lengths, most recently against open company in the Gravesend Stakes on Dec. 22 at Aqueduct.
Also a 6-year-old gelding, T Loves a Fight has been no worse than third in his last four starts.
Also on hand will be Celtic Chaos, who won the John Morrissey Stakes at Saratoga but was eighth in his most recent stakes try in the Hudson Handicap. T Loves a Fight was third in that Oct. 19 state-bred stakes at Belmont Park.
The Caretaker enters razor sharp after winning an open allowance race by 4 ½ lengths on Dec. 29.
In his last six starts, which included three races in which he was claimed, The Caretaker has two wins, three seconds and a third.
New to the mix is Aveenu Malcainu, who will be making his first appearance in a NYRA state-bred race since Oct. 4, 2018.
In his two most recent starts, Aveenu Malcainu posted a pair of wins for trainer Jeremiah Englehart in optional claimers at Laurel Park in Maryland.
The field also includes Morning Breez and Arthur’s Hope.
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