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New York-bred older females FLEET INDIAN, Magnolia Jackson, and Speed Bag all hit the boards in open stakes at Aqueduct on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 22, 25, and 26, while other older New York-breds won open overnight races from coast-to-coast during that time period. The consistently-improving Fleet Indian, Paul Saylor's recent shrewd acquisition, became the sixth New York-bred open stakes winner of 2006 and the third New York-bred graded winner of the year. Fleet Indian's victory in Aqueduct's Grade 3 Next Move Handicap on Sunday for fillies and mares at a mile and an eighth extended her win streak to three and ended three-race Aqueduct win streaks for her two more highly-regarded rivals: favored No Sleep (1.40-to-1) and second choice Flaming Heart (1.80-to-1). Somehow, the five-year-old mare was allowed to go off as the 4-to-1 co-last choice among four starters in her first outing under New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 2003 Jockey of the Year Jose Santos and sent out for the first time by two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher. The victory increased her earnings by $63,720 to $294,513 and improved her record to eight wins and one third in 13 starts, which includes a five-length tally in Aqueduct's restricted Montauk Handicap late last November. The big mare had romped by 5-3/4 lengths in a Philadelphia Park N3X allowance going a mile and 70 yards on December 30 and ten days later was Hip No. 198 at Keeneland, selling for $290,000 to Mike Akers' Lexington, Kentucky-based Dapple Bloodstock as agent for Saylor of Atlanta, Georgia. NYTB member Saylor, managing director of the investment banking firm Chadwick, Saylor and Company in Atlanta and Los Angeles, is familiar with tough equine females, having been part-owner of two-time Eclipse Champion Ashado ($3,931,440), who had brought a world record broodmare price ($9-million) at Keeneland last November. Four weeks after Saylor's purchase of Fleet Indian, the 17-hand mare was working out on Belmont's training track under the supervision of Pletcher, who explained the circumstances: "Paul Saylor bought her with the intention of breeding her to (2005 Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile winner) Purge. He told me that as long as she was healthy and doing well, to go ahead and run her." Pletcher, NYTB Trainer of the Year for 1999, gave Fleet Indian six workouts going five furlongs over Belmont's training track from February 6 through March 20. He also credited the mare's previous trainer on the NYRA circuit under Stan Fulton's colors, James Toner, who had encouraged Saylor to purchase Fleet Indian: "She's a filly that we've run against quite a bit in the past; Jimmy Toner did a really good job with her." After winning her first four starts (restricted maiden special through open N1X allowance) in 2004 as a three-year-old, Fleet Indian had made her first stakes start and encountered a wet track for the first time in Saratoga's Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, finishing fifth among eight, with Ashado third. According to Toner, the long-striding mare had not wintered well in 2004-05 in Florida and then came down with colic the night before her 2005 debut at Saratoga, in which she was unplaced. Following an open N2X allowance victory going seven furlongs at Belmont and being out of her element on a sloppy track against a deep New York-bred female sprint contingent in Belmont's seven-furlong Iroquois Handicap on New York Showcase Day, Fleet Indian now thrives at two turns. Bred by Becky Thomas and Lewis Lakin and foaled at her breeders' Lakland North, LLC in Hudson, Fleet Indian had been a $40,000 yearling at Fasig-Tipton's 2002 Saratoga New York-bred preferred sale and a $230,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's (OBS) 2003 March sale of two-year-olds in training. Her previous owner, Fulton, owns Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino in New Mexico and had purchased the dark bay mare at the OBS auction in the name of Fleetwood Northwest Management. The daughter of Indian Charlie is the third offspring and third winner produced from Hustleeta, who is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Cherokee Wonder ($284,010 and dam of graded winner and $969,886-earner Cherokee's Boy) and to the winning dam of multiple stakes winner Annika Lass ($221,795). Lakland Farm had purchased Hustleeta for $39,000 at Keeneland's 2000 November sale when she was carrying Fleet Indian. Also gaining her first graded black-type was New York-bred Magnolia Jackson, who was blocked in the upper stretch of Aqueduct's Grade 2 Distaff Breeders' Cup Handicap for fillies and mares going six furlongs on Saturday but angled outside and closed for second, beaten a neck by odds-on (.50-to-1) Smokey Glacken. The winner was coming off her fourth graded sprint victory -- all by margins of two or more lengths -- but this time was seriously challenged, as Magnolia Jackson increased her earnings by $31,600 to $240,344 off a record of six wins and two seconds in ten starts. The New York-bred also qualified owner Ted Taylor of Birmingham, Alabama and breeder Sez Who Thoroughbreds (Richard Simon of Aventura, Florida) for owner and breeder awards of $2,160 each. It was Magnolia Jackson's third outing under jockey Ramon Dominguez, who twice has ridden her to victory -- most recently in Aqueduct's restricted Broadway Handicap at six furlongs just 13 days earlier -- and she went off as the 7.60-to-1 third choice among six starters in the Distaff. Thirty-six days prior to her Broadway score, the four-year-old filly had won Aqueduct's open Correction Handicap at six furlongs. Magnolia Jackson and her three-year-old Aqueduct-winning half-sister, Magnolia's Sister, both are owned by Taylor and conditioned by NYTB 2004 Trainer of the Year Gary Contessa. The other New York-bred four-year-old filly to place in a six-furlong stakes at Aqueduct outside of state-bred company was Dragon Squared LLC's Speed Bag, who finished third among six in Wednesday's Am Capable Stakes for older fillies and mares that had never won a stakes. It was Speed Bag's 11th outing under jockey Jose Santos, increasing her earnings to $246,309 off a record of 6 - 5 - 5 in 25 starts, which includes runner-up efforts in Magnolia Jackson's Correction and Finger Lakes' 2005 restricted Niagara Stakes and a third-placing in Belmont's 2005 restricted Dancin Renee Stakes. Owned by the Dragon Squared Stable of Clinton Chan of Montclair, New Jersey and bred by the Fiddlers Green Stable of Joan Simpson of Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts -- which qualified for owner and breeder awards of $1,240 each -- the bay filly is trained by Jeff Odintz. She had won an open N2X allowance by 7-1/4 lengths going six furlongs at Aqueduct on January 2 and had finished fourth in Magnolia Jackson's Broadway Handicap just ten days prior to her Am Capable outing. Scoring the first of three open two-turn allowance wins by New York-breds on Friday-Saturday-Sunday was The Nonsequitur Stable LLC's MIKE'S GREENFIELDS, who captured Laurel's Friday co-feature, a N2X allowance/optional claiming contest for four-year-olds and up at a mile and an eighth, leading to mid-stretch before getting headed and regaining command. The five-year-old gelding was dismissed as the 16.50-to-1 seventh choice among eight starters in his third consecutive outing under jockey Jonathan Joyce and for his new owner, but he increased his earnings to $139,473 while improving his record to 7 - 6 - 4 in 38 starts. Mike's Greenfields ran with the maximum $25,000 claiming price because he had gone through his N2X allowance conditions last summer, and this was his first victory at a mile and an eighth since winning a restricted N1X allowance at Belmont in July of 2004. Trained by Linda Albert, the bay gelding had been claimed for $25,000 at Laurel by The Nonsequitur Stable from his breeder, Michael Hanafin of Four Green Fields in Greenfield, Center, New York, on January 21. The son of Slew City Slew is the fifth offspring and fifth winner produced from Home Video, a winning daughter of Track Barron that Hanafin had purchased for $5,000 at Keeneland's 2000 November sale when she was carrying Mike's Greenfields. Home Video is a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Oh Girl and to eight-time dirt/turf winner Mid City ($208,060) -- also by Slew City Slew -- as well as to the dam of stakes winner Desirable Moment ($210,930). On Saturday at Aqueduct, Donald and Mary Zuckerman's New York homebred TOMORROWS LADY captured an open N1X allowance for older fillies and mares going a mile and a sixteenth, as trainer