Heart to Heart Draws Wide in Artie Schiller

Multiple graded stakes winner Heart to Heart will try for a second straight stakes win in New York when he starts in an expected full field in the one-mile Artie Schiller Stakes Nov. 19 on the Aqueduct Racetrack turf.

While the Artie Schiller doesn't carry graded status, it offers a $250,000 purse which has helped attract 16 entries—including two on the also-eligible list—as well as two main-track-only entrants. Terry Hamilton's Heart to Heart drew post 14.

"It's a nice field of competitive horses, so we'll see how it plays out," said Heart to Heart's trainer, Brian Lynch. "This race is his preferable distance. A mile and an eighth is a bit of an extension for him."

Heart to Heart came back from a four-month layoff to score a front-running victory in the Knickerbocker Stakes (gr. IIIT) Oct. 10 on the Belmont Park turf. That victory ended a two-race skid and marked his third graded stakes score this season.

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"When you look at the field, it easily could have been a graded stakes," Lynch said. "You'd think you'd get a bit of class relief, but the field is as good as any grade II or III you'd see throughout the summer."

King Kreesa is one of two entries for trainer David Donk. A two-time winner of the grade III Poker, the 7-year-old King Kreesa will be looking for his first win since the West Point Aug. 26 at Saratoga Race Course.

Donk's other trainee, Vision Perfect, will return to stakes company after six straight starts in allowance/optional claiming races.

Blacktype has finished in the money in seven of his past eight starts for trainer Christophe Clement. The winner of the grade III Oceanport and grade II Commonwealth Turf Cup, Blacktype came in third in the Knickerbocker and is now set to again face the winner, Heart to Heart, and runner-up from that race, the Jimmy Jerkens-trained Jay Gatsby.

Supporting the Artie Schiller is the third running of the $100,000 Notebook for New York-bred 2-year-olds at six furlongs, featuring a competitive field of 13 on Saturday's undercard.

Leading the cast of budding state-bred talent is Francis Paolangeli's Gold for the King. A homebred son of Posse  , Gold for the King won his Aug. 8 debut at Saratoga by 3 1/4 lengths and followed up with a third-place finish in his first try against stakes competition in the Funny Cide later that month. The Charlton Baker trainee returned at Finger Lakes five weeks later to capture the New York Breeders' Futurity by 2 3/4 lengths. Most recently, Gold for the King finished third at Belmont in the Sleepy Hollow over a sloppy and sealed track Oct. 22.