Aqueduct Notes

- Noble Storm took Friday's feature at the Big A, stepping up successfully from the maiden ranks in his second start for Darley, who purchased him for a $2.8 million drop in the bucket as a yearling back in 2006. This is not quite what they had in mind. However, I thought it was a very impressive win, as he was wide on the turn of, and carried very wide by, an extremely worthy opponent in M J's Enchanteur, and more on that one below.

The winner is by Vindication, who ranks #1 on the second year sires list, and has four stakes winners as he prepares to enter his first full year as a dead stallion. Noble Storm is out of Serena's Tune, one of the four stakes winners out of the great Serena's Song. Given his pedigree and price tag, I imagine that Darley retains high aspirations for him; perhaps a mid-year objective of something like the Met Mile. But whatever they have in mind, I highly doubt they're going to send him to Dubai [to prep for it], so why do they do that with their Derby prospects?

Back to M J's Enchanteur, he's a three-year old gelded son of the Seattle Slew stallion Metfield who has three wins and three seconds in out-of-town overnight stakes for Scott Lake this year. Lake had to expose him for a 75K tag to get him into this optional claiming allowance; I was a bit surprised that he did so, and even more so that he wasn't claimed by one of the big players like Winning Move. Maybe they were wary of a $300,000 earner being exposed like that. Or maybe he didn't look right to someone in the paddock. (I'd love to get reports on horses who were prospected for claims and rejected, and by which trainers. You can twitter me on that.) (Better yet, just give me a call so that the rest of the world doesn't have to find out too.) Anyway, he held for third, picked up $5400 for owner Ben Mondello, and maybe Lake pulled one over.

It would seem as if trainer Greg DiPrima definitely pulled one over in the fifth. Kamboo Man won by six for 10K two races back; and then ran a close second for 14K. Here, he was entered for a mere $7500....but nobody bit. And that includes the bettors who let him off at a price of 9-5 which has to seem generous in the wake of his 13 1/2 length win! Second place finisher Methodtomymadness was claimed for $7500 from trainer Patricia Farro, a solid 10% barn currently mired in an 0-34 slump. Ms. Farro had claimed this horse back two races ago, for 10K, after losing him for 5K the race before.