A couple of highly impressive two-year olds shipped in to win at Aqueduct yesterday; both with their respective barn’s jockeys coming along for a single ride, an angle that I know people like to follow.  They both earned TFUS speed figures of 104, so you can add them to the list of top figures earned by juveniles that we posted here the other day.

In the third, a stakes race named, for some reason, after either the “comedian” or the horse Don Rickles, Extrasexyhippzster ($9.70) dominated the small field for trainer Michael Trombetta and jockey Julian Pimentel.  This barn generally doesn’t fare as well at the Big A as it does overall, but not in this case.  So, if you didn’t have him, than you are not necessarily A DUMMY!  Extrasexyhippzster is by Stroll, a turf stakes winning son of Pulpit, out of a Freud mare.

In the 6th, Taris ($9.90) was well-bet in her debut, shipping in, with a long string of impressive works on her resume, from Penn National with her trainer Todd Beattie and jockey Clinton Potts.  Beattie fares quite well with first-timers as evidenced by his perfect trainer rating in that category.  This daughter of Flatter, out of Comedy (a contradiction, in both respects, of the guy that the aforementioned stakes race was named after), make a joke out of this race, drawing off to win by nearly 12 lengths.

An interesting point by Doug Salvatore in his preview of yesterday’s Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream about trainer Shug McGaughey and his use – or non-use – of Lasix.  However, Mr. Speaker ($23.40) apparently didn’t need the medication to move up and win in his first try against winners.  While he still may get a boost if and when he is administered Lasix as a three-year old, he may get a bigger one still if and when (probably the latter) he switches to dirt.  Mr. Speaker is by Pulpit out of an Unbridled mare; and his second dam is the great, fantastic, superlative, words-cannot-describe-how-great-she-was Personal Ensign, the rare champion mare who has proven to be productive as a dam as well.  This is a distaff family which has flourished on dirt (Miners Mark, My Flag, Storm Flag Flying, Personal Flag), and no reason to think that Mr. Speaker shouldn’t as well.