Contessa Knox On Door

- Trainer Gary Contessa has been on a roll at the current Aqueduct meeting, and he’s the leading trainer there amongst those conditioners who weren’t handed suspensions for illegal medication in 2005 (though Pletcher has yet to serve his). Contessa, who has a past record of suspensions himself, toils largely in the claiming ranks, and in fact, according to Formulator he hasn’t won a graded stakes race in at least the last five years.

Perhaps that could change on Saturday when he sends out Knox in the Grade 3 Aqueduct Handicap. He claimed this five year old son of Menifee three races back for $45,000 from Christophe Clement, and he’s shown nice improvement in his two efforts since then in against optional claiming NW3x company. Two races back he was boxed in on the inside before rallying late to get third, just 2 ¼ lengths back of Happy Hunting, who starts from the rail here. In his last effort, he once again found himself boxed in during the stretch run, but once Ramon Dominguez extricated him from trouble, he exploded with a bold rush for an easy and impressive win. Colita and Mr. Whitestone, running for leading Big A trainers Pletcher and Dutrow respectively, are both coming out of a higher class race in which they ran one-two and earned triple digit Beyers; but that race was on a wet track that they both seem to prefer. Knox will need to step it up a notch or two, but if he continues his improvement for his new barn, he could get Contessa off the graded stakes schneid at a fair price.

- Wanderin Boy, who made a splash last winter with an allowance win at Gulfstream and another triumph in the G3 Mineshaft at Fair Grounds before going to the sidelines after an off-the-board finish in the New Orleans Handicap, made his return at the Gulf on Thursday and ran second at 6-5 to Istan, an intriguing French import making his second US start. Istan (Gone West) is inbred 4x5 to the 1958 Derby/Preakness winner Tim Tam, and was ridden by Jerry Bailey for Bill Mott in the soon-to-retire jockey's only mount of the day.

Jessica at Railbird posed this question about Bailey: Who will ride trainer Frank Brothers' talented Derby prospect First Samurai this spring? That question begs another: Would Bailey still have retired at this time if he really thought that First Samurai had a good shot on the first Saturday in May?