OZONE PARK, N.Y. – No Mo Candy made a successful graded stakes debut Friday at Aqueduct, taking over from the pacesetting Macanga above the eighth pole and easily holding odds-on favorite Oversubscribed at bay to win the Grade 3, $175,000 Pebbles Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths.
Oversubscribed finished second by two lengths over Way to Be Marie. Jody’s Pride was fourth, followed by Whiskey Decision, See You Around, Macanga, and Dea Matrona.
The win was the third in a row for No Mo Candy, a 3-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo owned by Niall Brennan and Mike Ryan and trained by Saffie Joseph Jr.
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No Mo Candy was ridden to perfection by John Velazquez, who, after a few tense moments, was able to get No Mo Candy to relax behind Macanga and get the jump on the closers turning for home.
“My filly got a little strong, I was like, ’Come on, don’t get into a fight with me now, I’ll be head-and-head with the other horse,’ “ Velazquez said. “Then I tried to hide her behind [Macanga] a little bit, then she got a little stronger than me going into that first turn. I eased out on the backside and she came back to me a little bit. I was happy that she relaxed and gave me a chance where I wouldn’t be in her mouth.”
Velazquez said when No Mo Candy got to Macanga his filly got competitive and kept on going. Oversubscribed, under Flavien Prat, was moving along with Way to Be Marie and while better than that one, was no match for No Mo Candy, who covered the mile in 1:34.84 over firm ground and returned $38.40 as the longest shot in the eight-horse field.
Joseph said he was very pleased with the effort considering No Mo Candy was cutting back in distance from an allowance win here at 1 3/16 miles where she beat next-out winner Dancing Dean, who is entered in Sunday’s Long Island Stakes here.
“Her last win was very gutsy. That horse came back and won and that gave you a little confidence,” Joseph said by phone from Florida. “She was cutting back in trip. We didn’t have a problem with that, but she won so well last time you didn’t know if that was the right thing to do.”
Joseph said No Mo Candy could stretch out in distance again with a race like the Grade 1 American Oaks going 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 a possible target.
Love Appeals takes Autumn Days
A faster pace than in her last race enabled Love Appeals to relax and come with a four-wide sweeping move under Dylan Davis that carried her to a 1 1/4-length victory over late-running Golden Hostess in the $150,000 Autumn Days Stakes.
It was a nose back to Risk Threshold who was followed by favored Toupie. Loon Cry was fifth followed by Dontlookbackatall, Mohawk Trail, Mz Big Bucks, and Union Dolly.
The victory enabled Love Appeals to bounce back from a head defeat to Secret Money in the Floral Park Stakes, a race in which she raced second early on. Friday, Love Appeals was sixth in the early stages, but only three lengths behind the pacesetting Risk Threshold.
Love Appeals rallied four wide around the turn and maintained her run from the quarter pole to the wire, for her fifth victory from 13 starts for Moyglare Stud Farm and trainer Christophe Clement.
The win was the third on the card for Davis – two of them coming for Clement. This was the second time Davis rode Love Appeals and he felt he learned something from her last race.
“She’s really handy, you have to work with her by relaxing her,” Davis said. “I think she maybe wants to use too much early, so you have to try and save that for her finish. She broke well, not too out of hand, she settled in nice and she gave me a nice swooping run at the quarter pole and when I asked her she was there for me.”
Love Appeals, a daughter of Speightstown, covered the six furlongs in 1:09.17 over firm turf and returned $16.20 as the fourth choice.
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