Pletcher opted to use her condition level rather than run her in Sunday's Grade 3 Next Move. It was the four-year-old filly's second Aqueduct win in 2006 and came 22 days after a third-place effort in an open N1X allowance mile at the Big A, increasing her earnings by $27,600 to $139,368 and improving her record to 4 - 2 - 2 in 14 starts. She was race-ridden for the first time by Ramon Dominguez, filling in for her regular jockey, Michael Luzzi, who could not get released from North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset -- following a Friday riding spill -- in time to make his Saturday engagements. Even with the jockey change, Tomorrows Lady was the stronger half of an entry that was the even-money favorite among six wagering interests and seven starters. The daughter of New York-based sire Tomorrows Cat is the first winner produced from Quiet Strike, who is by Quiet American and is a half-sister to stakes winners Kalookan Queen (multiple Grade 1 winner of $1,044,474), Klondike Strike ($227,871), Sir Hutch ($195,275), and Cape Royale ($136,089). New York-breds comprised five of seven starters in an open N1X Aqueduct allowance for four-year-olds and up going a mile and a sixteenth on Sunday and finished 1-2-3-4, as MR. MALAPROP led state-breds that earned 96 percent of the purse and qualified for $9,982 in owner, breeder, and stallion awards. Owned since late 2005 by Gold Spur Stable (Isao Aiba) and Boys Town Mews Stud (Stephen Jones), the four-year-old gelding increased his earnings by $27,600 to $156,152 and improved his record to 4 - 4 - 2 in 16 starts. Finishing second, third, and fourth, respectively, were New York-breds Tergesti ($117,299), Rhumjar ($218,178), and Hunter's Tale ($175,363), and also earning a check was New York-bred Wellgiven ($189,739). Trainer Bruce Levine had given Mr. Malaprop half-mile workouts over Belmont's training track on March 6 and 16 following a runner-up effort at Aqueduct 38 days earlier for the two-turn specialist, who scored his second Aqueduct victory under Mike Luzzi in two outings with that jockey on board. Mr. Malaprop had been purchased for $350,000 at Keeneland's 2004 April sale of two-year-olds in training by Californian B. Wayne Hughes, for whom he had won at Fair Grounds and Saratoga in 2005 prior to being acquired by his current owners. The big bay had been a $170,000 purchase at Fasig-Tipton's 2003 Saratoga preferred New York-bred yearling sale. Bred by Ioannis Dinos of Astoria, Queens and foaled at Lakland North, the son of Distorted Humor is among ten runners and ten winners produced from his winning stakes-placed dam and is a half-brother to two six-figure-earners, including record-setting six-time stakes winner Elvi Gamble ($382,078). His dam, stakes-placed 12-time winner Dave's Kate ($108,348), won on dirt and turf and is a half-sister to Peruvian three-time stakes winner Caro Cuore. A new state-bred star might have emerged on Wednesday at Aqueduct in TOUCHDOWN KID, who in his first East Coast outing, first two-turn start beyond seven furlongs, and above his condition level was odds-on (.35-to-1) in a one-mile restricted N2X allowance/optional claiming contest and won by a length and three-quarters. New trainer William Mott, a two-time Eclipse Award-winner, ran the four-year-old gelding without blinkers for the first time and named Michael Luzzi as his third jockey in three career starts. Touchdown Kid was the only starter among the race's seven participants (three-year-olds and up) with fewer than six previous outings and the only one competing above his condition level. Eight weeks earlier, the late-foaled (May 16, 2002) New York-bred had won a seven-furlong maiden special at Santa Anita by 5-1/4 lengths in 1:22.93, and three months prior to that he had debuted with a close-finishing second-place effort in a 6-1/2-furlong maiden special at Oak Tree/Santa Anita. Touchdown Kid had raced for his owner-trainer, Paula Capestro, in California, but at Aqueduct he competed under a partnership of owners consisting of Brous Stable (Nils Brous), Wachtel Stable (Adam Wachtel), Weyhill Farms (Robert Johnson), and Paula and Andrew Capestro. Twenty-three days after his January 25 maiden victory, the chestnut gelding was working at Payson Park Thoroughbred Training Center in Indiantown, Florida, where during March he had two more workouts, the second being a five-furlong "bullet" drill on March 12. The son of former New York sire Rodeo was bred by Kathleen Schonefeld and is the fourth offspring and fourth winner produced from College Year, being a half-brother to Schonefeld's homebred 2003 Bertram F. Bongard Stakes winner, Flagshipenterprise ($107,581). Another half-brother, Rampant Control (a full brother to Flagshipenterprise), won as a two-year-old at Del Mar and Santa Anita. Dam College Year, whom Schonefeld had purchased for $7,500 at Keeneland's 2001 January sale when she was carrying Flagshipenterprise, is out of five-time California stakes winner Art College ($376,791). Restricted N1X allowance winners at Aqueduct from Thursday through Sunday were GONE GOODBYE (by 3-3/4 lengths) on Thursday, FEROCIOUS WON (by 3-3/4 lengths) on Friday, TOO DRUNK TO CALL (by a length and three-quarters) on Saturday, and PARISPARIS (by 5-1/2 lengths) and DELTA SEA (by nine lengths) on Sunday. Gone Goodbye, a three-year-old Gone for Real filly owned by Michael Iavarone's IEAH Stables, was odds-on (.20-to-1) among seven at a mile and a sixteenth, giving Dominguez his second of three winning rides that day and becoming Thursday's second Aqueduct winner bred by Jane Griffin of Saratoga Springs. Ferocious Won, a three-year-old homebred racing for Sanford Goldfarb in partnership with Ira Davis, Michael Glassberg, and William Vidro and among two Friday Aqueduct winners partly owned by Goldfarb, was part of an odds-on (.55-to-1) three-horse entry among six wagering interests (eight starters) going a mile and a sixteenth. Too Drunk to Call, a four-year-old homebred for Matties Racing Stable LLC, bred by Paul Matties and trained by Gregg Matties, was the 12.80-to-1 sixth choice among 10 starters going six furlongs in his fourth consecutive outing under jockey Robert Messina; even-money two-time 2006 Aqueduct winner Sea Lawyer placed second. Parisparis, a four-year-old filly owned by the Coastal Racing Stable of Chris Jean of Pearl River, Louisiana and trained by Steven Asmussen since shipping from the Sunbelt, had placed second in the Sam Houston Oaks a year earlier and is a half-sister to New York-bred stakes winner French Hideaway. Delta Sea ($202,344), a six-year-old warrior who has raced for Vincent Scuderi under the guidance of trainer James Ferraro since being claimed for $17,500 at Aqueduct in December of 2004, ran with a $25,000 optional claiming tag because he had gone through his restricted N1X condition in September of 2003. New York-bred open claiming winners on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday included GENEVIL at Aqueduct on Thursday, SILVER FOREST at Aqueduct on Saturday, LETTHEFREEDOMROAR at Santa Anita on Saturday, and DUKE'S CROSSING at Philadelphia Park on Sunday. Genevil ($194,073), a six-year-old mare who races for Piazza Stables, went six furlongs gate-to-wire to win by a length and three-quarters as the only New York-bred going against a field that had two runners claimed. Silver Forest, a four-year-old son of Silver Music trained by John Candlin and bred and owned by Candlin in partnership with Walter DeForest, also led at all calls going six furlongs to score his second Aqueduct victory of 2006. Letthefreedomroar ($175,860), Nick Siounis' homebred six-year-old mare who has been running stakes times in Santa Anita turf sprints, went gate-to-wire "down the hill" over Santa Anita grass, covering 6-1/2 furlongs in 1:13.48 in her length and three-quarters victory, with the second-and-third-place finishers both being claimed for $40,000. Duke's Crossing ($143,039), Christopher Nupp's obviously-improving solid seven-year-old gelding, romped by 8-1/2 lengths as the 2.20-to-1 favorite among seven starters going a mile and 70 yards to score his second big-margin win in the mud at Philadelphia Park in 2006. New York-bred maiden-breakers over March 22-26 included the following: Four-year-old filly TALLY ME OUT (sired by Take Me Out) in her third (career) start of 2006 and three-year-old filly VICARACCI by six lengths in her second start -- both at Aqueduct on Wednesday; three-year-old filly CHANGING COLORS (sired by Carry My Colors) by 6-3/4 lengths and three-year-old gelding SHAMROCK TRICK going gate-to-wire -- both at Aqueduct on Thursday; five-year-old gelding ICE CHIEF (sired by Tomorrows Cat) at odds-on (.75-to-1) among eight starters, at Aqueduct on Friday; three-year-old gelding TOUGH TO FOLLOW (sired by Good and Tough) at odds-on (.95-to-1) in his third career start following second-place finishes at Aqueduct on February 19 and March 8, and five-year-old NAZGUL by 8-3/4 lengths -- both at Aqueduct on Saturday; four-year-old filly REBEL ROUSER by 5-1/2 lengths and odds-on (.90-to-1) at Philadelphia Park and five-year-old mare HER ROYAL NIBS, who 15 days after her second-place career debut at Aqueduct broke from the ninth post among nine starters to win a six-furlong restricted maiden special at Aqueduct -- both on Sunday. |
