AQUEDUCT'S HOLIDAYFEST FEATURES GREAT RACING, PRIZES, AND SKI CAP PROMOTION

**Please see the attached photo of the Aqueduct knit ski cap, available next Saturday during HolidayFest. Details in below release**

 

Friday, November 19, 2010

 

Contact: NYRA Press Office

718-659-2351

 

AQUEDUCT’S HOLIDAYFEST FEATURES GREAT RACING, PRIZES, AND SKI CAP PROMOTION

 

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Aqueduct Racetrack will present six contentious graded stakes over three days next week as part of its annual HolidayFest, presented by the New York Lottery, which also includes games, prizes, and a ski cap promotion.

 

Kicking off the festivities on Thursday, November 25 is the Grade 3, six-furlong Fall Highweight Handicap, a Thanksgiving Day tradition at the Big A. Repole Stable’s Go Go Shoot, a five-time stakes winner who exits an optional claiming victory at Belmont Park on October 8, will attempt to avenge his seventh-place finish as part of a favored coupled entry in last year’s race. Also likely for the race are additional recent optional claiming winners Emma’s Posse, Laysh Laysh Laysh, and Mesa Sunrise; Maryland Million Sprint Handicap victor Jack On the Rocks; Todd Got Even, winner of the Eillo at Monmouth Park two starts back; 8-year-old veteran Joey P.; and Prince Joshua. Wildcat Frankie is also under consideration, according to New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes.

 

Parking gates open at 9:15 a.m. EST on Thanksgiving, with admission beginning at 9:30 a.m. Thursday features a nine-race card with the opener going off at 11:25 a.m. and the finale scheduled for a 3:10 p.m. post. The second-floor Clubhouse will remain open for simulcasting until approximately 5:30 p.m.

 

On Friday, November 26 and Saturday, November 27, Aqueduct will feature ten-race cards with first post at noon and the finales scheduled for approximately 4:06 p.m. Saturday’s card includes a $250,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4.

 

The Grade 2 Top Flight Handicap on Friday, November 26, will feature an eclectic but talented group of fillies and mares, including Godolphin Racing’s defending race winner Sara Louise. Our Khrysty, Funny Moon, and Way With Words, the respective top three finishers in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm Handicap, are likely to take on Sara Louise in the one-mile event. Qualia is also listed as probable for the race, while Derwin’s Star, Solo Piano, and Spacy Tracy are questionable.

 

Aqueduct will offer four graded stakes on Saturday, November 27, led by the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap. Chester and Mary Broman’s homebred Friend Or Foe, an emphatic winner of the Empire Classic for New York-breds at Belmont on October 23, will attempt to pick up his first stakes victory against open company, while Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap victor Bribon will try to go one better after finishing second in this race a year ago. Girolamo, triumphant in the Grade 1 Vosburgh, will attempt to rebound off an 11^th as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Jersey Town and Half Metal Jacket, respectively second and third in the Bold Ruler, are also probable for the race, as are Musket Man and Soaring Empire. Arson Squad, Etched, Here Comes Ben, Jeranimo, Noble’s Promise, Tizway, and Vineyard Haven could also join the field.

 

The 1 1/8-mile Gazelle has attracted a talented group of 3-year-old fillies seeking their first Grade 1 victories, including E. Paul Robsham Stables’ Awesome Maria, victorious in the 2009 Grade 2 Matron and a division of the 2010 Riskaverse, and Belle of the Hall, Dubai Dancer, and No Such Word, who will all step up in class off stakes wins. Additional sophomores targeting the Gazelle are Quiet Temper and Seeking the Title, with Joanie’s Catch listed as questionable.

 

Live Oak Plantation’s To Honor and Serve, dominant in the Grade 2 Nashua on November 6, is likely to try two turns for the first time in the Grade 2 Remsen, a 1 1/8-mile event open to all 2-year-olds. He is expected to be challenged by undefeated Sleepy Hollow winner Bandbox, promising maiden winner Buffum, dual stakes-placed Curlinello, California invader Divine Child, Grade 1 Champagne runner-up Mountain Town, and Nashua second-place finisher Mucho Macho Man. Economic Summit and Tiz Blessed could also start.

 

Todd Pletcher has a pair of 2-year-old fillies who are probable for the Grade 2 Demoiselle in Evan P. Evans homebred Summer Laugh, winner of the Blue Hen at Delaware Park, and Summit West Racing’s Tap for Luck, second in the Grade 3 Tempted. Believe in A. P. and Light Your World are also expected to compete, with Tempted winner Full Moon Blues, Amusing, Overseas Market, and Suave Voir Faire listed as questionable for the 1 1/8-mile race.

 

In addition to all the great racing, NYRA is offering a winter ski cap promotion on Saturday, when fans can get a toasty knit cap featuring the Aqueduct logo in teal blue with the purchase of a $2 coupon.

 

The New York Lottery will also be on hand on Saturday and Sunday, November 27 and 28, in a special booth near the NYRA Store on the second-floor grandstand. With the purchase of a lottery ticket, fans are eligible to win one of dozens of prizes ranging from caps to umbrellas and t-shirts, all bearing the New York Lottery logo.

 

Also on Sunday is the weekly Pick the Pros and Ponies contest, a free contest in which fans select the winners of four designated NFL games plus the winners of races 3 and 5 for the chance to win $1,000.

 

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