Aqueduct Picks | Broadway Stakes 2024

Ken Wheeler, Jr.’s Kant Hurry Love will look to win beyond 6 1/2-furlongs for the first time when she takes on seven rivals in Saturday’s $100,000 Broadway, a seven-furlong sprint for older New York-bred fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Broadway is slated as Race 9 on Saturday’s 10-race program which also features the $100,000 Ruthless in Race 7. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.  

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The 5-year-old Kantharos bay has hit the board in 7-of-8 starts since joining the barn of trainer David Duggan last February, led by a nose win in her stakes debut in the six-furlong Dancin Renee against fellow state-breds in June at Belmont Park.

Kant Hurry Love, with regular rider Trevor McCarthy up, tracked from second position in the Dancin Renee as Grannys Connection zipped through splits of 22.72 seconds and 45.68 over the fast main track.

Grannys Connection appeared to have given the field the slip at the top of the lane, but Kant Hurry Love kicked into gear inside the final sixteenth and secured the narrow score in a final time of 1:10.40 to register a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure.

Kant Hurry Love has raced exclusively in stakes company since, finishing second in the state-bred Union Avenue going six furlongs in August at Saratoga Race Course and fourth in the seven-furlong Pumpkin Pie against open company here in November.

Last out, after a trio of prominent efforts, Kant Hurry Love raced from fourth position in the six-furlong Garland of Roses on December 9 at the Big A before rallying wide down the lane to complete the exacta a neck back of the victorious Hot Fudge, who exited that effort to win the Interborough here.

Kant Hurry Love was entered in the six-furlong What A Summer last month at Laurel Park, but was forced to change course when the race was canceled due to inclement weather.

Duggan said he is hopeful that the added furlong won’t prove detrimental on Saturday.

“The distance is a little bit of a question mark and it’s not her optimal distance, but I don’t think it’s a major issue,” Duggan said. “She can get the distance, just not to a superior level as she does going three-quarters. It’s a good spot. She’s been training well.”

Bred by Dr. John M. McDermott and Laura G. McDermott, Kant Hurry Love is out of the Langfuhr mare She’s All Love, who is a half-sister to multiple graded-stakes placed Bonus Points and stakes-winner Candid Desire.

McCarthy retains the mount from post 6 aboard Kant Hurry Love, who carries a co-field high 124 pounds.

NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds’ multiple graded stakes-placed Venti Valentine [post 5, Manny Franco, 124 pounds] will look to secure her sixth career stakes score for trainer Jorge Abreu.

The 5-year-old Firing Line chestnut has banked $721,600 through a record of 17-6-3-4 that includes graded placings traveling nine furlongs at the Big A in the 2021 Grade 2 Demoiselle [2nd] and 2022 Grade 3 Gazelle [3rd], along with a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Go for Wand on December 2 traveling a one-turn mile over a muddy and sealed main track.

The ultra-consistent mare has made her last three outings here over muddy and sealed going, beginning with a third-place effort in the Empire Distaff in October, the aforementioned Go for Wand and a runner-up effort to highly-regarded Fingal’s Cave in the state-bred Bay Ridge going one mile last out on December 28.

Venti Valentine, out of the winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Glory Gold, is a half-sister to multiple stakes-winning New York-bred Espresso Shot, a Mission Impazible bay who banked $516,625 through a 24-5-3-4 ledger while campaigned by NY Final Furlong Racing Stable in partnership with Maspeth Stables and Parkland Thoroughbreds.

WellSpring Stables’ multiple stakes-placed Security Code [post 7, Jose Lezcano, 118 pounds] has hit the board in 11 of her last 12 starts, arriving from a three-quarter length score in an open-company allowance sprint here on January 5.

Trained by Phil Serpe, the 4-year-old Frosted bay has hit the board in a trio of state-bred stakes at the Big A, finishing third in the Key Cents as a juvenile before last year landing third in the Franklin Square and second in the East View.

Bred by Rockridge Stud, Ascendant Farms and Godolphin, Security Code, a half-sister to stakes-winner No Mo’ Spending, is out of the graded stakes-placed Montbrook mare Stopspendingmaria.

Rounding out the field are:

• Gone and Forgotten [post 4, Dylan Davis, 124 pounds], a three-time stakes winner at Finger Lakes racing first off the claim for trainer Mike Maker
• Stakes-winner Golden Rocket [post 1, Jose Gomez, 118 pounds] for conditioner Patricia Farro
• Multiple stakes-placed Bustin Bay [post 3, Eric Cancel] for trainer Linda Rice\
• Stakes-placed Sweetest Princess [post 2, Luis Rivera, Jr., 118 pounds] for trainer James Ferraro; Majestic Return [post 8, Kendrick Carmouche, 118 pounds], who makes her stakes debut for conditioner Michelle Giangiulio