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34 NY-bred 2yos gross $2,983,000 at OBS sale - average
jumps 31.4%
by Rab Hagin |
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(3/21) March's third week of competition at Aqueduct produced the latest New York-bred six-figure earner in HOW 'BOUT NO, who captured Saint Patrick Day's Karakorum Splendor Stakes for non-stakes-winning state-bred three-year-old fillies, plus the 16th state-bred open stakes horse of 2006 in Grade 3 Cicada third-place finisher Oprah Winney on Saturday. Six older New York-breds with earnings in six figures won at the Big A on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. How 'bout No, who races for the IEAH Stables of Michael Iavarone of Holbrook and Kent, Joscelyn and Robert Katter, scored her second Aqueduct victory in 36 days in the Karakorum Splendor, increasing her earnings to $101,436 while improving her record to 3 - 1 - 1 in six starts. She was ridden for the third time in competition by jockey Michael Luzzi and went off in the six-furlong event as the 2.05-to-1 second choice among five starters. New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 2002 Trainer of the Year Richard Dutrow Jr. had given the bay filly four workouts at Aqueduct following her 6-1/4-length win going a mile and 70 yards in a restricted N1X allowance on February 9, including a five-furlong "bullet" drill on March 7. The former $50,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's (OBS) 2005 March sale of two-year-olds in training had won first-out by 8-1/4 lengths as a juvenile going six furlongs at Belmont in September. How 'bout No's only unplaced effort thus far has in Belmont's one-mile Maid of the Mist Stakes over a sloppy track in her second career start on New York Showcase Day (October 22). Bred by the Sez Who Thoroughbreds of Richard Simon of Aventura, Florida and foaled at Sez Who Thoroughbreds North, LLC in Stillwater, the daughter of former New York stallion Precise End is the third offspring, third female winner, and second New York-bred stakes winner produced from two-time winner Dither. How 'bout No's two winning half-sisters include Darley Stable's current four-year-old New York-bred Swither ($153,846), who in 2004 won Delaware Park's $200,000 North American Two-Year-Old Consignors (NATC) Sorority Futurity by 10 lengths. Her two-year-old New York-bred half-sister by Graeme Hall recently was purchased for $120,000 at the OBS 2006 February select sale of two-year-olds in training at Calder by New York Stock Exchange member Ralph Evans of Greenwich, Connecticut. Dam Dither, who is by Housebuster and is a half-sister to graded winner Move ($260,093) and to graded-placed stakes winners Reforest ($147,305) and Falling Sky ($142,043), had been purchased by Sez Who Thoroughbreds for $45,000 at Keeneland's 2001 January sale and produced Swither the following year. New York Minute: The first four finishers in the Karakorum Splendor were all conceived in New York. The 16th New York-bred to hit the board in an open stakes in 2006 was Michael Dubb's Oprah Winney, who placed third under jockey Edgar Prado following a stumbling start and a wide trip in Aqueduct's Grade 3 Cicada Stakes for three-year-old fillies going six furlongs on Saturday. Sent off the 2.70-to-1 co-second choice among seven starters for her first outing in 75 days, the gray/roan filly increased her earnings to $119,216 off a record of 2 - 2 - 2 in seven starts and also qualified Dubb, of Jericho, New York, for an additional $1,106 owner award. Oprah Winney, who like How 'bout No is a New York-bred three-year-old filly trained by Dutrow, had won Aqueduct's open six-furlong Randaroo Stakes last December and had placed second among 12 in Finger Lakes' $132,575 Lady Fingers Stakes for New York-bred juvenile fillies. The daughter of World Academy was bred by the Gatsas Thoroughbreds LLC of Theodore and Michael Gatsas of Manchester, New Hampshire (also owners of New York-bred millionaire Gander and founders of the Sovereign Stable Inc. horseracing management company) and is the first offspring produced from Mere Presence, by Woodman. Gatsas Thoroughbreds had purchased Mere Presence for $115,000 at the OBS 2000 February select sale of two-year-olds in training at Calder. Boosting his bankroll to $292,001 with his third Aqueduct win in four starts since early December was Sunny Meadow Farm's DONT KNOCK AMERICA, who on Wednesday as the 1.55-to-1 favorite among six participants captured a one-mile starter allowance for New York-breds that had raced with a claiming price. The victory in his second career outing under jockey Eibar Coa improved the five-year-old's overall record to 7 - 7 - 6 in 35 starts, with wins on both dirt and turf. As a three-year-old in 2004, Dont Knock America had placed a close third among nine in a division of Meadowlands' mile and a sixteenth Paterson Stakes on turf, and at four he had captured an open allowance going a mile and an eighth on Aqueduct's outer main track. When owner-breeder Herbert Schwartz -- racing in partnership with wife Carol -- had dropped the colt into a claiming race at Aqueduct this past December with a $35,000 tag, Dont Knock America won again and was promptly claimed. Currently owned by Peter O'Connor's Sunny Meadow Farm, the bay stalker had captured a one-mile starter allowance at Aqueduct six weeks earlier, after which trainer Mitchell Friedman had given him two workouts over Belmont's training track. The son of Quiet American is a half-brother to graded-placed 11-time winner Knock Again ($376,096), and his winning and multiple turf graded-placed dam, Knocknock ($139,096), by Dynaformer, is a maternal granddaughter of a stakes-placed filly that Herbert Schwartz had claimed in 1971. Winning a restricted N2X allowance/optional claiming contest for three-year-olds and up on the same card with Dont Knock America was a new six-figure-earner, Anstu Stables, Inc.'s SPIN FACTOR, who in his third consecutive outing under jockey Michael Luzzi scored from the ninth post among nine starters going six furlongs. The four-year-old colt went off as the 7.70-to-1 fourth choice and was the third winner of the day ridden by Luzzi, with his victory increasing his earnings by $27,000 to $113,830 while improving his record to 3 - 3 - 2 in 10 starts. Campaigned by the Anstu Stables of Stuart and Anita Subotnick -- also owners of Anstu Farm in Millbrook -- Spin Factor had been purchased by his owners for $310,000 at the OBS 2004 March sale of two-year-olds in training after working an under tack show session-best 21 3/5 for a quarter-mile. He is conditioned by two-time Eclipse Award winner and NYTB 1999 Trainer of the Year Todd Pletcher, who had given the dark bay colt two early March workouts over Belmont's training track following a tiring unplaced effort going six furlongs at Aqueduct on February 5. The son of Indian Charlie was bred by Sez Who Thoroughbreds and is the second winner produced from multiple stakes-placed winner Moonvain ($135,208), a daughter of High Brite whom Sez Who Thoroughbreds had purchased for $50,000 at Keeneland's 2002 January sale when she was carrying Spin Factor. Scoring her third consecutive victory of 2006 and changing hands for a $25,000 claiming price was Maggi Moss's odds-on (.80-to-1) WHAT'S YOUR POINT in a restricted N2X allowance/optional claiming contest for fillies and mares going six furlongs on Thursday. The four-year-old filly had won by three lengths in an open N1X allowance going six furlongs at Aqueduct just 11 days earlier, and that tally had followed a daylight margin score in a restricted N2X allowance/optional claiming contest at the Big A on February 4. How could she not be claimed? For jockey Ramon Dominguez, who has ridden What's Your Point in three races and had been aboard for her latest previous victory, the successful effort among nine starters (eight wagering interests) represented his first of two winning trips aboard New York-breds and his second of three winning rides on Thursday. The bay filly was the second older female winner on Aqueduct's card sent out by NYTB 2004 Trainer of the Year Gary Contessa. Now with earnings