Vino Rossi outduels Enticed to win the 2018 Wood Memorial (photo by Viola Jaska/NYRA).
Aqueduct Rolls Out Leaner and Meaner 2019 Schedule
The 12-day Aqueduct Spring Meet in April will feature six graded stakes races, including five graded stakes on the track’s marquee Wood Memorial (G2) card on Saturday, April 6. In addition to the $750,000 Wood for 3-year-olds, which will offer maximum Kentucky Derby points, the April 6 card will also be headlined by New York’s first Grade 1 of 2019, the $400,000 Carter Handicap for sprinters going seven furlongs. Other stakes that day will include the $250,000 Bay Shore (G3) for 3-year-old sprinters going seven furlongs, the $150,000 Excelsior (G3) for older horses, and New York’s final Kentucky Oaks prep for 3-year-old fillies in the $300,000 Gazelle (G2).
Aqueduct’s winter jockey colony is expected to be a scramble again this year, just as it was last winter season which was the first since perennial leading riders, brothers Irad and Jose Ortiz, shifted their winter tack down to Gulfstream Park.
The void atop the jockey’s standings this year seems to be being filled best by current leading rider Junior Alvarado, who is back to full health after various physical setbacks the last couple winters. He is riding first call for some top trainers, including Linda Rice, and has taken advantage by racking up 12 wins to lead all riders at the current Aqueduct meet (through Dec. 18). Last winter’s leading rider Manny Franco struggled a bit early, but has rallied of late to tally six wins from his 36 mounts — and he should continue to rise in the Big A winter standings and contend for the title as well.
Leading apprentice Reylu Gutierrez arrived on the scene in New York about a month ago and is already making waves in the jockey standings at the current winter meet. Gutierrez has done his best riding over the course of the last few weeks and is now 7-for-42 at the current meet, good for second in the jockey standings.
Other riders that figure to be in the top five of the winter jockey standings include Dylan Davis (eight wins at the current meet), and the slow-starting Eric Cancel (just 3-for-39 so far), and David Cohen (just 2-for-30 as of Dec. 18).
The leading trainers for the Aqueduct winter meet are expected to be led by perennial New York winter power Rudy Rodriguez and, perhaps, Jeremiah Englehart (6 wins through Dec. 18) and Linda Rice (7). Michelle Nevin will also be a big factor at Aqueduct this winter, as will Charlton Baker. Bigger stables such as Jason Servis, Kiaran McLaughin, Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen, are also expected to run small strings of horses at Aqueduct throughout the season.
Noel Michaels has been involved in many aspects of thoroughbred racing for more than two decades, as a Breeders’ Cup-winning owner and as a writer, author, handicapper, editor, manager and promoter of the sport for a wide range of companies including Daily Racing Form and Nassau County Off-Track Betting.
He also is regarded as the leading source of news and information for handicapping tournaments and the author of the “Handicapping Contest Handbook: A Horseplayer’s Guide to Handicapping Tournaments”, which made his name virtually synonymous with the increasingly-popular tournament scene.
In addition to contributing to US Racing, he is also an analyst on the Arlington Park broadcast team.