One Nine Hundred comes calling for first stakes win in G3 Tom Fool

One Nine Hundred will look to dial up another winning performance in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool, a six-furlong sprint for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Tom Morley for Steven Rocco, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Adelphi Racing Club, the 4-year-old Dialed In colt earned a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure for his last out optional-claiming win over course and distance on January 9. There, One Nine Hundred overcame a bobbled start under Jose Lezcano to show the way through splits of 22.66 seconds and 45.56 over the fast main track, opening up by a comfortable margin at the top of the lane to score by 4 1/2-lengths in a final time of 1:09.84.

“He's been in great shape since his last run. He's an exciting horse and runs well at Aqueduct. It's time for him to step back into stakes company,” Morley said.

Morley said the recent strong performance was encouraging.

“He's a very, very fast horse with a lot of natural speed, but probably just a little immature as a 3-year-old. These sprinters get better and better with age, and I think he's matured physically. He's never needed the encouragement to be a fast horse; it's just a matter of him getting strong enough to do what he's doing now,” Morley said.

One Nine Hundred [post 2, Jose Lezcano, 119 pounds] made his first three career outings at the Big A, finishing third to the victorious eventual stakes-winner T Kraft last January and a seven-length second to Listed stakes-winner Colloquial last February. He graduated with a powerful frontrunning performance in March here, scoring by seven-lengths under a hand ride ahead of a pacesetting fifth in the Listed Chick Lang in May at Pimlico Race Course.

Morley indicated that the Chick Lang effort – the lone off-the-board try on the talented colt’s 7-3-1-2 record – was an anomaly occurring on a busy Preakness Day card.

“He completely lost his race in the paddock beforehand. He's a very calm horse before a race generally and he never bats an eye in the paddock. He doesn't get hot or wound up,” Morley said. “It was very tough for me to get the saddle on him that day. To me, when they do that before a race, the race is gone at that point. He ran his race in the paddock.”

One Nine Hundred exited the Chick Lang effort with a frontrunning optional-claiming win versus elders in July at Saratoga Race Course.

Morley credited the ownership group for their patience in allowing One Nine Hundred time to mature.

“I think time away helps most horses. He came out of the race in Saratoga in decent shape, but we realized he was still physically immature for a real fast horse,” Morley said. “Steven and Dean [Reeves] and Matt [Cutair, Adelphi Racing Club] made a great decision - it was great to get the win in Saratoga, and we gave him a little break to try and point towards races like this. These are building blocks for hopefully a very big 4-year-old campaign.”

One Nine Hundred returned in November to run a 1 1/4-length third in an optional-claimer at Churchill Downs ahead of his recent local win.

He has worked back four times over the Belmont Park dirt training track since his January score here, including a solo half-mile in 49 flat on February 19.

“His two previous works were very sharp works, and I wanted him to have an easy leg stretch. He worked by himself and did it fabulously,” Morley said.

One Nine Hundred, a half-brother to Listed stakes-winner Real Macho, was a $240,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, where he worked an eighth of a mile in 10 seconds flat. He is out of the Curlin mare Hedonism, while his third dam is dual Grade 3-winner Rabiadella.

Jay Em Ess Stable’s Full Moon Madness [post 5, Reylu Gutierrez, 123 pounds] will look to defend his title in this event after prevailing by 1 1/4-lengths last year with a prominent effort under Kendrick Carmouche.

Trained by Michelle Nevin, the 6-year-old Into Mischief gelding has posted four of his five career wins at the Big A along with a narrow second in the Grade 3 Nashua here in November 2022.

Full Moon Madness was off the board in a pair of local stakes starts after his Tom Fool score when seventh in the Grade 2 Carter and fourth in the Grade 3 John A. Nerud, but returned to winning form when shipped to Delaware Park in June for a stalking neck score in the Alapocas Run.

Full Moon Madness enters from a prominent 2 1/4-length fourth in a 6 1/2-furlong handicap in January at Laurel Park where he broke inward from post 5-of-9 and was pressing the pace of the eventual winner Point Dume, who herded him outwards near the sixteenth pole. Point Dume exited that effort to win the Listed General George.

Full Moon Madness is out of the dual Grade 1-winning Indian Charlie mare By the Moon, who captured the 2014 Frizette and 2017 Ballerina on the NYRA circuit for these same connections. His second dam, the Grade 1-placed New York-bred By the Light, won multiple stakes for Jay Em Ess Stable, who purchased her as a yearling for $190,000.

A. Bianco Holding Limited’s Grade 3-placed New York-bred Acoustic Ave [post 4, Manny Franco, 119 pounds] returns on short rest from a 1 3/4-length second to National Identity in last Saturday’s state-bred Say Florida Sandy going seven furlongs at the Big A for trainer Linda Rice.

“I think he deserves a chance, and at this point, he’s not eligible for many things,” Rice said. “I think the cutback will be helpful. That horse [National Identity] is awfully good, and I thought he put in a nice college try. I was not disappointed in him.”

The 6-year-old Maclean’s Music chestnut was haltered for $45,000 last March here and has since post an impressive 11-4-5-1 record that includes a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Elite Power here in December as well as a trio of open-company scores in optional-claiming sprints.

Bred by Chester and Mary Broman, Acoustic Ave is out of the Street Boss mare Rock Ave. Road, a half-sister to Grade 3-placed Sand Devil and stakes-winner Can You Diggit.

Also entered are Grade 3-winner Bold Journey [post 3, Eric Cancel, 119 pounds], who was fifth in this event last year for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott; and 10-time winner Breslau [post 1, Ricardo Santana, Jr.,119 pounds] for trainer Michael Miceli.

The Tom Fool is slated as Race 4 on Saturday’s stacked 10-race card, which is headlined by the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham, offering 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in Race 10. The lucrative program also features the Listed $150,000 Stymie in Race 8 and the Listed $200,000 Busher, a 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Oaks qualifier in Race 2. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

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