of $197,880 and a stakes-placed record of 5 - 5 - 2 in 17 starts, What's Your Point is currently in the Gumpster Stable LLC of Andrew Berg of Roslyn, Long Island and under the care of new trainer Bruce Levine. The daughter of Wheaton was bred by Sez Who Thoroughbreds and was a $4,500 purchase out of the OBS 2003 August yearling sale. She is the first offspring produced from Herrenchiemsee, an allowance-winning sprinter by Sheikh Albadou that Sez Who Thoroughbreds had purchased for $6,000 at Keeneland's January 2001 sale as a not-bred broodmare prospect. Herrenchiemsee is a half-sister to stakes-placed 15-time winning router Zacharov ($443,773) and to non-black-type stakes winner Major Zee ($328,382). Another New York-bred six-figure-earner still eligible for favorable allowance conditions is four-year-old WILD VICAR, who as the 6.70-to-1 fourth choice among seven wagering interests and eight starters won a restricted N2X/allowance optional claiming contest by 2-1/2 lengths going a mile and an eighth at Aqueduct on Saint Patrick's Day Friday. Race-ridden for the sixth time -- fifth consecutive -- by apprentice jockey Pablo Morales, whose allowance is five pounds, the dark bay gelding was coming off his second consecutive Aqueduct runner-up effort just 16 days earlier. The victory increased Wild Vicar's earnings by $27,600 to $179,681 and improved his record to 6 - 4 - 2 in 27 starts, with $64,209 of his career bankroll having been earned since being claimed for $25,000 by his current owners while winning by 3-3/4 lengths at Belmont last July 4. The rugged campaigner is owned by the Turningforhome Stable of Steven Brown and the Sportsmen Stable of Joseph D'Agostino of Amsterdam, New York and is conditioned by trainer Glenn DiSanto. He was bred by the Pioneer Ventures of Boyd Browning Jr. of Lexington, Kentucky and had been a $42,000 purchase out of Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's September 2003 yearling sale in Timonium, Maryland. From the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Vicar, Wild Vicar was foaled at John Hettinger's Akindale Farm in Pawling and is the third offspring and third New York-bred winner that Pioneer Ventures has bred from Rominna, by Crafty Prospector. Rominna is a half-sister to the dam of multiple German and U.S. stakes winner Chan Chan. Saint Patrick's Day was especially green for owner-breeder Elisabeth Jerkens of Hardwicke Stable in Bellrose, whose homebred half-sisters, GREAT LADY K and Magic Momentum -- daughters of New York-based sires Kelly Kip and Mighty Magee, respectively, and out of new millionaire earnings producer Samantha D -- both won at Aqueduct. Four-year-old Great Lady K actually was conceived in Florida to the cover of 10-time sprint stakes winner and millionaire record-setter Kelly Kip, who has stood at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson since the 2003 breeding season. Three-year-old Magic Momentum -- the fourth offspring and fourth winner produced from Samantha D -- was conceived in New York and foaled in Kentucky. The two fillies are half-sisters to Hardwicke Stable's New York homebred graded victor and two-time winner of New York Showcase Day's Empire Classic Handicap, Spite the Devil ($772,810), and their victories pushed the total earnings for offspring of Samantha D over the $1-million mark to $1,023,143. Mrs. Jerkens' husband, Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens, conditions both fillies, and both were ridden by jockey Channing Hill, who also piloted the New York-bred four-year-old filly winner of the first race on Aqueduct's Saint Patrick's Day card. During all this activity, Mrs. Jerkens was in South Florida checking advertising proofs on her computer. Great Lady K, the 4-to-1 co-second choice among eight starters in her outing, a restricted N2X/allowance optional claiming contest for fillies and mares at a mile, increased her earnings by $27,600 to $154,595 for her front-running victory, which improved her record to 3 - 7 - 1 in 20 starts. Dam Samantha D is a Cryptoclearance mare who won at a two-turn mile and 70 yards at Philadelphia Park as a three-year-old after being claimed by Hardwicke Stable as a maiden three-year-old for $10,000 at Delaware Park. Samantha D's multiple stakes-winning dam is Mid-Atlantic five-furlong turf specialist Cuca's Lady ($350,460), and her half-sisters include the dams of stakes winners Tempus Fugit ($344,471) and Scootin' Girl ($147,193) plus stakes-placed winner Chippewa Trail ($195,316). Yet another New York-bred six-figure-earning four-year-old filly winner at Aqueduct on Saint Patrick's Day was Gumpster Stable LLC's NO WAY NO HOW in an open six-furlong claiming contest for fillies and mares with $25,000 tags that had never won three races. Race-ridden for the first time by jockey Alan Garcia, the chestnut daughter of New York stallion Goldminers Gold overcame a stumbling start as the 38.50-to-1 sixth choice among eight wagering interests and nine starters to increase her earnings to $118,867 with a record of 3 - 4 - 3 in 22 starts. Five of the nine participants in the contest were New York-breds. New York Minute: Four winners at Aqueduct on Saint Patrick's Day were either conceived in New York and/or were by New York-based sires. New York-bred sons of New York-based sires finished first and third with $30,000 tags in a six-furlong open claiming contest for non-winners of two races on Thursday at Aqueduct, as Daniel Toomey's and Robert Urrutia's WHENLUVCOMESTOTOWN scored his second 2006 Big A victory under jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. The four-year-old son of A. P Jet -- and out of a $139,140-earning daughter of the late New York-based sire Noble Nashua -- improved his record to 2 - 2 - 1 in 12 starts. The two uncoupled New York-breds were both 9.60-to-1 co-fourth choices among the contest's seven starters and picked up 70 percent of the total purse while qualifying their connections for another $5,922 in owner, breeder, and stallion owner awards. New York Minute: Four of six New York-bred winners at Aqueduct on Thursday, March 16 were also New York-conceived. New York homebred winners of restricted N1X allowance races at Aqueduct -- all New York-conceived four-year-olds by current New York-based sires -- were Paraneck Stable's FUEGO GRANDE (by Adonis) on Wednesday, Majesty Stud's CROP BUSTER (by Raffie's Majesty) on Saturday, and Merrylegs Farm's MISS WEST (by Western Expression) on Sunday. Fuego Grande, a filly out of a daughter of the late record-setting New York sire Cure the Blues, was the first winner sent out for Ernie Paragallo's Paraneck Stable by new trainer Frank Amonte Jr., whose 70-year-old father is the oldest jockey to have ridden a winner. Crop Buster, a gelding owned and bred by the Majesty Stud LLC of Digby Barrios of Ridgefield, Connecticut, has now won twice and placed third twice -- all in February and March going two turns at Aqueduct -- since being outfitted with blinkers by trainer Dominic Galluscio. Miss West, a filly owned by the Merrylegs Farm of Paula Cohn-Hallman of Oyster Bay, whose late father, Seymour Cohn, bred the improving stretch-runner, is a half-sister to New York-bred multiple Grade 2 winner Kashatreya ($541,589) and has now won at beyond a mile at both Belmont and Aqueduct. New York Minute: Three of four New York-bred winners at Aqueduct on Sunday, March 19 were also New York-conceived. New York-bred maiden-breakers during the four-day span of March 16-19 included the following: ALL ABOUT ALLISON (gate-to-wire), REGALLY (gate-to-wire; sired by Regal Classic), EXACTAMENTO (in second start), ZIP ZIP (at odds-on), and MARC OF APPROVAL -- all at Aqueduct on Thursday -- plus PROUD PATRIOT in a Turfway maiden special and DOCTOR JENKINS (by 13-3/4 lengths and sired by Manlove) at Laurel, also on Thursday; CUT DIAMOND at Aqueduct on Saint Patrick's Day Friday; SOUTHERN PRINCE (by 2-3/4 lengths) at Aqueduct and CHAZAL (sired by A. P Jet) at Mountaineer Park -- both on Saturday; BELLA DORATO (sired by Goldminers Gold), SHUFFLING MADDNES, and SHE'S EXCELLENT -- all at Aqueduct on Sunday -- and DE LEON (in debut as only first-time-starter among 10, with odds of 19-to-1) at Tampa Bay Downs, also on Sunday. |
