Aqueduct: Graded winners take center stage in Nerud & Dwyer

Everso Mischievous looks for his second New York graded
score in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 John A. Nerud Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for five older horses at Belmont at the Big A.

Part of the undercard to support the Belmont Derby (G1) and Belmont Oaks (G1) invitationals, the Nerud will be run as the eighth race at 4:11 p.m. EDT. The Dwyer (G3) is the first stakes on the 11-race card. Run as the second race, the Dwyer is scheduled to go at 1:04 p.m. EDT.

Click here for Belmont at the Big A entries and results.

Owned by Qatar Racing and trained by two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox, Everso Mischievous enters off a victorious, 4-year-old debut in a one-mile, optional claimer May 31 at Churchill Downs. The Into Mischief bay made his third straight start at one mile, and he successfully returned from a layoff dating to an 11th in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G2) at Aqueduct on Dec. 2.

Everso Mischievous entered his Cigar Mile try, which came
over muddy and sealed going vs. elders, on a three-race win streak, including
the one-mile Forty Niner (G2) at Aqueduct and a pair of seven-furlong scores in
the Harrods Creek in September at Churchill Downs and an allowance in August at
Saratoga.

Out of the graded-stakes-winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Ever So
Clever, Everso Mischievous initially went for $600,000 at the 2021 Keeneland
September yearling sale before going for $85,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November
horses-of-racing-age sale.

Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard from post 1 carrying a
field-high 122 pounds, four pounds more than each of his four rivals.

Mullikin, in post 5 with Flavien Prat, will try to make the
grade after starting his year 2-for-2 with a six-furlong allowance score in
April at Keeneland and a seven-furlong, optional-claiming victory in June at
Churchill Downs. Each effort earned career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figures,
according to Daily Racing Form.

Owned by Siena Farm and WinStar Farm and trained by Rodolphe
Brisset, the 4-year-old Violence dark bay has finished in the top two in 6 of 7
lifetime outings, all dirt sprints, only missing when he was a troubled fourth
to cap his sophomore campaign in an allowance in July at Ellis Park.

“We did right by the horse last year. He totally needed a
little break after his last race, where he acted up in the gate and fell flat
on his face, got rushed up to the lead, it just felt like everything went
wrong.” Brisset said. “We gave him time, and it did very well for him
physically. He’s been telling us we did the right thing.”

Brisset said the gate has always been a bit troublesome for
Mullikin, who missed by a nose on debut in February 2023 at Oaklawn after a
slow start that caused him to travel five lengths back in eighth position
early.

“His only small weakness is the gate. We have learned from
it and been working on it. We don’t really know why, because in the morning he
is very nice in the gate,” Brisset said. “In the afternoon he wants to throw
his head around a little bit. We have adapted, and it looks like it has been
working.”

Mullikin completed his final preparations for the Nerud with
a sharp, half-mile breeze in 48.0 seconds Sunday at Keeneland.

“It was a typical work for him,” Brisset said. “We were not
looking for anything too fancy, but he did it on his own and on the bridle, and
it looked like he galloped out pretty strongly, too.”

Mullikin, a $500,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland
September yearling sale, is out of the graded-stakes-placed Congrats mare
Tulira’s Star, who is a half-sister to graded-stakes winner Mountain General.

LC Racing’s Pennsylvania homebred Ninetyprcentmaddie, in post
2, has finished second in four consecutive efforts but will look to break
through on Saturday with José Lezcano returning to ride. Trained by Butch Reid,
the 4-year-old Weigelia gelding’s most recent runner-up finishes came vs.
graded company in New York in the True North (G2) last out June 8 at Saratoga
and the Runhappy (G3) in May at Aqueduct.

Although entered in the six-furlong Alapocas Run on Saturday
at Delaware Park, Reid said Ninetyprcentmaddie is likely to run in New York
after considering the advice of Lezcano, who was aboard for a rallying second
to Baby Yoda in the True North.

“I think it is a good spot. Seven-eighths is perfect for
him, but really this is José Lezcano’s idea. He thinks he learned something
about him last time after riding him in that race,” Reid said. “He suggested
that we go ahead and take a shot. That is what we are going to do.”

Reid said Lezcano felt like Ninetyprcentmaddie did not get
going until he was away from the rail and into clear air after breaking from
the inside post.

“He kind of stayed down on the fence, and he wouldn’t get
running for him. Once he finally wheeled him out and got him to switch leads,
he finished up nicely,” Reid said. “Lezcano thinks he’s got a good idea of him,
and I never want to discourage good ideas.”

Before the Runhappy, Ninetyprcentmaddie placed in the
seven-furlong, state-bred Page McKenney Handicap in April at Parx Racing,
earning a career-best 90 Beyer. His subsequent graded-stakes attempts on the
NYRA circuit earned that same number.

“I actually think his last race was better than the number
they gave him,” Reid said regarding the string of 90s. “I think that even if
the Beyers don’t agree with me, he has improved with every start, and we gave
him a lot of them. I mean that was almost three back-to-back races.”

Godolphin’s graded-stakes-winning Kentucky homebred
Prevalence in post 3, with Irad Ortiz Jr. looks to improve off a second last
out to Super Chow in the Maryland Sprint (G3) on May 18 at Pimlico. Trained by
Brendan Walsh, the 6-year-old Medaglia d’Oro gelding finished second in the
same event last year to cap his past campaign.

Prevalence will travel to the Big A for the first time since
his sophomore season, when he was sixth in the Wood Memorial (G2) in April
2021. The following year he won the seven-furlong Commonwealth (G3) in April at
Keeneland.

