Dry Martini Returns in Queens County Handicap

by Patricia Woo | Dec 10 2008

Aqueduct's feature race on Dec. 13 is the Queens County Handicap, and will feature 3-year-olds and up, including Stuyvesant Handicap champion Dry Martini.

This weekend is your last chance to bet on horse racing at Aqueduct Racetrack before the Christmas break! Aqueduct’s feature race on Saturday, Dec. 13, is the $100,000-added Queens County Handicap and is our race of the week. The 103rd running of this grade 3 race for 3-year-olds and up is a 9.5-furlong test on the inner dirt course at Aqueduct. Among the expected are Dry Martini, Temporary Saint and Brilliant Son.

With his brilliant come-from-behind performance in the $100,000 Gr. 3 Stuyvesant Handicap on Nov. 15, Dry Martini gets the high weight of 118 lbs. The 5-year-old gelding, whose 2008 campaign was a string of winless performances before his breakout win in the Stuyvesant Handicap, will be looking to end this year on a high note. After two unsuccessful grass races this year (the Gr. 3 Knickerbocker Handicap and the Strawberry Burrah Stakes), trainer William Turner, Jr. switched Dry Martini back to dirt surfaces, and the Florida-bred son of Slew Gin Fizz should again relish the dirt track at Aqueduct.

Kentucky-bred Temporary Saint first tasted graded stakes victory in April when he won the $200,000 Gr. 3 Excelsior Handicap at Aqueduct. Previously trained by Bruce Levine but now under the supervision of David Jacobson, Temporary Saint has fared well at Aqueduct in previous races: a pair of third-place finishes in the Stuyvesant Handicap and an allowance optional claiming race in early November. This 5-year-old gelding races well from the front – if he can grab the early lead, he should do well.

Brilliant Son, whose last outing was a disappointing fifth in the Stuyvesant Handicap, is also expected. This Kiaran P. McLaughlin trainee has been waiting for a breakthrough race all year – so far, the lightly raced 5-year-old has managed two third-place finishes: in a Keeneland allowance race in October and in the $100,000 James Marvin Stakes at Saratoga in August. The sloppy track at Aqueduct in November during the Stuyvesant Handicap may have hampered Brilliant Son’s efforts - he had a ground-saving trip but faded towards the finish. With the forecast this weekend calling for mainly sunny skies, Brilliant Son may be in for a more favorable trip.

Both Sir Whimsey – who had the summer off after his third-place finish in the $250,000 Gr. 1 Pimlico Special Handicap and who most recently finished fourth in an allowance optional claiming race in November at Aqueduct – as well as  Researcher – who is on a three-win streak but will be facing graded stakes competition for the first time – are also expected.

Who is your favorite in the Queens County Handicap? Get all your horse racing odds at the Bodog Racebook!