Ed DeRosa – While the Grade 1 opportunities are waning for the top horses of 2025, there remain several key stakes restricted to three-year-olds that could provide a window into the top horses of 2026. Three such races restricted to three-year-olds are on Saturday at Aqueduct: the Discovery going a mile on the main track, the Hill Prince going 1 ⅛ miles on turf, and the Mother Goose for fillies going 1 ⅛ miles on the main track. The least competitive of these is the Discovery, so let’s get that out of the way. This is a two-horse race between Nos. 1 Tip Top Thomas and 2 Disco Time. The latter is undefeated in four starts. Two of those wins were gate-to-wire with another from the clouds while the debut victory came from midpack, so there’s clearly versatility here. Given that Disco Time is drawn just to Tip Top Thomas’s outside, I would expect jockey Florent Geroux to play off that foe with John Velazquez aboard knowing that Disco Time is versatile. I would bet Disco Time to win at more than even money but would pass the race completely otherwise. The Hill Prince features our longshot selection of the trio with No. 5 Soleil Volant looking to shine bright after winning the Kent Stakes last out and getting a slight freshening for this. The Frank Angst jockey angle is in play here. Named for the Blood Horse editor, the FAJA occurs when a jockey rides a horse for the second time on turf after a breakthrough performance on turf the first time. Samuel Marin was aboard for the Kent score and returns here. 10-to-1 morning line for these connections with decent figures and no concern about the nine furlongs makes this one a play. Trainer Bill Mott has the 2-to-1 morning line favorite No. 6 Stars and Strides here. Crazy enough, he has the 3-to-1 morning line third choice No. 4 Stars and Stripes in the aforementioned Discovery. I greatly prefer his Hill Prince entrant, but 2-to-1 is no bargain. He will likely need a step forward off his restricted stakes score last out, and as the favorite having to do that first time 1 ⅛ miles is a no bet for me. The best betting race of the bunch is the Mother Goose, and I feel this way because I am willing to fade (bet against) the top three choices on David Aragona’s morning line: Nos. 9 Drexel Hill, 6 Fully Subscribed, and 3 Lemon Zest. Drexel Hill might end up the best of these through that window I mentioned above, but six-plus months on the bench returning against graded stakes foes going 1 ⅛ miles is a bridge too far for me. Lemon Zest I like least of the trio. She has some OK races but none really good enough to win this, and she has gone backward her last two anyway. In order to win this she’d have to reverse her form AND run a lifetime best. No thanks. Fully Subscribed is somewhat interesting and the one of the three top choices that I could see still using in exotics with the horses I do like: Best of all for me is No. 4 Ourdaydreamingirl, who was closing late at a bit number in the Cotillion last out. Granted, neither Clicquot nor Dry Powder did much in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but that is a race worlds ahead of this one in terms of talent and prestige. Throw in the likely pace, and Ourdaydreamingirl will be running again late and is live at a big number. No. 1 Being Myself intrigues from the rail in her nine-furlong debut. She has done little wrong to date and is worth a flyer if dismissed in the betting. Cue the Duckboats has a win at the distance and is usable with others at the price. I will bet Ourdaydreamingirl to win and key in the exotics with Fully Subscribed, Being Myself, and Cue the Duckboats. I will also box Ourdaydreamingirl, Being Myself, and Cue the Duckboats in the exacta and throw in Fully Subscribed if she is not the first or second choice. Share This:Share