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Sunday's victory by Ted Taylor's MAGNOLIA JACKSON in Aqueduct's $70,995 Broadway Handicap for New York-bred fillies and mares was the culmination of a strong showing by five older state-bred females racing in New York and the mid-Atlantic area during the five-day span of Wednesday through Sunday, March 8-12. Magnolia Jackson was coming off two consecutive 2006 open company Aqueduct victories, including the Correction Handicap 43 days earlier in a game battle with fellow New York-bred four-year-old filly rival Speed Bag. Her odds-on (.80-to-1) score under top weight in the six-furlong Broadway encouraged New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 2004 Trainer of the Year Gary Contessa to consider pointing the bay filly towards Aqueduct's Grade 2 $150,000-added Distaff Breeders' Cup two weeks hence on Saturday, March 25. The Distaff, previously won by NYTB champions Carson Hollow and Lottsa Talc, will be run at six furlongs instead of seven -- its distance for the past 11 years -- because Aqueduct's inner track meet has been extended to the last week of March, and there is no inner track seven-furlong chute. "It would be unusual for me to run her back that quick," acknowledged Contessa, "but we're going to think about it and see how she comes out of this race. "I love this horse," Contessa had confessed prior to the Broadway. "She's as good if not better than she was going into the Correction. I can't ask for her to do any better. She has not turned a hair, missed an oat or work. What can I say? Someone told me I should worry because Schemer is in the race (the Broadway). Trust me -- this is a different horse than the one Schemer beat (in an open N1X allowance/optional claiming contest at Aqueduct on November 25)." Magnolia Jackson increased her earnings to $208,744 and improved her record to six wins and a second in nine starts, with one of her two fourth-place efforts coming behind such rivals as open stakes winners Seeking the Ante (Grade 2) and Travelator in New York Showcase Day's 2005 Iroquois Handicap. The Broadway marked Magnolia Jackson's second outing and second victory -- both in 2006 -- under jockey Ramon Dominguez, who had two winning rides aboard fillies on Aqueduct's Sunday card. Bred by the Sez Who Thoroughbreds of Richard Simon of Aventura, Florida and foaled at Sez Who Thoroughbreds North, LLC in Stillwater, Magnolia Jackson had been sold by her breeder for $25,000 to James Layden of Ehrhardt, South Carolina at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's (OBS) 2003 August yearling sale. Layden had sold the daughter of Cape Canaveral to Taylor, of Birmingham, Alabama, for $51,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2004 May sale of two-year-olds in Timonium, Maryland, and Taylor later bought Magnolia Jackson's New York-bred half-sister by Rizzi at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2005 May sale of two-year-olds, paying $38,000. The younger filly, named Magnolia's Sister, broke her maiden as a two-year-old in early December at Aqueduct. Magnolia Jackson and Magnolia's Sister are among three starters and three winners produced from Just a Bullet, who as a two-year-old won on dirt and placed third in a turf stakes at Meadowlands. Just a Bullet, whom Simon's New Dawn Stud had purchased for $20,000 at Keeneland's 2000 November sale when she was carrying her first winner, is a full sister to Grade 2-placed winner American Bullet ($159,840) and a half-sister to multiple stakes-placed winner Pro Tank Plus. Another New York-bred older female making an impressive six-furlong performance at Aqueduct was five-year-old GOLD LIKE U, who captured a $49,000 open N3X/allowance optional claiming contest for fillies and mares on Friday, March 10 as the 3.90-to-1 co-third choice among six starters in her first effort off a 42-week layoff. NYTB 2002 Trainer of the Year Richard Dutrow Jr. had put blinkers back on the mare for the first time since her juvenile season, and the result increased her earnings by $29,400 to $181,820 while improving her record to six wins and four thirds in 15 starts. Six workouts over Aqueduct's inner track starting in late January, including a five-furlong "bullet" drill on February 11, also obviously helped. Racing with a $75,000 tag, Gold Like U had been claimed for $50,000 by Dutrow on behalf of Kenneth Page's Sullivan Lane Stable at Aqueduct in December of 2004 and has since earned $86,170 in purse money and qualified for an additional $16,440 in owner awards. The bay mare currently campaigns for Vincent Scuderi in partnership with Sullivan Lane Stable, and Friday's victory marked her second career win off a layoff. For red-hot Aqueduct jockey Ramon Dominguez, it was the second of three winning rides on the Big A's Friday card and the first of two victorious trips aboard New York-breds that he was race-riding for the first time. Bred by Questroyal Crusader LLC, Gold Like U is among eight winners in 2006 -- including Aqueduct allowance winners on Friday and Saturday -- sired by Questroyal Stud-managed Gold Token, who stands at Howard Kaskel's Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag with progeny earnings of $4.5-million from four crops to race. The former $6,000 OBS sales weanling filly is the first offspring and the first of two six-figure-earning females produced from winner Wee Like U, being a full sister to four-year-old New York-bred R B's Token ($127,205). Wee Like U is a half-sister to Trinidad stakes winner Fightfuhso and out of stakes winner Illaka. Going gate-to-wire in an open N2X allowance/optional claiming mile contest for older fillies and mares on Thursday, March 9, at Aqueduct was Dogwood Stable's New York-bred TIFFANY TOUCH as the odds-on (.80-to-1) choice among eight starters while carrying jockey Michael Luzzi for the first time in competition. The four-year-old filly has won three times and placed second twice in her last five starts at Aqueduct, commencing on Thanksgiving Eve at the restricted N2X allowance level before moving seamlessly into open allowance competition, with her latest previous outing having been a runner-up effort 17 days earlier. Tiffany Touch's Thursday tally increased her earnings by $28,800 to $187,296 and improved her overall record to 5 - 4 - 2 in 16 starts for the Dogwood Stable in Aiken, South Carolina, of which racing partnership pioneer Cot Campbell is president. Conditioned by two-time Eclipse Award winner and NYTB 1999 Trainer of the Year Todd Pletcher, the regally-bred bay filly had been purchased by Dogwood Stable for $90,000 at Keeneland's 2003 September yearling sale. The daughter of Deputy Minister is a full sister to New York-bred three-time winner Masterful Harry and a half-sister to winning stakes-placed filly Schatzeli, being the third starter out of multiple graded turf winner Careless Heiress ($393,594), who also was a stakes winner on dirt. Tiffany Touch was bred by the Gallagher's Stud, Inc. in Ghent of Marlene Brody and the late Jerry Brody, which had purchased Careless Heiress for $295,000 at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's 1997 November mixed sale when that mare was carrying future stakes-placed Schatzeli as her first foal. Careless Heiress is a sister/half-sister to two stakes-placed winners and also is a half-sister to the dam of two stakes winners -- one of them graded. Also scoring a front-running victory at the open N2X allowance level on Thursday was another New York-bred four-year-old filly, Robert Bone's YANKEE TRICK, who tallied by 2-1/4 lengths in that evening's feature race at Charles Town, a two-turn seven-furlong contest for fillies and mares. Favored at 2.20-to-1 among seven starters with apprentice jockey Javier Rivera -- whose allowance is five pounds -- race-riding her for the third time and second victory, the dark bay filly boosted her earnings into seven figures at $113,397 and improved her record to 5 - 3 - 0 in 20 starts. Yankee Trick, who was sent out for her victory by new trainer Pablo Cosme, typically wins big when she wins, taking her Saratoga maiden special juvenile debut by 2-3/4 lengths and romping home by 19-1/4, 14-14, and 5-1/2 lengths as a three-year-old in 2005 at Charles Town. Like the aforementioned Magnolia Jackson, the daughter of Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile winner Yankee Victor was bred by Sez Who Thoroughbreds. She is the second offspring and second winner produced from winner Phone Sophia, by the late New York-based stallion Phone Trick, and was a $37,000 purchase at the OBS 2004 April sale of two-year-olds before being claimed twice at Charles Town early in her 2005 three-year-old season. Dam Phone Sophia is a full sister to stakes winner Proud Heritage and a half-sister to dirt and turf route winner Stormy Jim ($105,340) and to the dam of stakes-placed winner Sophia Jones. Now that Colleen S. Stable's unbeaten New York-bred four-year-old filly, NYSTATE OF GRIND, is two-for-two at six furlongs and looks like she wants to run longer, how good is she and where does she go next following her 4-1/2-length victory in Penn National's Wednesday evening N1X allowance feature? The gray/roan was favored at 2.80-to-1 among seven fillies and