Photo:

Teresa Poplin / Eclipse Sportswire

The Grade 2, $300,000 Red Smith will be run Saturday at Aqueduct as the fall meeting has its first weekend. A field of nine veteran turf runners, including the winner of last year’s race, will run 1 3/8 miles on the grass.

The field has four graded-stakes winners and two with career earnings over $1 million. There is a single Grade 1 winner and three with Grade 2 victories.

Here is a full-field analysis for the Red Smith with morning-line odds by the Horse Racing Nation staff. Scheduled as race 9 of 10, post time is set for 3:40 p.m. EST.

1. Curbstone, 15-1. Street Sense – Tom Morley / John Velazquez – 23: 5-5-0 – $345,920. Curbstone ran three weeks ago in the two-mile John Forbes stakes on the flat at the Far Hills jump meeting and finished second after leading for most of that marathon. But he has yet to win on turf after allowance and starter victories on dirt. Toss.

2. Integration, 7-2. Quality Road – Shug McGaughey / Flavien Prat – 9: 4-1-1 – $976,800. Integration won the Hill Prince (G2) and the Virginia Derby (G3) on the grass last year as a 3-year-old after winning the first three starts of his career. This year he ran in four Grade 1 races and finished second in the Arlington Million in August at Colonial Downs. In September he was fourth in the Turf Cup (G2) at Kentucky Downs as the even-money favorite. Win contender.

3. Pioneering Spirit, 20-1. American Pharoah – Rick Dutrow / Manny Franco – 31: 6-6-3 – $679,680. Pioneering Spirit was claimed last month for $62,500 from Linda Rice by Rick Dutrow. He spent most of his time running in stakes races in New York, and his last victory was more than a year ago at Aqueduct in the Knickerbocker, which was scheduled for the grass but went on a sloppy and sealed track. Toss.

4. City Man, 8-1. Mucho Macho Man – Christophe Clement / Joel Rosario – 36: 11-7-6 – $1,323,870. City Man is the leading money winner in the field with $1.3 million in earnings. The 7-year-old won a Grade 2 in 2022 and has been racing in New York-bred stakes for the past year and a half. He did not run worse than fourth in eight of those state-bred races, with his last victory in August 2023. Use underneath.

5. Limited Liability, 6-1. Kitten’s Joy – Shug McGaughey / Frankie Dettori – 18: 4-2-6 – $805,199. Limited Liability was a winner of the Nashville Gold Cup by more than eight lengths at Kentucky Downs and led at every call of the marathon race. Frankie Dettori stays on board after that last race, from which the second-place finisher came back to win that Far Hills stakes race ahead of Curbstone. The longer the race the better for this 5-year-old. Win contender.

6. Adhamo, 12-1. Intello – Chad Brown / Irad Ortiz Jr. – 24: 5-3-5 – $1,005,067. Adhamo is the only Grade 1 winner in the field, having taken the United Nations at Monmouth Park in 2022. The now 6-year-old is the other $1 million earner in the field. Last year he was third in Arlington Million and the Canadian International (G1), but in 2024 he has not been competitive. Adhamo shows up in this race as a new gelding after a four-month layoff. Toss.

7. Daunt, 30-1. Nyquist – Robert Ribaudo / Javier Castellano – 24: 2-3-3 – $365,380. Daunt made his last five starts in allowance races this year, and his best finish was a third at Saratoga. He tried stakes races a few times but has only an allowance win to his credit, and that was in October 2022. Toss.

8. Master Piece, 5-2. Mastercraftsman – Rick Dutrow / Jose Lezcano – 32: 8-4-5 – $943,577. Master Piece won this race last year to complete his 2023 campaign. He ran poorly in the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) to start this year but bounced back to win the Fort Marcy (G2). In September he travelled to Santa Anita and finished third in the John Henry Turf Cup (G2). Master Piece won both of his starts on the Aqueduct turf. Jose Lezcano, who rode him in the Red Smith last year, gets back on board. The one to beat.

9. Rebel Red, 5-1. Frankel – Cherie DeVaux / Jose Ortiz – 7: 3-1-0 – $153,469. Rebel Red began his career in England, where he made two starts. He moved to the barn of Cherie DeVaux, breaking his maiden at Churchill Downs in June followed by an allowance victory at Saratoga. Rebel Red tried stakes racing in the Bernard Baruch and finished seventh. Last month at Keeneland he beat a field of 12 with a deep closing move in a second-level allowance as the 2-1 favorite. Win contender.

Summary: Master Piece and Integration are the top contenders in the Red Smith. Integration seems to be best going a bit shorter at nine furlongs, and Master Piece is proven at the 11 furlongs. Rebel Red is the interesting newcomer to this kind of field, with a pair of allowance wins for Breeders’ Cup winning trainer Cherie DeVaux.

Master Piece is the top choice to use in the exacta with Rebel Red and Integration.