3/19/20
Racing at Aqueduct continues with the Cicada
By NY Hot List Staff
At a time when the world struggles to deal with the fear and isolation from the coronavirus pandemic, sports can provide at least some momentary diversions from all of the stress courtesy of horse racing.
At the moment, racing is slated to be held at Aqueduct on Saturday and while there will be no spectators at the Big A or your nearest Catskill OTB outlet, you can still follow the action and wager through your online Interbets account.
As for Aqueduct, the $100,000 Cicada Stakes, a six-furlong stakes for 3-year-old fillies, tops Saturday’s card.
Only five were entered and perhaps the most interesting of them is Cofactor, who will be looking to put the only disappointing effort in a five-race career behind her.
After finishing third in her debut, the daughter of The Factor reeled off three straight wins capped by a victory in the Smart Halo Stakes at Laurel. But after that, she turned in a dull effort in the Dec. 28 Gin Talking Stakes, also at Laurel. After closing from fifth to win the Smart Halo, she was fifth early on once again in the Gin Talking but weakened in the stretch and faded to seventh.
Unraced since then, Cofactor has been working sharply for her comeback for trainer Kelly Breen.
“She came out of her last breeze really well,” said Terri Burch, the racing manager for Stoneway Farm, which owns Cofactor. “In her last race, she threw her head up. She’s a really nice filly but she has her own mind. She wants to do what she wants to do. We freshened her up after that last race and Kelly had this on his schedule as her comeback race. She has been training well. Kelly is just over the moon with her and how happy she seems to be.”
The field also includes Spanish Point, who is shipping in from Florida after finishing third in the Glitter Woman Stakes at Gulfstream Park in her 3-year-old debut. Prior to that, she won the House Party Stakes in November.
“She’s really continued to blossom here in Florida over the winter from last year,” trainer Jorge Abreu. “In her last start, she was in good position for most of the way but had to travel three-wide into the stretch. I thought she still put up a good effort to get a piece of it and she definitely gained some racing experience, which should benefit her going forward.”
The rest of the field includes Two Sixty, Miss Marissa and Ilchester Cheetah.
The nine-race card begins at 1:30 p.m., with the Cicada scheduled as the third race.