Stone Smuggler seeks rebound in $500K NYSSS Fifth Avenue
At 0h03, on December 14, 2024 • By Aqueduct
NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and SunsetRidge Racing Stable’s New York-bred stakes-winner Stone Smuggler will look to regroup from a third-place effort in the state-bred Key Cents when taking on 11 rivals in Saturday’s $500,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The seven-furlong sprint for eligible New York-sired juvenile fillies will see Stone Smuggler stretch out one furlong from her last effort on November 17 here. The daughter of Honest Mischief attended the pace when a half-length back through the early stages under Irad Ortiz, Jr. and took a head advantage at the top of the lane, but could not fend off the late turn of foot from undefeated With the Angels and Nina Kay, finishing 2 1/2 lengths back of the winner and a half-length back of the runner-up. She earned a field-best 74 Beyer Speed Figure.
“We just got beat for second on the wire, and Irad gave her a good ride,” trainer Jorge Abreu said. “She was just facing better horses, and it’s not like she got beat a ton. She’s been pretty straightforward and has done everything the right way.”
Stone Smuggler seeks her second career stakes conquest after graduating in the state-bred Lady Finger two starts back on September 23 at Finger Lakes Racetrack, with returning rivals Mischief Lady and Idyll Gossip a respective second and third. The 3 1/2-length romp came in wire-to-wire fashion after she made the early lead for the first time. She improved from a distant second on debut to familiar foe With the Angels in August at Saratoga Race Course.
“For us, it was important and it was pretty cool,” Abreu said of the filly graduating in stakes company. “She looked like she had potential early on, and I liked her at Saratoga. Unfortunately, we had to run against that beast With the Angels. That’s one of the best 2-year-old fillies in the country right now.”
Abreu said he would be pleased to see Stone Smuggler assume the early lead again.
“I think that would be a good key for her to take the lead, and if she runs 23 [seconds] and change, then we’d probably be in with a good shot,” Abreu said.
Stone Smuggler worked Saturday over the Belmont Park dirt training track, covering five furlongs in 1:02 flat.
