Battle Bling Ready to Fight in Turnback the Alarm
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Photo: Coady Photography
Battle Bling wins the Hidden Figures Overnight Handicap at Colonial Downs
Michael Dubb and Gandharvi Racing Stables’ Battle Bling will look to make the grade in the $150,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap (G3), a nine-furlong test for fillies and mares 3 years old and upward Nov. 4, opening day of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Rob Atras, the 4-year-old daughter of Vancouver enters from a pair of 1 1/16-mile wins, a handicap in September at Colonial Downs and the Oct. 1 Twixt Stakes last out over a sloppy and sealed main track at Laurel Park.
The ultra-consistent dark bay has posted a record of 3-4-0 in eight starts since being claimed by her current connections for $62,500 out of a runner-up effort here in December 2021. Her lone off-the-board effort for Atras was a fourth-place finish in the La Troienne Stakes Presented by Signify Health (G1) on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs.
"You just don't see horses that run like that, especially at that level,” Atras said. “She just tries every time. She shows up whether or not she gets a good trip or a good pace to run at. She finds a way to show up and be there. It's nice to have a horse like that in the barn."
Battle Bling earned graded black type with a rallying runner-up effort in the 10-furlong Delaware Handicap (G2) in July ahead of her current streak.
"She's very versatile. She can come from off the pace, she's been right on the pace,” Atras said. “A mile and a sixteenth or a mile and an eighth, two turns, she just keeps showing up."
Battle Bling boasts a record of 4-1-3-0 at the Big A, led by a score in the nine-furlong Ladies Stakes in January.
Atras said Battle Bling’s affinity for the Aqueduct main track is pivotal.
“It's nice she's won here and at the distance,” Atras said. “I think that's important at Aqueduct, where it can be a tiring track. She handles this track well.”
Kendrick Carmouche retains the mount from the outermost post 7.
Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Nostalgic , winner of the Gazelle Stakes (G3) this past spring, returns to the scene of her lone graded win on Friday.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the sophomore Medaglia d'Oro filly exited that effort to finish 10th in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Following a two-month break, Nostalgic returned to make a pair of grade 1 starts at Saratoga Race Course, finishing a distant third in the Coaching Club American Oaks in July and sixth in the Alabama Stakes in August.
Last out, she tried turf for just the second time, finishing sixth in the Sept. 17 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational (G3T).
Louis Lazzinnaro’s graded-stakes placed Exotic West will make her first appearance since being freshened following an off-the-board effort in the Aug. 19 Summer Colony Stakes at Saratoga.
Trained by Gary Sciacca, the 4-year-old Hard Spun filly has trained consistently over the Belmont dirt training track in preparation for her return.
“She blew out good this morning in 47 and came into it real good. She's doing well,” Sciacca said. “She'll be tough. She's doing really well. She's really come together. She's gotten bigger and broader.”
Aqueduct Racetrack, Friday, November 04, 2022, Race 9Entries: Turnback the Alarm H. (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
Exotic West (KY)
Ruben Silvera
123
Gary Sciacca
-
2
Hybrid Eclipse (KY)
Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.
123
Brittany T. Russell
-
3
First to Act (KY)
Javier Castellano
121
Claude R. McGaughey III
-
4
Nostalgic (KY)
Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.
122
William I. Mott
-
5
Coach (KY)
Eric Cancel
123
Brad H. Cox
-
6
W W Fitzy (IL)
Trevor McCarthy
121
Thomas Morley
-
7
Battle Bling (KY)
Kendrick Carmouche
123
Rob Atras
-
