Toboggan Preview: Red-Hot Pete’s Play Call Could Extend Streak

OZONE PARK, NY – If he gives his usual big effort, Michael Dubb’s red-hot Pete’s Play Call could extend his win streak to 3 in Saturday’s $150,000 Toboggan Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct.

The Toboggan is a 7-furlong dirt sprint open to horses ages 4 and up. This year’s edition is the penultimate event on a -race card and has a local post time of PM.

Here’s a look at the full field for the Toboggan:

1. Pete’s Play Call 9/5 – He enters this race having won 4 of his past 6 starts including the Gravesend Stakes, held at 6 1/2 furlongs over a muddy (sealed) local course. That was his first start for trainer Rudy Rodriguez, who along with Dubb claimed him for $62.5k out of a 6-furlong local sprint and sent him straight to a stakes. Jorge Vargas Jr. retains the mount.

“In his last 4 or 5 races, it looks like he’s improving a little,” Rodriguez said. “He’s been doing great. We’re just trying to keep him happy and keep him fit. He really looks like he’s been coming along well and I hope that he stays the way he’s been doing. He worked very well the other day. He’s full of himself right now.”

2. Drafted 12/1 – He makes his third start for trainer David Duggan after spending most of the past 4 seasons racing in Dubai, where he won a pair of Grade 3 stakes in 2019. He finished fifth behind Share the Ride and Stan the Man in November’s Fall Highweight Handicap (G3) and third behind Pete’s Play Call and Stan the Man in the Gravesend, both by multiple lengths.

3. Share the Ride 8/5 – He returns to New York-based trainer Antonio Arriaga, who saddled him to win the Fall Highweight Handicap 2 starts back before the horse was sent Laurel Park for the Fire Plug Stakes, which he lost by a neck. He seems to be hold his form no matter where he runs, finishing on the board in each of his past 8 dirts starts that came at 5 different tracks.

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4. Stan the Man 5/2 – Speaking of consistent horses, he hasn’t finished off the board in almost 11 months, running well in several dirt sprints on the NYRA circuit including the Kelso Handicap (G2) (third) and the Fall Highweight Handicap (second). Trainer John Terranova hits at 19% in dirt sprints but didn’t win any of his past 16 graded stakes tries (dating back to fall 2019).

“He’s been a good horse and a fun horse for us, very consistent,” Terranova said. “Especially lately, since the summer. We’re proud of him. He’s happy and healthy and this looks like the right spot for him.”

5. American Power 5/1 – He earned a return trip to the stakes ranks after wiring a field of optional claimers over this course and distance on December 11. He’s progressed well since trainer Rob Atras claimed him for $40k last summer, but this short field is still a tough class test for a horse who finished fourth in both prior stakes tries much earlier in his career.

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