Top pick: #10 (HOUSE RULES) (3-1) - Entered for the main track only and trainer Jimmy Jerkens gets his wish. Stakes placed several times, she was a winner at Saratoga going 1 1/8th miles on the dirt Aug. 17 and earned the highest figure any of these has ever attained. Sent to Philly Park for the $1,000,000 "Cotillion" stakes (G1) on Sept. 20, she raced evenly while wide that afternoon. Freshened up since, she's working fast and is the horse to beat.
2nd pick: #9 (Rubindy) (5-2) - The probable favorite, lightly-raced grey filly has gone 6-2-1-1 on the dirt and is training sharply for her first since Sept. 17. $475K daughter of "Bernardini" has tactical speed and she still has room for upside.
3rd pick: #2 (Evening Show) (9-2) - Stretch out sprinter has the best overall record of this field on the dirt 12-3-5-2 and finished second in her only previous start on a wet track. Speed/stalker is in shape and mare a threat if she handles the extra real estate she's trying this afternoon.
4th pick: #11 (Holiday's Jewel) (8-1) - Veteran is another that was entered for the main track only and enters off a come-from-behind win in a Belmont allowance on the dirt Oct. 17. Mare has gone 3-1-0-2 on "off" surfaces in the past and she's the only entrant who has a previous win on the Aqueduct main track.