My Snookie's Boy, who spent most of the summer chasing Lion Heart in the Long Branch (gr. III) and Haskell Invitational (gr. I) at Monmouth, returns after a freshening for Wednesday's $100,000 Discovery Handicap (gr. III) at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds, the season-opening stakes at Aqueduct.Trainer Allen Iwinski's charge was one of the favorites in the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II) in his last start but the Crafty Friend colt had a terrible time, tiring to finish 10th, beaten by 21 lengths by Love of Money. Owned by Preferred Pals Stable, My Snookie's Boy has been training at Aqueduct with Iwinski's assistant Brad Wallace since then.
Iwinski believes the track at Philadelphia had an overwhelming speed bias and that his colt broke slowly from his inside post position. "Then he got run into the fence on the first turn."
The trainer figures that 51 days is enough time for My Snookie's Boy to recover from the debacle.
"We wanted to give him plenty of time," Iwinski said. "He's been training excellent. In his last work he was kind of rank going in, so I think that means he's at the top of his game."
Iwinski, 52, said earlier this year that he would be disbanding his stable temporarily to focus on his battle with hepatitis C and spend more time with his family.
"I feel fine now, but my doctor told me I need to go back on medication that could really knock me out," Iwinski said. "He wants me to go on Interferon for a year and a half, which is a long time, but there's a new type of Interferon that has fewer side effects."
Iwinski is hoping that the new treatment will take less out of him so that he can continue to run a scaled down racing operation.
Eight were entered for Wednesday's Discovery, with My Snookie's Boy carrying top weight of 119 pounds.
Trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the Discovery with Early Warning in 1998 and Left Bank in 2000, will saddle Char-Mari Stable's Navesink River before boarding a plane to Texas for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships Wednesday.
Navesink River won an first-level allowance at Saratoga Aug. 30, on a day Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez teamed up to win five races. Since then, the colt returned to run fourth in the Pegasus (gr. III) at The Meadowlands October 1. Robert Smith's Stolen Time looked impressive in two recent wins including his last start, a third-level allowance optional claimer on Oct. 11. He drew off to score by 5 ½ lengths. His five stakes tries this year have yielded just one third-place finish.
$100,000 Discovery Handicap (gr. III), 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles
PP. HORSE, TRAINER, JOCKEY, WGT.
1. Coded Warning, Bobby Frankel, Cornelio Velasquez, 114
2. My Snookie's Boy, Allen Iwinski, Joe Bravo, 119
3. Go Now, Nick Zito, Jorge Chavez, 114
4. Mahzouz, Laurie LaFavers, Pablo Fragoso, 115
5. Stolen Time, Bill Mott, Jose Santos, 116
6. Reggie for Three, H. James Bond , Norberto Arroyo Jr., 114
7. Zackocity, Pat Reynolds, Javier Castellano, 116
8. Navesink River, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, 115