Wall Street Wonder continued to reward the confidence of his
connections Saturday afternoon, capturing the 117
th running of the
Grade 3 Toboggan at Aqueduct after a hard-fought stretch battle with the very
game Custom for Carlos.
The Toboggan was the first graded stakes race run in New York
this year, and the first graded win for the 4-year-old son of City Place,
who spent much of his sophomore season sprinting on the turf.
After pressing early leader Custom for Carlos through a
quarter mile in 22.76, Wall Street Wonder put a head in front for a half in
45.78. The pair battled through the stretch, but Wall Street Wonder
prevailed by a neck at the wire.
His final time for the six furlongs was 1:09.88 over a fast
track.
"He's the kind of horse who
will keep his head in front,” said jockey Channing Hill, who had ridden Wall
Street Wonder to an 8½-length score in the Paumonok on January 23, in which the
horse earned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure, the fastest sprint number in the nation
to date. “Today, he got a real class test with Custom for Carlos, and he
passed."
“He showed no ill-effects from
running so fast last time,” said Tonja Terranova, assistant to trainer John
Terranova. “Once he breezed last week and went tremendously, we knew that
we’d run him. This was a very big effort on our horse’s part and we’re
really proud of him.”
Wall Street Wonder has now won
three straight and Terranova said he would be pointed toward the Grade 1 Carter
at Aqueduct on April 3.
Sent off as the favorite, Wall
Street Wonder returned $4.70 and pushed his earnings to $216,341 for Stetson
Stables.
Driven by Success was third and
Elusive Warning and Crimson Comic completed the order of finish.
One race earlier, in the $65,000
Fred “Cappy” Capossela, jockey Jorge Chavez sent longshot Castaneda out to wire
the field and win by three lengths.
“It was not my thought to come
into this race, but when we heard it was going to be a light field, we decided
to enter. This horse has just found himself sprinting,” said Gary
Contessa, who trains the 3-year-old Yonaguska gelding for John Moirano, Harold
Lerner LLC, and Team Stallion Racing Corp.
Castaneda ran six furlongs in
1:10.48 and returned $14.20 as the longest shot on the board in the field of
four, reduced by the scratches of Confidence Crisis and Westover Wildcat.
Strapping Groom was second, with
Golden Ghost and Liston completing the order of finish.
Castaneda broke his maiden over
the inner track just two weeks ago, running off to a 6¼-length score in a
maiden race at the Capossela distance. Contessa said the horse might get
some time off, but that he would also consider a start in the Grade 3 Bay Shore
on the Wood Memorial undercard at Aqueduct on April 3.
Read More