Graded-stakes-placed Coastal Mission, in post 4 with Arnaldo
Bocachica riding for trainer Jeff Runco, rounds out the field. The West
Virginia-bred Great Notion gray earned a 100 Beyer in winning the Frank Y.
Whiteley in April at Laurel Park ahead of a fourth in the Maryland Sprint and a
second in the Salvator Mile (G3) last out June 15 at Monmouth Park.

Grade 3 winners get rematch in Dwyer

Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Domestic Product and Holy Bull (G3)
victor Hades are set for a rematch in Saturday’s $200,000 Dwyer (G3), a
one-mile test for four sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.

Klaravich Stables’ Kentucky homebred Domestic Product
finished second to Hades in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull in February at Gulfstream
Park ahead of his first graded-stakes triumph in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) when
pouncing from off the pace to win by a neck over No More Time in March. He went
on to post a troubled, off-the-board finish in the Kentucky Derby, where he was
pinched at the start and lost a shoe.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, the
Practical Joke dark bay rebounded last out with a runner-up effort in the 1
1/16-mile listed Pegasus with a prominent trip June 15 at Monmouth Park.

Domestic Product was involved in an early pace battle
between five runners in the six-horse field and was within a half-length of pacesetting
Tuscan Sky at the three-quarter-mile call, but he lost touch with his rival in
the latter stages and settled for second 6 3/4 lengths back. He finished 4 1/4
lengths ahead of familiar foe Hades in third.

Out of the unraced Paynter mare Goods and Services, Domestic
Product is from the family of multiple turf-stakes winner Cherokee Queen. He
will break from post 3 on Saturday with 124 pounds including Flavien Prat.

D.J. Stable and Robert Cotran’s Hades, in post 2 with 124
pounds including Paco López, enters from a third-place finish last out in the
Pegasus and is looking for his first trip to the winner’s circle since his 9-1
upset of the Holy Bull in February.

Trainer Joe Orseno said he had not expected such a forward
battle in the Pegasus.

I may have over-instructed Paco that day, and we talked
about it since,” Orseno said. “I thought the 4 horse (Willy D’s) would go, but
I never expected Chad’s horse to be up there gunning for the lead either. Paco
said he wanted to take him out of there really bad, but he wanted to listen to
instructions.”

The son of Awesome Slew won his first three outings,
graduating on debut in December and following with an eight-length romp of a
Florida-bred allowance on New Year’s Eve before his Holy Bull win. He then
finished off the board in both the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby (G1) and the 1
1/16-mile Lexington (G3).

Orseno added blinkers for Hades’s last two outings but said
he will remove them for the Dwyer.

“Paco will have free rein to ride it how it comes up. The
horse is a good horse that we maybe have overthought a lot of things with,” Orseno
said. “He’ll come from off the pace if it plays out that way. We know now to
leave him alone and let him run. In a short field someone can get away from
you, but we’ll ride it the way it comes up.”

Save the Trees, in post 4 with 118 pounds including Irad
Ortiz Jr., looks to preserve a perfect 2-for-2 record in his stakes debut for owners
Skychai Racing, Paradise Farms, David Staudacher and Hot Pink Stable and trainer
Mike Maker.

The Preservationist gelding enters from a successful first
try against winners in a six-furlong, starter allowance June 9 at Churchill
Downs, overcoming a slow break to pounce from 2 1/4 lengths off the pace to
notch the 2 3/4-length victory. The effort garnered a 79 Beyer.

Save the Trees won on debut in April at Keeneland when he
was in the care of trainer Wayne Mackey. He posted an eye-catching trip when
rallying from 11 lengths back in last place of 10 to fly home late and nab the
victory by three-quarters of a length in a key race that saw runner-up Hold My
Bourbon and third-place Run Jalen Run exit to win next out.

“He’s training well,” Paradise Farms’ Peter Proscia said. “Mike
thinks he can get the mile, so I’m all aboard, and I hope we do well. We’re
numbers guys, and he came up with a big number (74 Beyer) on debut, so we got
him in the sale, and it worked out in our favor. We’re happy.”

Save the Trees’s impressive maiden win was enough to bring
the hammer down at $335,000 at the Keeneland April horses-of-racing-age sale,
where he was bought by Maker for the ownership group. Save the Trees, who
initially sold for $23,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale, is out of
the multiple stakes-placed Forestry mare Canopy Lane.

“We had tried to purchase him privately, and the owners
wanted to go to auction,” Proscia said. “It was probably a little more than I
wanted to pay, but we hope he performs well and pays us back. We’re looking
forward to it.”

Save the Trees is cross-entered in Saturday’s listed Iowa
Derby at Prairie Meadows, but Proscia said the preference is to run in the
Dwyer.

Kaleem Shah’s stakes-placed Billal completes the field. Starting
from post 1 with 118 pounds including Júnior Alvarado, he seeks his first
stakes victory on the back of a good third against the well-regarded Subrogate
on June 8 at Saratoga. The effort produced a field-best 93 Beyer when he was defeated
by 2 1/2 lengths.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Billal kept close watch
early from third and stayed patient up the backstretch of the 6 1/2-furlong
optional claimer before putting in his bid in the turn and giving chase down
the lane. The Street Sense colt has made four starts in stakes company. His
best finish was a third in the listed Nashua in November over Saturday’s course
and distance.

A $725,000 purchase at the Keeneland September yearling sale,
Billal is out of the Bernardini mare Bambalina, whose dam is multiple graded-stakes
winner and 2000 champion turf mare Forever Together.