Aqueduct | Race 6 | Post Time 3:06 p.m. (ET)
I'll be interested to see how the public assesses the New York-bred With the Angels (#6) in this Garland of Roses. This is a step up in class for her after she's competed in a pair of allowance races since returning from a layoff to make a belated start to her 3-year-old campaign. She was a stakes winner against state-breds last year, but it remains to be seen if she has improved at all since that undefeated juvenile season. She beat weaker in her return two back, and then lost as a heavy favorite last time despite getting a good trip. She may move forward third off a layoff, but she figures to be overbet given the rider switch to Flavien Prat and her general popularity.
Fellow New York-bred Sunday Girl (#5) is more appealing at a bigger price. She was overbet last time over a sloppy track that she has never handled. She can contend here if running as well as she did two back in the Iroquois, and cutting back to six furlongs should suit her.
Patricia Ann (#2) arguably comes into this race with the best recent form of all, having finished second in a pair of open company stakes races behind talented rivals like R Disaster and Weigh the Risks, either of which would be favored here. I just have some concern that she's drawn inside this time with plenty of speed to her right.
My top pick is Tricky Temper (#7), who ran some dirt races this summer that would make her competitive at this level. She finished a distant second behind the classy My Mane Squeeze in the Johnstone, but no one was getting close to the well-meant winner that day. She followed that up with an easy allowance score before trying Grade 2 foes in the Presque Isle Downs Masters on synthetic. She handled the new surface pretty well, checking in third with a career-best 118 TimeformUS Speed Figure. She didn't fare as well in her next synthetic start at Woodbine, but she got badly steadied into the far turn of that race. Now she's getting back on dirt where her form is proven, and her versatile running style should allow her to take advantage of this outside draw.