Exotics plays for the 2023 Stymie Stakes at Aqueduct Feb. 25

Toboggan (G3) hero Repo Rocks and graded stakes-placed Miles D clash in the $125,000 Stymie S. at Aqueduct on Saturday.

Below we offer a full field analysis and provide our best exotics plays — including exacta, trifecta, and superfecta tickets — for the one-mile event for four-year-olds and up.

Stymie S. selections

• #3 Repo Rocks (6-5)
• #2 Far Mo Power (9-2)
• #1 Bourbonic (7-2)

Stymie S. wagers

• $5 Exacta: 3 with 1, 2 ($10)
• $2.50 Trifecta: 3 with 1, 2 with 1, 2, 4 ($10) 
• 50-cent Superfecta: 3 with 1, 2 with 1, 2, 4, 5 with 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 ($9)

#1 BOURBONIC (7-2): In his second start of the season, the Bernardini five-year-old returned to the winner's circle for the first time in nine starts when he scored a half-length win in an allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct. The Todd Pletcher pupil got up late to earn his third victory from three tries at a mile and posted a 101 Brisnet Speed rating. He will move up in class in his ninth start at Aqueduct, where he has won four times before. Pletcher is a 24% winner with horses that won their last race and a 23% winner with non-graded stakes. Jockey Dylan Davis, a 19% winner this meet, will retain the mount.

#2 FAR MO POWER (9-2): The Uncle Lino gelding posted a 100 Brisnet Speed figure when winning an allowance at Parx last out and will ship to Aqueduct for trainer Louis Linder Jr., a 4% winner in non-graded stakes. Three back, the five-year-old flashed a 111 Brisnet figure when crossing the finish line first by a neck in the Parx Dirt Mile in September, but was disqualified and placed second. Regular rider Dexter Haddock will stay in the saddle, but he’s won just 10% of his last 331 route races.

#3 REPO ROCKS (6-5): A son of Tapiture, Repo Rocks has raced between six and seven furlongs in his last seven starts and will stretch out to a mile here for Jamie Ness, a 29% winner with horses going from back-to-back sprints to a route. The five-year-old gelding has won his last three since joining Ness’ barn, and his most recent outing resulted in an 8 1/2-length score in the seven-furlong Toboggan at Aqueduct. He’ll keep rider Andrew Wolfsont, a 36% winner this meet who is 4-for-5 paired with Ness over the last two months.

#4 BLACK BELT (10-1): The Not This Time gelding was a distant sixth in the one-mile Fred W. Hooper S. (G3) at Gulfstream last out and will get some class relief here. Two back, he dominated a one-mile allowance optional claimer at the same track to earn his third victory from five tries at today’s distance. He’ll ship to Aqueduct for the first time and get jockey Eric Cancel, who is 11-3-3-2 over the last seven days. But trainer Peter Walder has had a rough start at Aqueduct, going 1-for-19, and he’s just a 10% winner with horses making their third start off a layoff.

#5 TOUGH TICKETS (12-1): The five-year-old has raced at a mile just once, winning by 4 1/2 lengths in a $16,000 claimer when under the care of Todd Pletcher in May of 2022. From there, he transferred to the barn of Harold Wyner and has won twice in seven starts, both times at a mile and 70 yards. The Nyquist son was in front by a head at the second call before tiring to finish third by two lengths in the Kris Kringle S. last out at Parx. The cutback in distance may help him in his first start in nearly two months.

#6 MILES D (3-1): A five-year-old by Curlin, Miles D came home 11 lengths in seventh in the Fred W. Hooper when sent off as the 1.90-1 favorite for Chad Brown. Prior to that, the only other time Miles D raced at eight furlongs was back in June 2021, when he broke his maiden at Belmont. He raced between 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/4 miles in his next five starts, with his only two other career victories coming at 8 1/2 and nine furlongs. Brown is a 28% winner with beaten favorites, and new jockey Manny Franco is a 21% this meet, but Miles D appears better suited at distances beyond a mile.