mares for her March 8 effort despite being the least experienced starter by far, but she was clear after a furlong and unchallenged thereafter in her second consecutive outing and win at Penn National in 41 days. Nystate of Grind was again ridden by jockey Christopher Baker, who also rode the favored front-running winner of the card's previous race for the same trainer -- Michael Salvaggio Jr. In preparation for the New York-bred's second victorious start, Salvaggio had given her a three-furlong workout at Penn National a dozen days earlier. Nystate of Grind races for the Colleen S. Stable of Colleen Simeone (also operating under the name of Seasoft Stables) of Franklin Square, New York, who had purchased her for $45,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2003 September-October yearling sale in Timonium, Maryland. The daughter of Grindstone was bred by Tammy Jacobs and Andrea Odenbach and is the first winner produced from Uncork New York, by Northern Wolf. Uncork New York is a winning full sister to stakes-placed winning filly Hip Wolf ($313,942) and a half-sister to stakes-winning fillies Umbrella Rig ($144,510) and Mink Hat (dam of stakes-winning fillies/mares Lady Lear and Cover Your Ears, who together won 21 races, set a track record, and earned $509,473). Uncork New York also is a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Northern Peak ($105,881) and to the winning dam of stakes-placed winners Royale Derby ($206,142) and Seminole Warrior. For fillies and mares, this is obviously an exceptionally strong female family. New York-bred restricted N1X allowance winners at Aqueduct over the weekend were Aaron Racing Stables' TOKEN DEM in a gate-to-wire 3-1/2-length tally on Saturday that virtually equaled the 5-1/2-furlong track record and E El R Stable's DOLL BABY at six furlongs on Sunday. Token Dem, who was odds-on (.80-to-1) among seven starters, four-year-olds and up, had placed second at the restricted N1X allowance level at Aqueduct just two weeks earlier, and his Saturday win improved his record to 3 - 3 - 5 in 17 starts. Campaigned by Mrs. Jacalyn F. Aaron's Aaron Racing Stable and sent out for his victory by trainer Scott Lake, the four-year-old gelding covered the 5-1/2-furlong distance in 1:03.98, which was virtually the same time as New York-bred Melodeeman's track record performance of 1:03.94 on January 20. It was Token Dem's second consecutive outing under jockey Eibar Coa, who had three winning rides on Aqueduct's Saturday card -- two aboard New York-breds. Token Dem was bred by Barry Schwartz's Stonewall Farm in Granite Springs and was the second New York-bred Aqueduct allowance winner in two days sired by New York-based stallion Gold Token. He is the first offspring produced from Schwartz's New York homebred Dangerous Beauty, a Saratoga-winning half-sister to Schwartz's multiple stakes-winning homebred and Grade 1-placed David ($403,920) and to graded-placed winner Presence. Doll Baby, who races for the E El R Stable managed by Richard Balfour that also campaigns New York-bred 2006 Aqueduct allowance-winning filly R B's Token, improved her record to 2 - 2 - 2 in eight starts, which includes a third-placing last year in Finger Lakes' restricted $132,575 Lady Fingers Stakes. Sent off by trainer Bruce Levine as the 2.60-to-1 second choice among nine starters -- all three-year-old fillies -- the bay daughter of Citidancer has run all of her races under jockey Michael Luzzi, who rode two New York-bred winners on Aqueduct's Sunday card. She had been purchased by Balfour for $55,000 at Fasig-Tipton's 2004 Saratoga sale of preferred New York-bred yearlings and is the third offspring and third New York-bred winner produced from seven-time winner Sand Pirate, by Desert Wine, being a half-sister to winning three-time stakes-placed filly Half Heaven ($136,249). All of Sand Pirate's winners were bred by television and singing star David Cassidy. Sand Pirate is a half-sister to the dam of Grade 2 winner Continental Red ($1,363,788 through 2005). New York-bred open claiming winners over March 8-12 included SET THE CLOCK and TRUELY ALONE at Aqueduct on Wednesday, DEVIL'S LAST DANCE at Aqueduct on Thursday, SONG DANCER at Oaklawn Park and MEGATREND at Gulfstream -- both on Saturday -- and SEA LAWYER and WHOA at Aqueduct on Sunday. Set the Clock, Paraneck Stable's homebred four-year-old gelding by its own New York-based stallion Danzatame, carried top weight of 124 pounds and had blinkers back on while heading a one-two finish by New York-breds (with $30,000 tags) going a mile and was the 15.20-to-1 sixth choice among eight starters. Maggi Moss's Truely Alone -- a half-sister to stakes-placed 18-time winning 12-year-old mare Bewitching Eyes ($267,564) -- also headed a one-two finish by New York-breds in her 3-1/4-length score at odds-on (.60-to-1) among eight starters -- all three-year-old fillies -- and was claimed for $20,000 by trainer Dominick Schettino on behalf of Joseph Parisi. Devil's Last Dance, Nick Rombolakis' five-year-old daughter of the late New York-based stallion Distinctive Pro, won as the 1.95-to-1 favorite among six starters despite having raced just eight days earlier and was among five winners that day (including two New York-breds) ridden by jockey Ramon Dominguez. Song Dancer ($224,205), owner-trainer Steven Asmussen's eight-year-old Unbridled's Song stallion and half-brother to the late New York-bred Grade 1 winner Carson Hollow ($500,110), had gained black-type in January by placing a close third in a Sunland Park stakes and was claimed for $25,000 by Lee Racing Stables LLC. Megatrend ($128,579), Silvernails Farm's homebred five-year-old gelding by the late New York-based stallion Dixie Brass, romped home by 8-3/4 lengths as the 2-to-1 favorite among seven starters while clocking an excellent 6-1/2-furlong time of 1:15.59. Sea Lawyer, a four-year-old gelding owned by Louis Zito, Gerry Reid, and trainer Scott Lake, headed a one-two finish by New York-breds in a front-running 4-3/4-length victory as the 1.30-to-1 favorite among 10 starters, getting his second six-furlong Aqueduct win of 2006. Whoa, Paul O'Neil's four-year-old gelded son of New York-based stallion A. P Jet, headed a one-two-three finish by New York-breds -- the first two being sons of New York sires -- in his 5-1/4-length front-running victory at a mile and a sixteenth, for which he was the 1.90-to-1 favorite among seven starters. New York-bred maiden-breakers over March 8-12 included the following: Four-year-old filly BEAUTY ON DECK (by 7-3/4 lengths at a mile and a sixteenth), three-year-old colt COLORS OF ART (son of New York-based stallion Carry My Colors), and three-year-old colt KARAKORUM THUNDER -- all at Aqueduct on Wednesday; five-year-old SAFE SIGNAL (gate-to-wire by 4-3/4 lengths out of the 10th post position at six furlongs) and three-year-old colt PRECISE ACTION (by 4-1/2 lengths at odds-on) -- both at Aqueduct on Thursday; three-year-old fillies SATIN END (by 7-1/2 lengths) at Aqueduct and TWO TURN HALO (gate-to-wire at a two-turn mile) at Santa Anita -- both on Saturday; four-year-old gelding MAJESTIC KARAKORUM (by 4-3/4 lengths as the 29.50-to-1 ninth choice among 11 starters) and three-year-old gelding C SENOR (gate-to-wire) -- both at Aqueduct on Sunday. |
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| NY-breds shine in open features in Fla.,
NY, Pa. by Rab Hagin Currently-campaigning New York-breds now include North America's best three-year-old turf filly (J'ray), best sprinting female (Behaving Badly), and a legitimate classic contender in Purdedel Stable's homebred SHARP HUMOR, as the ninth week of 2006 highlighted state-bred open feature winners in Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. Sharp Humor's victory in Gulfstream's Grade 2 Swale Stakes on Saturday off a 19-week layoff furthered the elevation of New York Showcase Day's Sleepy Hollow Stakes into a watershed event, as its winners continue compiling records that would make it the envy of any juvenile stakes in the nation. The 2002 Sleepy Hollow was the only juvenile stakes race open to males that year which featured future three-year-old graded winners (Funny Cide, Spite the Devil, Go Rockin' Robbin) finishing one-two-three. The 2003 Sleepy Hollow winner, Friends Lake, won the 2004 Grade 1 Florida Derby, and the 2004 Sleepy Hollow winner, Galloping Grocer, subsequently placed second in Aqueduct's Grade 2 Remsen and Grade 3 Gotham Stakes (and scored an open Aqueduct allowance victory on February 25 off an 18-month layoff). The 1996 Sleepy Hollow winner, Kashatreya, went on to become a multiple Grade 2 winner, and three other Sleepy Hollow winners (the event has only been run 12 times) also placed in later Grade 2 events.
