Long Island Handicap;Well-Traveled Girls Hit The Lawn

2013 Long Island Handicap (GIII); Some Well-Traveled Girls Ready To Hit The Lawn

The 2013 Long Island Handicap takes place Saturday, November 9, 2013 at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, New York, on the grass going 1 ½ miles for fillies & mares 3 year-olds and up with a grand prize of $200,000. This is the first graded turf stakes for the ladies at the Aqueduct fall meet.

The 2013 Long Island Handicap is the 8th race of the day on a card of 9 set to post at 3:43 PM, ET.

Well, I can honestly say it’s a little strange trying to handicap after the Breeders’ Cup Championship races. I couldn’t find much history at all on this race, for that matter any, so I don’t have much to go on. This looks like a group of well-traveled fillies and mares ready to split blades of grass Saturday. I’m mostly going with the Euro’s here who have recently been racing in the U.S. and one of our homebred gals so here we go…

One of the 4 year-old fillies expected to start is the H. Graham Motion trained Strathnaver, who was most recently a graded stakes winner in the Lady Baltimore Stakes on September 9, 2013 at Laurel Park. The Oasis Dream filly began her career in England, soon to win her first two American starts including the (GIII) Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland on April 25 which was run at 1 1/2 miles on the turf, the same as this race. She has been training at Fairhill on an all-weather track going 5F 1:02.20 7/25 on November 2. Strathnaver gets post #6 with R. Maragh in the irons.

Christophe Clement is bringing in a pair here Tabreed, making her graded stakes debut after an allowance win at Keeneland and Aigue Marine, who was third in this race last year in her stateside debut.

The 4 year-old Galileo daughter Aigue Marine has raced 3 times in US after racing in England. She is graded stakes placed with a race record of 10-3-2-3. Her last race was on March 30, 2013 at Gulfstream in the Orchid Stakes (GIII) where she placed 7th. Prior she won an allowance race on March 7 at Gultstream. Last year she was third on November 10, 2013 in the Long Island Handicap. She has been breezing at Belmont on the inner turf and the dirt. She breezed 4F on November 3 in 49.62 28/41. Aigue Marine gets I. Ortiz Jr. up to ride and exits door #3.

The U.S. starter here is the William Mott trained 3 year-old daughter of Tapit, White Rose. She is also stakes placed and last out finished 7th in the 1 1/4 mile turf Belmont Flower Bowl Invitational (GI) where she ran 3 wide both turns and tired. Prior to that she was 2nd after cutting the corner and was steadily gaining in the Glen Falls Stakes at Saratoga at 1 1/8 which was run on the dirt after being taken off the turf due to weather. On July 25 she raced in an AOC contested at 1 3/16 on the turf which she won. White Rose has been training at Belmont and Saratoga recently where on November 5th she breezed 4F in 49.24 4/30. She gets lucky #7 with J. Ortiz ready to ride.

The 2013 Long Island Handicap looks like a great race and a tough one with both Motion & Clement putting in double entries. So basically I went with one from each of those trainers and you can’t go wrong, in my opinion, with a Mott trained filly. Strathnaver looks the strongest here to me and Aigue Marine is a question with the layoff but Clemente will have her ready. White Rose is the youngster of the bunch and has been training very well. However, I hope Strathnaver, Aigue Marine & White Rose hit the grass running to score. May everyone run safe Saturday and good luck to all and their connections.

2013 Long Island Handicap (GIII) Post Positions & Odds
1. Inimitable Romanee 15/1 C. DeCarlo/G.Motion
2. Anjaz 5/2 J.Castellano/T.Albertrani SCRATCHED
3. Aigue Marine 4/1 (GB) I.Ortiz Jr./C.Clement
4. Tabreed 6/1 (GB) J.Alvarado/C.Clement
5. Left A Message 5/1 A.Solis/T.Proctor
6. Strathnaver 3/1 (GB) R.Maragh/H.G.Motion
7. White Rose 10/1 J.Ortiz/W.Mott
8. Sheppard’s Pie 20/1 C.Velasquez/J.Sheppard
UPDATED RESULTS: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3, 8