OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Danny Gargan’s goal with his 2-year-old gelding Man in Finance is next month’s $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Series at Aqueduct. Not wanting three months between starts for the impressive debut winner, Gargan has opted to run Man in Finance in Saturday’s $100,000 Notebook Stakes for New York-breds going six furlongs.
Though Gargan said he’s not as concerned about winning the Notebook as he is the Great White Way, Man in Finance may be better than his rivals here anyway. Six were entered against Man in Finance, but there will be at least one scratch. Trainer Wesley Ward entered the fillies Phoebeinwonderland and Shoot It True in both the Notebook and Sunday’s Key Cents Stakes for New York-bred fillies. Ward said Thursday he plans to run Shoot It True in the Notebook.
Man in Finance, a son of the New York-based stallion Central Banker, won his debut by 7 3/4 lengths on Sept. 21 at Aqueduct. Man in Finance sat off the pacesetting Kenny Be in upper stretch and despite drifting out a bit, he was corrected by one slap of jockey Luis Rivera Jr.’s whip and drew clear.
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Kenny Be came back to win his next start and will be among Man in Finance’s rivals Saturday.
Gargan said he would feel more confident in Man in Finance on Saturday if he hadn’t drawn the rail.
“I don’t want to gun him out of there and use too much of him, so we’re going to break and try to sit third,” Gargan said. “Hopefully, we don’t get shuffled too far back.”
Kenny Be, a son of Complexity, rebounded from his loss to Man in Finance to win a maiden race by 8 1/2 lengths on Oct. 26. Trainer David Duggan said his horse needed his first run when he was a clear second.
“He improved quite dramatically from it,” Duggan said. “It wasn’t like he was burning up the track beforehand, he was working well, but we knew he needed it from a fitness perspective and from an educational perspective and he stepped up quite nicely. We’re delving into a little tougher company, but I think we’re ready for it.”
After drawing the rail in his first two stars, Kenny Be has post 6 under Romero Maragh.
Shoot It True, a daughter of Munnings, has only faced males in her two starts. She won a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race on April 5 at Keeneland before finishing fourth in the Kentucky Juvenile on May 2 at Churchill Downs. She has not run since, and Ward is removing blinkers from her equipment.
“I thought it would just help her to settle,” Ward said of adding blinkers in the Kentucky Juvenile. “She was very fractious in the gate, reared up, then she got left and rushed up and faltered late.”
Frankie Dettori rides Shoot It True.
Soontobeking could be the value in this field. He is coming off a third-place finish behind Sacrosanct and Mo Plex in the one-mile Sleepy Hollow Stakes on Oct. 27.
In the Chase and Three B’s complete the field for the Notebook, which goes as race 3 with a post time of 12:40 p.m. on a 10-race card that begins at 11:40 a.m. and includes the $150,000 Central Park for 2-year-olds on turf.
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