Sharp Humor's unraced dam, Bellona, had been purchased by the colt's breeder and co-owner, Dr. Patricia Purdy of Ivy League Farm in Ithaca, for $4,000 as a three-year-old broodmare prospect through agent Hooper Roff at Keeneland's 1997 January mixed sale. When Bellona was carrying Sharp Humor at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2002 December mixed sale in Timonium, Maryland -- 11 months before her first starter, New York-bred Belladumaani, would win at Belmont and five months before Funny Cide's classic triumphs -- she was bought back for $29,500 after failing to meet her reserve price. Following Sharp Humor's debut victory on July 1 at Belmont for Dr. Purdy, Chicago real estate developer Edwin (Ed) Edelberg acquired majority interest in the colt. Bellona has a New York-bred two-year-old colt by the Grade 2-winning Storm Cat stallion Pure Prize that has been named Swell Being, and she already has produced a 2006 filly by graded winner and Grade 1 sire Montbrook. Another strong showing by New York-breds occurred in Aqueduct's open N1X allowance feature for older fillies and mares on Friday, March 3, as state-breds comprised four of nine starters but earned 90.5 percent of the purse -- with Castle Village Farm's ANGEL DANCER heading a one-two-three finish by New York-breds. The two-turn mile victory in her second consecutive start under apprentice jockey Isaac Barahona -- whose allowance is seven pounds -- increased Angel Dancer's earnings by $27,600 to $162,711 for the Castle Village Farm of Stephen Zorn of Hialeah, Florida, improving her record to 4 - 2 - 5 in 24 starts. Placing second was John Nerud's New York homebred Lone Tree ($120,972), and third was Donald and Mary Zuckerman's New York homebred Tomorrows Lady ($111,768), as state-breds also qualified for a total of $16,974 in owner, breeder, and stallion awards. Five-year-old Angel Dancer is a daughter of New York-bred multiple graded winner and former New York stallion Incurable Optimist and is the second winner bred in New York by Vivian Amriati of Garden City from five-time route winner Cotuit Bay ($101,423). Winning Tampa Bay Downs' Thursday, March 2 feature, a seven-furlong N3X allowance/optional claimer for four-year-olds and up (with three of eight starters running with the pricey optional tag of $40,000), was Equest Racing Stable LLC's New York-bred STORM THIEF, the 3.30-to-1 second choice. The four-year-old gelding was race-ridden for the first time by jockey Mike Allen, who had three winning rides on the card, and advanced four wide out of the turn to score his daylight-margin victory, which increased his earnings to $120,366 off a record of 4 - 3 - 1 in 11 starts. Campaigned by the Equest Racing Stable of Jerry Campbell of Jackson, Michigan, who had purchased him for $120,000 at Fasig-Tipton's 2003 Saratoga select yearling sale, Storm Thief was the second winner at Tampa Bay on Thursday sent out by trainer Ronald Allen Sr. and ridden by Mike Allen. The son of Aptitude - Deputy Dear, by Deputy Minister, was bred by Joanne and the late Gerald Nielsen of Sunnyfield Farm in Bedford, who also bred his recent (February 1) two-length Aqueduct maiden special-winning half-sister, three-year-old Widely Acclaimed, plus two multiple-winning half-siblings, including stakes-placed Bond Arbitrage. Scoring her second consecutive six-furlong victory at Aqueduct in 29 days was Maggi Moss's WHAT'S YOUR POINT under co-topweight of 123 pounds, as that four-year-old filly tallied by three lengths as the 2.70-to-1 second choice among six older distaff starters in an open N1X allowance on Sunday, March 5. It was her second outing under jockey Ramon Dominguez, whose three winning mounts that day included a New York-bred maiden three-year-old filly and a feature-winning six-year-old gelding also owned by Moss (and likewise conditioned by New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2004 Trainer of the Year Gary Contessa). The victory increased the earnings for What's Your Point by $27,000 to $170,880 and improved her record to 4 - 5 - 2 in 16 starts, which includes a second-placing in Belmont's restricted Dancin Renee Stakes last June. Placing third was New York-bred R B's Token -- by New York-based Gold Token -- who increased her earnings to $127,205 off a record of 3 - 3 - 5 in 13 starts, as two New York-breds earned 70 percent of the purse and qualified for $7,515 in owner, breeder, and stallion awards. A $4,500 purchase out of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2003 August yearling sale, What's Your Point was bred by the Sez Who Thoroughbreds, Inc. of Richard Simon of Aventura, Florida, who maintains divisions of Sez Who Thoroughbreds in Ocala, Florida and Stillwater, New York. The daughter of Wheaton is the first offspring produced from Herrenchiemsee, an allowance-winning sprinter by Sheikh Albadou that Sez Who Thoroughbreds had purchased for $6,000 at Keeneland's January 2001 mixed sale as a not-bred broodmare prospect. Herrenchiemsee is a half-sister to stakes-placed 15-time winning router Zacharov ($443,773) and to non-black-type stakes winner Major Zee ($328,382), and her second dam is five-time stakes winner Zadracarta ($338,995). Owner Moss, a Des Moines, Iowa attorney, is on the board of directors of Prairie Meadows racetrack and rode in hunter and jumper horseshow competition at Madison Square Garden. Capturing Philadelphia Park's Sunday, March 5 feature, a 6-1/2-furlong N1X allowance for four-year-olds and up, was Victory Thoroughbreds LLC's New York-bred NEW YORK TOKEN, who scored a front-running two-length victory over the 1.10-to-1 favorite as the 4.60-to-1 third choice among nine starters. The five-year-old gelding was ridden for the first time in competition by jockey Harry Vega and increased his earnings to $58,452 while improving his record to 5 - 2 - 2 in 14 starts, with all of his wins coming by two or more lengths (for margins totaling 25-1/4 lengths). He was bred by Questroyal Stable Inc. and sold as a weanling for $2,000 by Thomas J. and Nadine Gallo, agents, to Clarkie Leverette at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2001 December mixed sale. New York Token is the sixth winner of 2006 sired by New York-based stallion Gold Token, whose lifetime progeny earnings from four crops to race now exceed $4.4-million. The bay gelding is the first offspring produced from winner Little Miss Mayhem, who is by former New York-based sire Anjiz and is a half-sister to a German stakes-placed winner as well as to the winning dam of stakes winners Clever Gem ($307,118) and Jove Stone ($306,412). Looking ready to move into open allowance competition is Maspeth Stables' DYNERGY, who tallied by a length and three-quarters in a restricted N2X allowance/optional claimer for three-year-olds and up going a mile and a sixteenth at Aqueduct on Wednesday, March 1. The four-year-old colt was ridden for the first time in competition by jockey Eibar Coa and went off as the 3.35-to-1 second choice among seven wagering interests and eight starters, increasing his earnings by $27,800 to $126,264 while improving his record to four wins and three thirds in 14 starts. Dynergy races for the Maspeth Stable managed by Edward Sheerin, which had purchased the colt privately. Foaled at Thomas and Mia Gallo's Blue Stone Farm in Cambridge and bred by Mia Gallo and Debbie Petrisak -- the latter of Langpap Farm in Rochester -- the son of Dynaformer - See Me Willie B., by Dr. Blum, is a half-brother to New York-bred five-time winning