Aqueduct cards final Graded race of the year on Saturday as the Grade 3 Go for Wand Handicap is renewed. The mile event for three-year-old fillies has lured seven contentious runners that have a shot to take a major step forward.
The Go for Wand at Aqueduct is named for the champion juvenile filly in 1989. The talented miss also was awarded champion status the next year and is a member of the Hall of Fame.
Originally named the Maskette Stakes, Aqueduct renamed it in 1992 for the filly that is buried in the infield at Saratoga. Legends of the game like Azeri, Hidden Lake, Lady’s Secret and Numbered Account have won this race over the decades. Last year Taris was coming off a third in the Breeders’ Cup Fillies and Mare Sprint before she sat an ideal two-hole trip and won the Go for Wand as the 4-5 favorite.
From the rail out on Saturday at Aqueduct Camille Claudel will be making her second start on this New Year circuit. In her other try at Aqueduct the mare was sixth of eight in a $100,000 stakes in 2014. The veteran looked good winning on the cut back in a seven-furlong race last time but she basically just flattered today’s arch-rival Burn Control.
Cayman Croc is a serious runner. She has been in the money in eleven of her fourteen career starts. This runner is yet another that has only made one start on this circuit. It came in her second career start in the Grade 1 Frizette in 2014 and she only beat a pair of horses to the wire.
Bar of Gold will be a handful in this race. She was Grade 1 placed last year in the Test Stakes when beaten by the talented Cavorting and she has won a third of her fifteen career starts. The filly showed that she could handle the Aqueduct surface when she won a state-bred $40,000 allowance race by nearly ten lengths. The youngster is coming to this race off a very powerful effort. She won the Empire Distaff Handicap on October 22 by eighteen lengths. The class is there, she should be in the hunt early and a repeat is well within the realm. Backers can hang their hat on the last Beyer Speed Figure of 109.
Connections of Wonder Gal thought enough of her to ship 3000 miles to face Finest City in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. This performer hated the mud in the race on October 1 and the place horse that day took a state-bred $142,000 stakes next out with a 94 Beyer.
Highway Star made her Aqueduct debut in her last race and she was awesome winning a New York Stallion Stakes going away. The only time she was out of the money came on the grass. This is her first try in open company and in a Graded land but she was far from disgraced in the $200,000 Saratoga finale.
Burn Control has hit exacta in nine of her seventeen starts but she has to prove it locally. In her only other New Year appearance, she was a tiring third on turf in a $100,000 stakes. The daughter of Bernstein was fifth of fourteen in her last stakes attempt and miss may need a slightly softer group to show her top talent.
Trainer Linda Rice has given High Ridge Road time since she was fourth at Monmouth Park in the summer. This filly has shown she can win locally and she moves up in the off going as she is two for two when the track has come up muddy or sloppy. The affinity for Aqueduct is a plus and she seems to be sitting on a big race.
Bar of Gold looks like the right horse here. She has valid speed but is not speed crazy. She has put wins together in her career, she gained a ton of confidence with the facile win last time and the distance should be ideal for her to succeed. Look for her rider Joel Rosario to put her into the race from the sound of the bell and then take over at the top of the stretch.
