OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The speedy Toupie and the late-running Golden Hostess give trainer Graham Motion a solid one-two punch in Friday’s $150,000 Autumn Days Stakes at Aqueduct. As they are separate betting interests, handicappers will have to decipher which style suits best in this six-furlong turf stakes.
The Autumn Days is the second of two stakes and the last of nine races on an Aqueduct card that begins at 12:10 p.m.
Toupie, the only 3-year-old in the field of 10 plus two also-eligibles, is a three-time stakes winner. She won the Stewart Manor here at 9-1 last November, added the Stormy Blues at Laurel in June, and was front-running winner of the Unzip Me Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong race that was run down the hill at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.
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The Unzip Me may have been the only time, at least on turf, that Toupie was on the front end, but she sure seemed to be effective with that style.
“She has a pretty good amount of speed,” said Motion, who added that distances such as six and 6 1/2 furlongs “is more what she wants to do.”
Flavien Prat has the call from post 4.
Golden Hostess, a South African-bred mare by Gold Standard, rallied nine wide and from the back when finishing third, beaten a neck, in a second-level allowance going 5 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland on Oct. 18.
“I thought she ran super; five or 5 1/2 is what she wants to do,” Motion said. “This is a little quick [back] but it was either now or we head to Florida. She’s a little quirky in the morning, it’s a little hard to read her, but I thought she was quite impressive the other day.”
While Motion has two in this field, trainer Christophe Clement entered the trio of Dontlookbackatall, Loon Cry, and Love Appeals.
Dontlookbackatall won three consecutive stakes from May to July before finishing second to Ag Bullet in the Ladies Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 31. That effort looks better considering Ag Bullet finished third, beaten a neck, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint last Saturday.
Dontlookbackatall finished last in the Grade 2 Franklin Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 12. She raced in between horses toward the back of the pack and was in traffic until midstretch.
“She’s never run a bad race before that,” Clement said. “She’s a filly who’s always shown plenty of speed, she’s close to the pace. She shipped to Kentucky, she was always at the back, never traveling well, and I guess she had off day.”
Loon Cry had won three consecutive races, including listed stakes at Woodbine and Laurel before running fifth in the Floral Park on Oct. 12.
“The race was against her. They went very slow early on and they finished very fast,” Clement said.
Love Appeals has been in solid form since July and is coming off a head loss to Secret Money in the Floral Park. She does have to overcome post 10.
“It’s an annoying post, but the filly’s doing great,” Clement said.
Hollywood Walk ran a solid third in the Floral Park last out. Mz Big Bucks has won two straight sprint stakes here.
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