BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Florida-bred Sister Otoole, who has criss-crossed the country for her last five starts, has returned to the East Coast for Saturday’s Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Waya to face seven other fillies and mares at a mile-and-three-eighths on the Aqueduct turf. This will be the second time the Graham Motion-trained Sister Otoole has tried the $200,000 Waya, having finished fourth in the 2021 edition won by My Sister Nat (Fr) at Belmont Park.
Sister Otoole will be looking to repeat her last out victory in the $101,000 CTT and TOC at the 11-furlong distance on the grass at Del Mar on Aug. 18, a race she also won last year. Although she was off a step slow in this year’s CTT and TOC, the 6-year-old Sister Otoole rallied from last while six-wide at the top of the stretch to produce a dramatic length-and-a-quarter victory.
With a career that has seen Sister Otoole travel to nine different tracks in her 21 lifetime races, Sister Otoole makes her first start at Aqueduct and just her third start this year. She was fifth in an $80,000 optional claiming won by Salimah going a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the inner turf at Saratoga on July 13 when making her first start since finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Red Carpet Ready won by Bellstreet Birdie at Del Mar to complete her 2022 campaign in November.
By Amira’s Prince (Ire), who stands at Pleasant Acres Stallions, out of O’Toole, by Distorted Humor, Sister Otoole has produced a consistent record of four wins with five seconds and four thirds and has never finished worse than fifth while earning $395,470. She was bred by Helen and Joseph Barbazon of Morriston and has raced for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners since her second career start in March of 2020.
Sister Otoole has drawn post six and will be ridden by Feargal Lynch.
Her main competition in Waya should come from the Christophe Clemente-trained Parnac (Fr) and McKulick (GB) from the Chad Brown barn, who finished first and second respectively in their last race in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl going a mile-and-three-eighths on the inner turf at Saratoga on Sept. 2.
McKulick also counts a victory in the Grade 2 Glen Falls going a mile-and-a-half on the inner turf at Saratoga on Aug. 3 while Parnac was third in the Grade 3 Richard Dick Memorial at 11 furlongs on the Delaware Park turf two start back on July 1.
Parnac will be ridden by Dylan Davis from post three while McKulick has post five and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
Others set for the Waya are Idea Generation (Ire), who will be ridden by Florent Geroux; Romagna Mia (GB) with jockey Manny Franco and Javier Castellano rides Personal Best. Movie Moxy, with jockey Jose Lezcano; and Peak Popularity, with Geroux taking second call; are both entered under main track only conditions.
