Baby Yoda Hopes to Blast Off in Kelso at Aqueduct
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Baby Yoda winning an Oct. 7 race at Aqueduct Racetrack
A year ago, the Sept. 25 Kelso Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park was the perfect vehicle to prepare Life Is Good for a victory in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
On Oct. 29, the $300,000 Kelso will have a completely different use.
With Belmont Park in the midst of construction work, the Kelso will be contested at Aqueduct Racetrack at a date that eliminates the specter of a Breeders' Cup hopeful appearing in the entries.
The thought process behind its new position on the New York Racing Association calendar was to convert the one-turn mile Kelso into a stepping stone to the Dec. 3 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1), also at the Big A.
To hammer that point home, the first four finishers will receive free nominations and starting fees for the $750,000 Cigar, meaning only two of Saturday's starters will not head home with an early Halloween treat courtesy of NYRA.
A field of six was drawn for the Kelso, highlighted by the answer to a relevant trivia question.
Who was second when Flightline recorded his first grade 1 victory?
The answer, of course, is the darling of every Star Wars fan: Baby Yoda .
Since finishing second by 11 1/2 lengths to the still undefeated Flightline in the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes (G1), Baby Yoda's spaceship has taken him on a ride with several wild curves in his last seven starts. A four-time winner in allowance and starter races during that stretch, the 4-year-old's two appearances in stakes resulted in fourth place finishes in both the Forego Stakes (G1) and the True North Stakes (G2) for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
The Florida-bred son of Prospective , owned by Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, and Jerold Zaro, took a lightsaber to his rivals last time out, winning an Oct. 7 allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct by a decisive 10 3/4-length margin.
The Kelso will also mark a return to Aqueduct for Morello , who won the mile Gotham Stakes (G3) in March at the Big A. The 3-year-old son of Classic Empire trained by Steve Asmussen was freshened after finishing sixth in both the Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) and the Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun (G1). Owned by Blue Lion Thoroughbreds, Iapetus Racing, and Diamond T Racing, he returned Oct. 8 with a 2 3/4-length score in an allowance optional claimer at Laurel Park.
"The plan was to give him some time off, let him be a horse, and let him get back into training with Toby (Sheets, Asmussen's New York-based assistant). He did an outstanding job with him over the winter and right around this time," said Dave Lyon of Blue Lion Thoroughbreds. "We feel like we've got ourselves a fresh horse and we have to remind ourselves that he's still only 3 years old, so we're hoping the best is in front of him."
Bold Ruler attracts a field of 10
The Bold Ruler Stakes (G3) produced a Cigar Mile winner in 2019 when Maximum Security took both races, and Saturday's edition of the six-furlong stakes could also uncover a sprinter willing to stretch out for the final grade 1 of the year in New York.
The final graded stakes of the Belmont at the Big A meet, which ends Oct. 30, the Bold Ruler attracted an evenly matched field of 10, including Vosburgh Stakes (G2) runner-up, Eastern Bay .
Owned by Lola Cash and trainer Norman L. Cash, the 8-year-old E Dubai gelding was claimed for $35,000 in April and has since reeled off four wins and two seconds in eight starts.
Maitha Salem Mohammed Belobaida Alsuwaidi's Meraas set the pace in a Sept. 3 allowance optional claimer at Saratoga Race Course in his U.S. debut before weakening to third. It was the Oasis Dream gelding's first start since a Feb. 11 group 3 win in Dubai.
"He's training super. He galloped out tremendously two works back," trainer Chad Summers said. "With a horse like him that's so brilliantly fast, he's not a horse that you want to breeze once a week. We give him time between his breezes and let him be happy. He just does it on his own."
The field also includes Dublin Fjord Stables, Racepoint Stables, Kevin Hilbert, and Thomas O'Keefe's multiple grade 3 winner Drafted (Field Commission ), West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner's remarkably consistent Jaxon Traveler (Munnings ), a grade 3 winner who has been unplaced just once in 18 starts, and Runninsonofagun (Gun Runner ), who was third in the Gallant Bob Stakes (G2) last out.
The card also includes two other stakes, the $120,000 Awad Stakes on turf for 2-year-olds and the $120,000 Pumpkin Pie, a seven-furlong spring for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up.
Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, October 29, 2022, Race 5Entries: Kelso H. (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Shackqueenking (KY)
Angel Suarez
122
Gary Capuano
5/1
2
2Empty Tomb (KY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
122
Robert N. Falcone, Jr.
3/1
3
3Morello (KY)
Dylan Davis
120
Steven M. Asmussen
4/1
4
4Title Ready (KY)
Emma-Jayne Wilson
122
Dallas Stewart
6/1
5
5Double Crown (MD)
J. D. Acosta
122
Norman L. Cash
15/1
6
6Baby Yoda (FL)
Javier Castellano
122
William I. Mott
6/5
Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, October 29, 2022, Race 9Entries: Bold Ruler S. (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Meraas (GB)
Flavien Prat
125
Chad Summers
5/1
2
2Drafted (FL)
Trevor McCarthy
125
David P. Duggan
6/1
3
3Factor It In (KY)
Jorge Ruiz
123
Carlos A. Mancilla
8/1
4
4Jaxon Traveler (MD)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
125
Steven M. Asmussen
7/2
5
5Greeley and Ben (KY)
Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.
123
Jeffrey S. Englehart
10/1
6
6Steinbeck (KY)
Dylan Davis
118
Norman L. Cash
20/1
7
7Eastern Bay (MD)
Javier Castellano
121
Norman L. Cash
4/1
8
8Runninsonofagun (KY)
Kendrick Carmouche
118
John T. Toscano, Jr.
9/2
9
9Repo Rocks (VA)
Andrew Wolfsont
121
Gregory DiPrima
10/1
10
10Jalen Journey (FL)
J. D. Acosta
123
Norman L. Cash
30/1