OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Five of the seven horses entered in Friday’s New York-bred, first-level allowance turf sprint feature at Aqueduct come out of the same race run here on Sept. 14. It would be hard to argue that among that quintet, Van Vollenhoven, who finished fourth, had the most difficult trip.
After attaining a good stalking position from post 11 in the 12-horse field, Van Vollenhoven was stymied behind horses as jockey Luis Rivera Jr. looked for a clear path. By the time he found it, Alan Turing and Stormy Birthday were already in front of him, Van Vollenhoven having to settle for fourth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths.
“He gave him a lovely ride and it looked like he was going to roll his way through there and they shut it off,” trainer David Duggan said. “So, just lost his momentum. He’s a big horse, he can’t get stopped.”
Friday, Van Vollenhoven will have only six rivals to deal with and will have jockey Kendrick Carmouche aboard as he seeks a second career victory.
Van Vollenhoven, a 4-year-old gelding by Big Brown, is a big horse and one Duggan thought would want to go a route of ground. In two runs at Saratoga, he finished second in an off-the-turf allowance and sixth in a turf allowance.
“He acts like a horse that needs to go a route of ground and I thought the moment I stretched him out he’d improve. He got worse, so what do I know?” Duggan said. “But once we got him back to sprinting, he seems to have found his niche. He just doesn’t like to be taken back”
The potential to sit just off the speed is there as Launch Control, who set the pace in that Sept. 14 race, and King Puck, a recent pace-pressing maiden winner, should supply the speed. Launch Control, trained by Keri Brion, is making his second start off a 15-month layoff in this spot.
Stormy Birthday, the runner-up at 20-1 in that Sept. 14 race, worked out a nice, ground-saving trip, only having to go around a tiring Launch Control while being outfinished narrowly by Alan Turing. His lone win came in front-running fashion in May.
Not for Hire finished sixth, beaten only 2 1/2 lengths, in the Sept. 14 race after being farther back than he has typically been in previous starts.
Master Freud, trained by Antonio Arriaga, rallied widest of all in that Sept. 14 race to be third under Christopher Elliott. His lone win came in front-running fashion in September 2024.
King Puck finished behind Launch Control, Nano Man, and Master Freud in maiden turf sprints last year. This year, he finished second behind Identity Crisis in a June 19 maiden before finally getting his first win at Saratoga on July 23. This will be his first start since then.
King Puck, trained by Miguel Clement, will break from the rail under Joel Rosario for the fourth time in this, his sixth start.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.