Battle Bling Faces Up With Bank Sting in Go for Wand

 Michael Dubb and Gandharvi's graded-stakes winner Battle Bling  will look to add to her spoils when she headlines a talented field of 11 in the Dec. 3 Go for Wand Stakes (G3), a one-turn mile for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Battle Bling, trained by Rob Atras, made the grade last out with a gate-to-wire score in the nine-furlong Turnback the Alarm Handicap (G3) Nov. 4 under returning rider Kendrick Carmouche.

The 4-year-old Vancouver  dark bay was claimed for $62,500 from a runner-up effort in December 2021 and has since posted a record of 4-4-0 in nine starts, including scores in the nine-furlong Ladies Stakes in January at the Big A and the 1 1/16-mile Twixt Stakes in October at Laurel Park.

During that stretch, Battle Bling also notched runner-up finishes at Aqueduct in the one-mile Heavenly Prize Invitational Stakes and the nine-furlong Top Flight Invitational Stakes, as well as in Delaware Park's 1 1/16-mile Obeah Stakes, all of which came with a margin of defeat of three-quarter lengths or less.

"She's been remarkable for us. She's just bounced out of every race good and trained forwardly. She's been very nice to have," Atras said. "She's shipped and won. She's run at four or five different tracks for us and the results have pretty much always been the same."

The improving filly, who boasts a record of 5-2-3-0 at Aqueduct, has breezed back twice, including an easy half-mile in :52.39 Saturday over the main track at Belmont Park.

"She came out of the race well," Atras said. "You never know when they run that hard and that frequently, like she has, running in stakes every month since last winter, but she's kind of an iron horse. She's training forwardly. We just gave her a couple of light breezes and she's been real sharp out of it."

Battle Bling, who has raced prominently in her recent starts, closed to finish second in her two previous attempts at Aqueduct one-turn miles, including when claimed in December and a narrow neck defeat to returning rival Bank Sting  in the Heavenly Prize Invitational on March 6 in her second start for new connections.

Atras said he will let Carmouche determine the right trip for Battle Bling.

"A mile here can play closer to a sprint, but it depends how the race sets up," Atras said. "We've run a mile with this filly before and they almost got away from her a little too much. We had to use her a little bit to stay in position and she still ran second, but didn't finish up like we thought. Hopefully, she breaks good and then it's up to her and Kendrick where they want to be."

Completing the field is Cash is King and LC Racing's multiple stakes-placed Dr B , Aveen Campion's Flight to Shanghai , Main Line Racing Stable's graded stakes-placed Love in the Air , David Bernsen, Exline-Border Racing, Steve Dorfman and Richard Hausman's Sharapova , Louis Lazzinnaro's Exotic West , Cloud Nine Stables' Betsy Blue , Ten Strike Racing's Tonal Vision , Flying P Stable's W W Fitzy , and David Jacobson's Self Isolation .

Entries: Go for Wand S. (G3)

Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, December 03, 2022, Race 8

• Grade III
• 1m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 3:14 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Love in the Air (PA)	Paco Lopez	121	John C. Servis	10/1
2	2Exotic West (KY)	Dylan Davis	123	Gary Sciacca	20/1
3	3Battle Bling (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	125	Rob Atras	3/1
4	4W W Fitzy (IL)	Javier Castellano	121	Thomas Morley	15/1
5	5Sharapova (KY)	John R. Velazquez	123	Peter Eurton	12/1
6	6Self Isolation (CA)	Jose L. Ortiz	121	David Jacobson	10/1
7	7Dr B (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	121	Robert E. Reid, Jr.	4/1
8	8Betsy Blue (NY)	Jose Lezcano	121	Linda Rice	6/1
9	9Flight to Shanghai (KY)	Manuel Franco	121	Horacio De Paz	20/1
10	10Bank Sting (NY)	Joel Rosario	123	John P. Terranova, II	4/1
11	11Tonal Vision (KY)	Junior Alvarado	121	Juan Carlos Guerrero	15/1