Aqueduct will offer six starter allowances on a stacked 11-race card Saturday. As viewers’ eyes are torn between several racetracks on a busy weekend, officials in New York hope to lure bettors with an average field size of nearly 11. The allure, and challenge, of handicapping the Saturday card at Aqueduct is that nearly every race appears to be a wide-open contest. Each page in the past performances will likely reveal a standout runner. It’s nearly as likely that the standout runner is trained by Linda Rice, who has entered nine runners in six races. In the seventh, a $75,000 starter allowance, Rice will send out 4-year-old filly La Banquera and 5-year-old mare Willful Desire. Neither horse has lost since entering Rice’s barn last year. Willful Desire has earned three straight wins in open company, but La Banquera appears to be the stronger of the two coming out of statebred competition. Since Rice claimed her for $25,000 in December, La Banquera has won three starts by a combined 20 1/2 lengths. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “We actually tried to buy her privately after her first or second race, but they priced her very high,” Rice said of La Banquera. “I don’t know what took place over the summer, but when we saw her in for a claiming price, we jumped in. I think she’s improved significantly with the Lasix and is returning to her original form.” After two front-running scores in January and February, La Banquera showed a new dimension last time out, winning from off the pace. She will be the horse to beat Saturday, though her stablemate is one of a few hot runners in the field of 12 who could challenge her. Rice will not wait long to send out another front-running contender, as 5-year-old gelding Quick Hammer seems fit to live up to his name in the ninth, a $65,000 starter allowance. When Rice claimed him for $10,000 on Jan. 12 at Aqueduct, he earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure and won by 9 1/4 lengths. “I’m excited about running him on Saturday,” Rice said. “I think he fits well in there.” After stumbling out of the gate and losing his rider Feb. 2, Quick Hammer returned later in the month and won an allowance in commanding wire-to-wire fashion. Rice is somewhat concerned about the pace this weekend, but she remains confident that Quick Hammer will be able to contend. La Banquera and Quick Hammer will likely vie for favoritism in their respective races, but Rice’s contenders for the card don’t end there. In the second, an $85,000 starter allowance, she has entered the coupled entry of 4-year-old filly Save Us Melania and 5-year-old mare Our Liberty Belle. The formidable duo would likely command bettors’ attention if not for Adeleke. Claimed by trainer Felissa Dunn and her son Benjamin Dunn, for $10,000 at Parx Racing in October, the 4-year-old filly has now won five straight starts by a combined 42 1/2 lengths. “We got to training her, liked her a lot,” Benjamin Dunn said. “She just shows up and runs.” Adeleke’s last start was her first at Aqueduct and her first at a mile, and she improved to win by 5 1/4 lengths in yet another wire-to-wire score. The Dunn family also will ship 4-year-old gelding Double Your Money to Aqueduct on Saturday. With two wins in his last three starts at Parx, he will be a playable outsider in the fifth race, an $85,000 starter allowance uniquely set at 1 3/8 miles. “I claimed him out of a sprint race, and I just felt like he needed to go longer and longer,” Dunn said. “He’s a one-paced horse with early speed, but he doesn’t have much of a turn of foot. I think he’ll sit close to the pace and have a lot left.” The fifth at Aqueduct is highlighted by a rematch between the 6-year-old horse Strapped and the 4-year-old gelding Mo Rhodes, who finished within a half-length of one another running 1 1/4 miles in an allowance last month. Beyond that top pair, however, several stables are taking an intriguing chance on stamina. Bold Endeavor, a 9-year-old gelding, has won two straight claiming races in commanding fashion at 1 1/8 miles, but trainer Ilkay Kantarmaci believes that he can do even better going longer. Bold Endeavor has not run this far since May 2021. “He likes the two turns, I believe,” Kantarmaci said. “I believe he’s going to be okay. He’s run two races for me, two wins, and this starter race is a good race for him.” Kantarmaci’s reasoning is reflective of the field, as a number of trainers are willing to try the unfamiliar distance in search of improvement. Though some in the field of 10 have gone longer, none of them has ever made a start at 1 3/8 miles on dirt. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.