Best Bets for Champagne Stakes Day at Aqueduct, 10/4/2025

Key takeaways:

• Champagne Stakes Day features five stakes, including the G1 Champagne and Frizette—key Breeders’ Cup preps showcasing top two-year-olds at Belmont at the Big A.
• Asbury Park stretches out for Chad Brown, bred for stamina, and gets pace help for a breakthrough at 1⅜ miles.
• Ground Support impressed on debut at Kentucky Downs, has upside for Danner, and should relish extra distance in the Miss Grillo.
• Phoenix of Wit owns tactical speed, sharp blinkers form, and pedigree for more ground; fits well in this turf allowance.

Another weekend of major Breeders’ Cup preps is coming up at Aqueduct Racetrack, with both the Champagne Stakes (G1) and the Frizette Stakes (G1) happening on Saturday, October 4. The Champagne, a one-turn mile, offers two-year-old colts an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile as well as points toward the Kentucky Derby next May at Churchill Downs, while the one-mile Frizette offers Dirt Dozen incentives for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies as well as Kentucky Oaks points. The races are typically run at Belmont Park, but with another year of construction, they are once more part of the Belmont at the Big A meet.

These are not the only stakes races on the card, however. Saturday’s card also features the Miss Grillo (G2), a qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; the Jockey Club Derby (G2) for sophomore turf horses, and the Discovery for three-year-old dirt milers.

The 12-race card in New York is full of classy fields all day long, and the first race gets underway at 12:10 p.m. EDT. You can watch and wager all day, as well as stay on top of all the latest news about the horses, through FanDuel TV and FanDuel Racing.

Don’t forget to check the scratches before placing your wagers. Clear skies and pleasant temperatures are expected on race day, but that can change in the days leading up to the race. Furthermore, scratches can happen for any reason, and they can affect the pace and class balance.

These are the best bets for the undercard on Champagne Stakes Day on Saturday at Aqueduct:

Best Bets for Champagne Day at Aqueduct

Race 4 - Jockey Club Derby (G2), 1 ⅜ miles on the turf - Asbury Park, A Bourbon for Toby

FanDuel odds: 5-2 and 15-1

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Asbury Park (5-2) is a new face in the graded-stakes ranks for Chad Brown, and he has upside in this spot. Though he has yet to win at the stakes level, he also has yet to go past 1 1/16 miles. His pedigree is all European stamina, making it look like he’s a horse who is building some experience before he is ready to stretch out as far as he actually wants to go. He came close last out with a downright sluggish pace in front of him, showing smart late pace—with both the distance wants plus a chance for more pace to unfold thanks to Crudo and Noble Confessor needing to hit the gas, things could finally be right for him to make his breakthrough.

Bourbon for Toby (15-1) is still a maiden, and likely to be the longest shot on the board, but there are reasons to take a shot with him at the price. The Thomas Morley barn ended the Saratoga meet with some exciting price horses in big races, suggesting the barn is in form. Everything about his pedigree suggests distance—he is by Bernardini out of a Kitten’s Joy half to long-winded turf star Up With the Birds, and his nine races worth of form show that he bucks the Bernardini trend and is better on the lawn. Though he was beaten in a previous attempt at 1 ⅜ miles, he didn’t miss by much, even though he was rank through part of the race and had to deal with a wide trip. If he has his head together better this time out, he can save ground and make a good run in the lane behind an honest pace likely to be set by Crudo and Noble Confessor. He’ll be a long enough price to at least consider for exotics, and even for spread tickets or a contest flyer on top.

Race 8 - Miss Grillo (G2), 1 1/16 miles on the turf - Ground Support, Quiet Street

FanDuel odds: 12-1 and 7-2

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The Miss Grillo drew a wide-open, overflow field of runners battling for a bid in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Though she won’t be 100-1 like she was last time, there’s plenty of reason to take another shot with Ground Support (12-1), because she is going to be a price once again. After all, she is trained by Kelsey Danner—a solid and experienced trainer, but likely to be ignored in favor of better-known trainers in major East Coast stakes races. But winning on debut at Kentucky Downs is not a common occurrence. She did it with aplomb, tracking in range, taking over in the lane, and holding off the cavalry. Ground Support also broke slowly from the rail in a big field and still got the job done, showing that she could overcome adversity, and allaying some of the fears from a relatively inside gate this time around. She should also take to the extra sixteenth—her dam, an Arch mare, graduated at 1 1/16 miles on grass as a juvenile and was second in the 2010 Miss Grillo.

Quiet Street (7-2) stretches out to two turns for the first time, but the Bill Mott trainee is bred top and bottom for it, and Mott shines with runners on the stretch-out. She has yet to disappoint: she graduated at 5 ½ furlongs on debut in August at Saratoga despite a rough start, and then built on it to win the Untapable at 6 ½ furlongs at Kentucky Downs. A win over that trip at Kentucky Downs usually suggests a horse can stretch out. And though Quiet Street is parked outside, she should be able to find a place to drop in midpack and flash that late kick down the lane once again.

Race 12 - N1X allowance, 1 1/16 miles on the turf - Phoenix of Wit, Obeissance

FanDuel odds: 6-1 and 5-1

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The get-out race, an allowance on the lawn, offers a chance to bet against a couple of questionable favorites. Wrigleyville, the morning-line second choice, rates as a fast horse compared to this company, but keeps finishing second or third at this level, no matter how the race goes—not the kind of runner you want to depend upon on the win end. Morning-line chalk Peak Hype has more upside for Chad Brown, with only three troubled starts underneath her, but she is mired on the outside in a race where the pace may not suit her late-running style.

Phoenix of Wit (6-1) was gradually developing in four starts in South Florida, and figured it out when going two turns on the turf for the first time on August 17. She wore blinkers for the first time that day, and she stalked the pace and took over to win by four lengths in the lane. This is a tougher group and a furlong longer, but her European distance breeding suggests she’ll like Saturday’s distance and perhaps even longer. Her running style also appeals, since she is tactical and should be able to get the jump on all the closers in the field.

Obeissante (5-1) is another who could get a good pace setup here, just behind likely pacesetter So Darn Pretty, at a solid middle price. She has done her best work at the flat mile on the lawn, but coming close at 1 ⅛ miles last out should give her a bit of extra fitness as she turns back to 1 1/16-miles for this. She has also been able to handle inner posts well—she started from the rail when she broke her maiden back in April, and came close from the two gate in her last two starts. That gives her upside to carve a trip under Edgard Zayas, the jockey with whom she broke her maiden.

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