East View: Lenders Way Seeks Breakthrough

The one mile, 70-yard East View will be the first start beyond seven furlongs for Lenders Way, who was third in both the seven-furlong Joseph A. Gimma in Memory of Fleet Indian on October 22 at Belmont and six-furlong NYSS Fifth Avenue on November 13 at the Big A.

“She has run against a couple of nice fillies, and I think she fits with the competition,” said Jim Ryerson, who trains Lenders Way for WellSpring Stables. “We’ll see how she fits distance-wise. Mentally, she’s easy to rate. She’s by Hook and Ladder, so there’s a question there. I think her ability to relax, hopefully, will help her in here. You never know whether she’s a one-run sprinter or if she can stretch.”

Trainer Jim Ryerson considered giving Lenders Way time off following the Fifth Avenue before deciding in favor of entering her in the East View, which will be her fourth start in 9 ½ weeks.

“That is a little bit of a concern, but she is doing well and she fits with the competition, so we elected to go ahead give it a shot,” said Ryerson. “She hasn’t been interrupted in her training and has the [Gimma and Fifth Avenue] underneath her and doesn’t need much to get ready for the [East View]. We opted to go ahead and give it a shot now and maybe freshen her up after the race. That was our thought process.”

Tabbed as the 9-5 favorite, Lenders Way will leave from post 7 with Junior Alvarado aboard.

Lenders Way’s six opponents include a pair from the barn of Dominick Schettino. One of them, Motion Lounge, has already competed against Lenders Way, having finished fifth in the Joseph A. Gimma. Owned by Brooklyn Boyz Stables, Motion Lounge has made one other start, overcoming an awkward start to win by 6 ¼ lengths going away in the mud on August 21 at Saratoga Race Course.

Irad Ortiz has the assignment about Motion Lounge, the 3-1 morning-line second choice, from post 5.

Schettino’s other entrant, Robert D. Rosenthal and Bernice Waldbaum’s My Jopia, has made four starts, breaking her maiden by 1 ¼ lengths in her most recent outing, a six-furlong dash on November 6 at Aqueduct. Her sole off-the-board performance came in her only route start, a sixth in a 1 1/16-mile off-the-turf race on October 5 at Belmont.

My Jopia, 8-1 on the morning line, drew post 6 and will be ridden by Ryan Curatolo.

The East View field also includes Cute Cadet, the only East View entrant with two victories to her credit; Court of Dreams, third in the May Night overnight stakes on November 16; and recent maiden winners Double Mint and Berning Carbs.

The field for the $65,000 East View: