OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Now that she has seemingly found her surface, Weigh the Risks will begin to define her class level when she makes her dirt stakes debut in Saturday’s $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational at Aqueduct.
Weigh the Risks did not develop into the kind of turf horse trainer Chad Brown and owner Seth Klarman had hoped, going 1 for 6 over that surface. She had trained well enough on dirt that Brown opted to give her a try on that surface in November and Weigh the Risks responded with a nine-length first-level allowance win that earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.
Given ample time to recover, Weigh the Risks made a successful 4-year-old debut, taking a second-level allowance by 1 3/4 lengths on Jan. 19. Both of her dirt allowance wins have come at the one-mile distance of the Heavenly Prize.
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The task for Weigh the Risks in the Heavenly Prize should become easier as trainer Carlos Martin said Friday that Patricia Ann, the 3-1 morning-line second choice, will scratch after developing filling in an ankle. Patricia Ann, like Weigh the Risks, was coming in off back-to-back allowance victories.
Also expected to scratch from the Heavenly Prize is Catchphrase, who was one of three horses cross-entered in Sunday’s Broadway Stakes for New York-breds. Trainer Amelia Green indicated that she would likely scratch from both spots for an allowance race.
Bernietakescharge and Bon Adieu, both cross-entered in Sunday’s Broadway Stakes, are expected to run in the Heavenly Prize, which will now likely go with five, and is carded as race 3.
Kid’s Last Laugh was beaten a half-length by Patricia Ann last out, a race that followed a 9 1/4-length allowance score going 6 1/2 furlongs on Nov. 17. She is questionable at the one-mile distance.
The wildcard in the field is Aussie Girl, a 5-year-old daughter of Starspangledbanner who is making her first start on dirt after racing on turf and synthetic both in Ireland and in the U.S. This is also her first start since she ran ninth, beaten four lengths, in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar last Dec. 1.
Trainer Will Walden, who has Jose Lezcano to ride, said he likes the outside draw and the one-mile distance of the Heavenly Prize for this dirt experiment.
“We’re going to take a shot,” Walden said. “She’s trained really good on the dirt when we had her on the dirt. We want to answer this question before we decide if we need to map out a turf campaign. You’d hate to get in a middle of turf season and try something like this. We feel we have her fit and ready off the bench.”
Bernietakescharge won an open company allowance race going a mile on the front end on Jan. 11 for trainer Dominick Schettino. Bon Adieu, trained by Rudy Rodriguez, is coming out of a pair of disappointing efforts in New York-bred stakes.
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