1st-AQU, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 1 1/8m, post time: 12:20 p.m. ET
Godolphin's HOLLAND PARK (Tapit&log=">Tapit) was bet down to be off as the 3-4 chalk for his 6 1/2-furlong debut over a 'good' Aqueduct strip Dec. 10, but chased from second throughout and finished three lengths adrift of the winner. The son of 2006 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Round Pond (Awesome Again), purchased for $5.75 million at FTKNOV in 2007, is kin to MSW & MGISP Long River (A.P. Indy) and is bred just like Godolphin's treble Grade I winner and new sire Frosted (Tapit) as well as GISW Tapizar (Tapit), both of whom are out of mares by Deputy Minister. TJCIS PPs
4th-GP, $53K, Alw/Opt. Clm., 4yo/up, 6f, post time: 2:05 p.m.
'TDN Rising Star' MALAGACY (Shackleford) was one of the standout 3-year-olds at this meeting last year, winning his maiden by some 15 lengths at first asking in the slop last January before clearing his first allowance condition by seven lengths a little more than six weeks later. The $190K Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile purchase was the comfortable two-length of the GII Rebel S. in his two-turn debut last March, but could do no better than fifth to Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) from a high draw in the GI Arkansas Derby when last seen in April. His works over the Palm Beach Downs strip scream ready, but he does have the rail post to overcome in a salty field. Among the competition are fellow 'Rising Star' Recruiting Ready (Algorithms), a two-time stakes winner making his first star since a third in the GII Woody Stephens S. last June; and Sonic Mule (Distorted Humor), a dual black-type winner over this main track, including a defeat of Recruiting Ready in the 2016 Buffalo Man S. and a latest third to X Y Jet (Kantharos) in the GIII Mr. Prospector S. Dec. 23. TJCIS PPs
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
