THRU THE BINOCULARS

By: By JOHN PIESEN

A FABULOUS FILLY

Rarely do you find a major New York racing story at this time of the year, but the Wednesday feature on the Aqueduct inner track is such a story...although you won't find one word about it in the daily media.

After losing with his first two mounts on Wednesday, Ramon Dominguez won four straight -- the fifth through eighth -- culminating with Willet at 1-9 in an optional-claimer for New York-bred fillies..

That's right. One-to-nine!

"I've never been 1-9 in my (40-year) career," said owner-trainer Jimmy Iselin. "I would have been tarred and feathered if she had lost."

But she didn't lose.

Willet sat second to Eden Is Burning until the eighth pole, at which time Dominguez merely moved his hands, and the late-blooming 3-year-old filly blew past the leader, and won off by three-plus lengths in 1:11 2/5 for the six furlongs.

"It was a beautiful day," Iselin would say from a post-race dinner celebration at nearby Don Pepe's chow palace, "...and I don't mean just the weather."

Meantime, Iselin's phones don't stop ringing. Calls from deep-pocket guys offering small fortunes to take Willet off Iselin's hands.

"The horse means a lot more to me than money," said Iselin, who would be the first to acknowledge that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. "This is the horse of a lifetime, and she won't be leaving my side."

Iselin, the son of the late Philip Iselin (the garment tycoon-Jets president-Monmouth president) has had his share of nice horses since leaving the boxing business (he managed heavyweight contender Buster Mathis) for racing -- notably Crafty Prospector and Crafty Starlet.

So it was rather disconcerting at least to learn that a TVG commentator say that Willet was "vulnerable" because she came from "a cold barn."

The truth is that Iselin doesn't run many as he commutes between New York and his native New Jersey, but those he does run generally hit the board.

Then Willet came aboard.

The name needs explaining.

Mike Martin, a horse-owner and GM of the Jets, and the original owner of the filly, was struck down by cancer in his 50s, and, on his deathbed, wanted to come up with a suitable name for his promising young filly.

His first choice, Willit, was turned down by The Jockey Club, so he submitted Willet, which was accepted. After Martin's death, the filly went to first Rick Violette, and than was purchased by Iselin.

"The filly is a dead-ringer for Zenyatta," says Iselin, "and a gift from heaven. Ramon told me that he hasn't shown her the stick yet."

Willet now has won three straight by huge margins since a first-out loss (Iselin: "That was my fault. I didn't have her ready.")

Willet likely will ship to Palm Meadows in south Florida, and kick off her 4-year-old campaign at Gulfstream.

"You can be sure where she goes, I go," says Iselin.

One bad thing.

As a scion of Monmouth Park racing (see the Iselin Handicap), Jimmy only hopes he gets the opportunity to race Willet next summer at the Jersey Shore track in view of the fact that Gov. Christie appears dead-serious about closing Monmouth and The Meadowlands.

"This is a disaster," says Iselin. "It boggles the mind that they may shut down the racetrack my father started. I don't understand why the governor hates racing so much."

As for Dominguez, he will be at Hollywood Park on Saturday to ride Majestic City in the CashCall Stakes, the final significant 2-year-old race of the year. That's the 11 horse in the ninth race.

RD's other calls are: Race 2: All Squared Away (#9); Race 3: Born Lucky (#4); Race 6: Slammer Time (#2), and Race 10: Golden Nip (#8).