Funnys Approval will try to again take her game on the road attempting to extend her four-race win streak April 6 in the $250,000 Ruffian Handicap (gr. II) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Bobby Rankin's homebred ost her first four career starts, which were all on synthetic surfaces. Switched to dirt, Funnys Approval closed out her 3-year-old season with a maiden special weight victory and a pair of allowance wins at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort.
Funnys Appoval showed she could take her game on the road when the daughter of Outrageouslyfunny opened her 4-year-old season with a three-quarter-length victory in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap (gr. II) Feb. 16 at Laurel Park, as she improved to four-for-four on dirt. Funnys Approval will try to extend her four-race win streak at a third different track when she starts in the Ruffian, a one-turn mile race at Aqueduct.
Funnys Approval will face some familiar foes in Guillllermo Berrios' My Wandy's Girl, who placed second in the Barbara Fritchie after winning multiple stakes races in Puerto Rico, and third-place Barbara Ritchie finisher Withgreatpleasure. Trainer Michael Hushion believes My Wandy's Girl can improve in the Ruffian.
"The hope is she's a serious filly, and I think she is, so I think it will be nothing but the top races from here," Hushion said. "I'm not going plan any further than this race; I don't know whether she'll need four weeks or eight weeks after this race. I'll let the horse do the talking.
"She kind of stayed on steady in the race at Laurel, and the gallop outs are very good parts of her works. More importantly, the more distance, the better. I hope everybody can see what she is: a real nice filly."
The field also includes Twice the Lady, who enters off a second-place finish in the Top Flight Handicap (gr. II) March 2 after a victory in the Affectionately Stakes Jan. 26. Both of those races were contested on the Aqueduct inner track.
$250,000 Ruffian Handicap (gr. II, race 4, approximate post time 2:26 p.m.) F&M, 3YO&Up, 1 mile
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Withgreatpleasure (KY), J. Velazquez, 114, D. Nunn
2. Funnys Approval (KY), J. Vargas, 116, J. Lopez
3. Onepointthreekarats (FL), J. Rose, 115, H. Motion
4. Twice the Lady (KY), C. Velasquez, 116, A. Dutrow
5. Centrique (VA), J. Castellano, 112, J. Guerrero
6. My Wandy's Girl (KY), I. Ortiz, 117, M. Hushion