OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mama’s Gold and Donegal Surges have traded decisions the last two times they’ve met, with the former besting the latter in the $250,000 Empire Classic for New York-breds seven weeks ago. Thursday, the pair tee it up again for a less lucrative purse in a $95,000, second-level allowance event that serves as the feature on Aqueduct’s nine-race program. In an effort to bring back races lost when the Dec. 5 card was canceled, the racing office has added races Thursday and Friday, both 10-race cards. In the Empire Classic, which was his third race in 37 days, Mama’s Gold was sent to the front by Romero Maragh and was never headed in pulling off the 40-1 upset by 4 1/4 lengths. Donegal Surges finished third, beaten 8 3/4 lengths. On Sept. 20, in an open allowance, Donegal Surges beat Mama’s Gold by two lengths. “I expected someone to run with him, but he just kept going,” Jimmy Ferraro, trainer of Mama’s Gold, said of the Empire Classic shocker. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Mama’s Gold earned a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance, which Ferraro said is partly why he’s given the 4-year-old son of Bolt d’Oro nearly seven weeks between starts. The Empire Classic has produced two next-out winners. Bank Frenzy, second in that race, won an open-company second-level allowance with a career-equaling 97 Beyer Speed Figure. Cicciobello, last in the Empire Classic, upset the Thunder Rumble division of the New York Stallion Series at 40-1. General Banker, fifth in the Empire Classic, finished a neck back of Cicciobello in the Thunder Rumble. The 1 1/8-mile distance of this race suits both Mama’s Gold and Donegal Surges well. Mama’s Gold is 3 for 5 at the distance, while Donegal Surges has run three of his four top Beyer Speed Figures at nine furlongs. In the Empire Classic, Donegal Surges steadied early on in the race, had to advance between horses and then rally five wide, flattening out in the final furlong. “Little messy, not a huge excuse,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. Pletcher did say the distance is why he chose to run Donegal Surges here rather than wait for the $100,000 Alex Robb for New York-breds going a mile on Dec. 28. Linda Rice has won eight races from 28 starters over the last five Aqueduct cards to vault to the top of trainer standings, 16-12 over Rick Dutrow, with seven programs remaining at the fall meet. Rice sends out Yo Daddy in this spot. Yo Daddy is coming off a front-running victory in a first-level allowance going nine furlongs in the slop. Margin of Air, trained by Jamie Ness, returns to Aqueduct, where he won a one-mile starter allowance in March. He has been racing mostly on the Mid-Atlantic circuit, placing in a couple of Pennsylvania-bred stakes at Parx Racing. Summer Cause, third when racing in this condition for the first time, Magical Ways, Mistical Curlin, Treble Clef, and Alternate Reality complete the field. Pletcher eyes two for Ladies Tizzy in the Sky, winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Go for Wand Stakes, and Julia Shining, winner of a Dec. 1 allowance race, could both make their next starts in the $150,000 Ladies Stakes on Jan. 11, trainer Todd Pletcher said. The Ladies, run at 1 1/8 miles, certainly makes sense for Tizzy in the Sky, who has recorded all five of her career victories at Aqueduct, three of them at nine furlongs. Tizzy in the Sky earned the first graded win of her career with her half-length score over Occult in the Go for Wand and is expected to make one more start before being retired. Occult, meanwhile, will stay in training in 2025, according to trainer Chad Brown. Julia Shining, winner of the Grade 2 Demoiselle at 1 1/8 miles in 2022, came off a 6 1/2-month layoff to win a one-mile allowance race, overcoming a stumble at the start. “A little concerned when she stumbled leaving there. You could see midway down the backside she kind of grabbed Dylan [Davis] and started taking him there and I loved the way she finished up,” Pletcher said. Pletcher said a final decision on whether or not Julia Shining races the entire year in 2025 has not yet been made. Cyclone State to Jerome Cyclone State, a front-running, 2 3/4-length winner of a first-level allowance race Friday, will make his next start in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes on Jan. 4, trainer Chad Summers said. Cyclone State, a son of McKinzie, has won his last two starts, both at a one-turn mile, the same configuration of the Jerome. In his allowance win, Cyclone State put away a challenge from Uncle Jim, a well-regraded Brad Cox-trainee who ran for purse money only when his coupled entrymate was scratched. “The track may have been playing more toward speed but when he came up to us and we put him away it showed that our horse is just getting better,” Summers said. “When you have a 2-year-old turning 3, it’s what you’re looking for at this time of the year.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.