Bill Place, Wollaston Bay in Bay Shore Rubber Match

(from Aqueduct report)
Bill Place and Wollaston Bay, who have traded stakes victories in New York both times they ran against each other, meet again in Saturday’s $150,000 Bay Shore (gr. III) for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

The seven-furlong Bay Shore, which attracted a field of seven sophomores, will be the seventh race of an 11-race card on Saturday.

Tony Dutrow, trainer of Bill Place, is hoping that someone will put some pressure on Wollaston Bay this time after that rival led all the way to take the Fred Capossela on Feb. 19. When Bill Place beat Wollaston Bay in the Winkfield, he applied significant pressure to Wollaston Bay and drew away late to win by 3 1/4 lengths.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Wollaston Bay, but he had everything his own way last time,” Dutrow said. “I didn’t want to turn Bill Place into such a ‘go’ horse, so we decide to take a hold of him last time and rate. I think what Bill Place wants to do is rate.”

Dutrow claimed Bill Place for $50,000 at Laurel in September and ran him one mile in his first start off the claim. After finishing second in that spot, Dutrow decided to cut the son of Master Bill back to six furlongs, where he won a Philadelphia Park allowance before taking the Winkfield. Wollaston Bay then beat Bill Place by 1 1/4 lengths in the Capossela.

“He looks like he’s going to be a useful second-tier three-year-old,” Dutrow said of the gelding he trains for Michael Dubb, Sanford Goldfarb, and Cast of Characters Stable. “The cut back in distance really helped him improve. Things have gone really good for him so far.”

After winning the Capossela, trainer Gary Sciacca decided to stretch out Wollaston Bay. The Sea of Secrets colt set the early pace but tired late and was eventually beaten 10 1/2 lengths by Cowtown Cat in a seventh-place finish in the Gotham (gr. III).

“We had to take a shot going long in the Gotham to see if he could stretch out,” Sciacca said. “It seems like his best game is going short though, so we’ll concentrate on sprints now.”

Pegasus Dream Stable’s Out of Gwedda could be the one to apply pressure to Wollaston Bay in the Bay Shore. Out of Gwedda ships up from Gulfstream after finishing third in the Hutcheson (gr. II), beaten 7 3/4 lengths by King of the Roxy.

Out of Gwedda won both his starts in New York last year as a juvenile and ran a big second to Buffalo Man in the Jan. 7 Spectacular Bid (gr. III) at Gulfstream, his first start since winning the Tremont at Belmont July 4. The Out of Place colt has been forwardly placed in each of his four starts.

Live Oak Plantation’s Les Grands Trois will put his undefeated record on the line in the Bay Shore. The son of Officer broke his maiden at Belmont last July, impressively drawing off to a nine-length victory. Les Grands Trois only made his second start on March 7, winning an entry-level allowance at Santa Anita from slightly off the pace. The colt would be the first Bobby Frankel-trained horse to run in New York this year. Frankel also entered In the Woods.

Trainer Ramon Preciado will ship up Hobbitontherocks from his Philadelphia Park base to run in the Bay Shore. The gelded son of Lion Hearted won his last two allowance starts at Philly and comes into this race fresh, having not run since Feb. 17.

$150,000 Bay Shore Stakes (gr. III, Race 7, 4:12 p.m.), 3-Year-Olds, 7 Furlongs
PP. Horse, Weight, Jockey
1. Pass the Punch (PA), 116, John R. Velazquez
2. Indian Camp (NY), 116, Channing Hill
3. Hobbitontherocks (NJ), 116, Alan Garcia
4. Les Grands Trois (KY), 116, David R. Flores
5. In the Woods (MD), 116, David R. Flores
6. Bill Place (FL), 120, Cornelio H. Velasquez
7. Wollaston Bay (FL), 120, Joseph Talamo