filly/mare Say Hey Willie ($168,038). Mia Gallo also bred Dynergy's dam, 11-time winner See Me Willie B., who is a full sister to New York-bred sprinter-router-turf winner Madame Blum ($168,840). New York-bred restricted N1X allowance winners at Aqueduct during the first five days of March were DEVIL'S CONCIERGE and SIGNORE WILLIAM on Wednesday, APPETIZER on Thursday, and INDIAN HAWKE and HARD IRON on Saturday. Devil's Concierge, a three-year-old homebred colt owned by Sanford Goldfarb in partnership with Kevin Schultz's Team Julep Stables, is unbeaten in two starts at Aqueduct in 2006, but his second win came via disqualification to second of first-place-finisher Prince of Peace, who was taken down for drifting in. Signore William ($170,768), a five-year-old son of New York-based stallion Williamstown owned by Vincent Racanelli and Hari Marwaha, captured a three-turn mile and a half optional claiming contest that marked his first effort beyond a mile and an eighth, improving his record to 4 - 3 - 5 in 25 starts. Appetizer, Donald and Mary Zuckerman's homebred three-year-old daughter of New York-based stallion Tomorrows Cat -- and full sister to multiple stakes-placed winner Tomorrows Banquet ($212,883) -- won her mile contest by four lengths to score her second two-turn Aqueduct victory in five starts. Indian Hawk, a three-year-old colt owned by Donald Flanagan of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, who had purchased him for $140,000 at Fasig-Tipton's 2004 Saratoga New York-bred preferred yearling sale, also won by four lengths at a mile for his second two-turn Aqueduct victory in five starts. Hard Iron, WinStar Farm LLC's four-year-old homebred son of New York-based stallion Regal Classic, tallied by 3-1/4 lengths as the 8.20-to-1 fifth choice among 11 starters and has now won at both Belmont and Aqueduct. New York-bred open claiming distaff winners at Aqueduct included FOR LOVE AND MONEY and RUSHING FORCE on Wednesday and CASSETTE CASE on Friday. For Love and Money, a four-year-old filly owned by Marty Cunningham, boosted her earnings into six figures at $109,658 with her 5-1/2-furlong victory while improving her record to 4 - 1 - 2 in 14 starts. Rushing Force, a six-year-old daughter of Regal Classic owned by Ervin Bagwandeen's Bagwandeen Stable, came home first among a field of nine older fillies and mares going a mile with $30,000 tags, including seven New York-breds representing 77.8 percent of the starters but earning 89.5 percent of the purse. Rushing Force is still eligible for restricted N1X allowance competition. Four-year-old Cassette Case, claimed a week earlier for $14,000 by Luca Williams' Nassau CC Stables (which had lost her in January for $20,000), scored her second consecutive front-running victory and was claimed for the second consecutive time, going to Eagle View Farm on a claim of $20,000. By New York-based Mighty Magee out of stakes winner Cassette Player, by the late leading New York sire Talc, Cassette Case ($114,587) is a half-sister to the dam of stakes winners Concerto's Crown ($201,446) and Slew Motion ($171,800) and has a record of 5 - 0 - 4 in 17 starts. New York-bred maiden-breakers during the first five days of March included three-year-old filly DUBLIN HOUSE by 11-1/4 lengths in her odds-on maiden special debut at Charles Town, three-year-old filly SOLID GOLD VICTORY at Aqueduct, and four-year-old filly BORNAGODDESS (by New York-based stallion Adonis) at Aqueduct -- all on Wednesday; three-year-old colt MY ECHO by five lengths at Charles Town on Thursday evening; four-year-old gelding SIX GUN at odds-on by 13-1/2 lengths at Aqueduct on Friday; three-year-old gelding HERBERT T by 5-3/4 lengths at Aqueduct on Saturday; and three-year-old restricted maiden special-winning fillies ICE COOL KITTY (by Tomorrows Cat) and KEEN SPIRIT (by New York-based stallion River Keen) at Aqueduct on Sunday -- the former by 3-3/4 lengths at six furlongs and the latter by two lengths at a mile. |
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(3/4) A new handicapping rule has emerged: Never underestimate winners of New York Showcase Day's Sleepy Hollow Stakes, the latest of which, Purdedel Stable's homebred SHARP HUMOR, decisively won Gulfstream's Grade 2 Swale Stakes for three-year-olds going seven furlongs on Saturday, edging away from favored Noonmark. Coming off a 19-week layoff in his first outing under jockey Mark Guidry, the tenacious colt broke on top from the 10th post among 11 starters as the 13.80-to-1 eighth choice and challenged front-running 4.50-to-1 second choice Praying for Cash through taxing fractions of 22.03 and 44.58. When that rival -- who was carrying two pounds less than Sharp Humor -- faded, a new threat loomed on the outside in 1.40-to-1 favorite Noonmark, who also was carrying two pounds less than multiple restricted stakes winner Sharp Humor. Noonmark appeared to get his nose in front in the upper stretch, but Sharp Humor fought back to regain command at the eighth pole and was increasing his margin at the wire, as Noonmark placed 2-1/2 lengths ahead of the third-place finisher. Sharp Humor's winning time, 1:22.14, was the fourth-fastest in 21 runnings of the Swale and bettered Eclipse Champion Sprinter Lost in the Fog's 2005 Swale time of 1:22.21.
Trainer Romans, who had given Sharp Humor six workouts at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida from January 22 through February 27, including a half-mile "bullet" drill (46 3/5) on February 21, obviously has an extremely high opinion of the colt: "He's just a fast, fast horse. He does everything right. He's got a real high cruising speed. "I don't think we'll be heading back to New York just yet," Romans continued. "We're going to look at some bigger races down the road and see if this horse can go around two turns. I don't know what those races are yet. I wasn't thinking that far ahead. We always knew we had New York-bred races to fall back on. It seems like we have to have a little bigger plan now. There's already been one Distorted (Humor) New York-bred to win the Derby (Funny Cide). Let's see if we can get there."
Sharp Humor is the fourth winner of Belmont's Sleepy Hollow Stakes for New York-bred juveniles to subsequently capture a Grade 1 or Grade 2 stakes and the eighth Sleepy Hollow winner in that event's 12 runnings to win or place in a graded stakes. The 1996 Sleepy Hollow winner, Kashatreya, later scored two Grade 2 victories. Funny Cide, the 2002 Sleepy Hollow winner, went on to earn more than $3-million and captured an Eclipse Championship, and 2003 winner Friends Lake won the 2004 Grade 1 Florida Derby. The two New York-breds placing second and third in Funny Cide's Sleepy Hollow, Spite the Devil and Go Rockin' Robin, were Grade 3 and Grade 2 winners, respectively, in 2003. Inbred 3 x 4 to Mr. Prospector, Sharp Humor is the fifth New York-bred Grade 1 or Grade 2 winner sired by Distorted Humor and is among six New York-bred open stakes winners overall sired by that stallion. He is the second winner that Dr. Purdy has bred from Bellona, who is a daughter of former New York stallion Hansel. Bellona, whom Dr. Purdy and her husband, Dr. Chris Purdy, had purchased for $4,000 as a three-year-old broodmare prospect through agent Hooper Roff at Keeneland's 1997 January mixed sale, is a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Melting Gold. Bellona's winning dam is by Believe It and is a half-sister to English Group 1 classic winner Shadeed. Sharp Humor has the breeding (and running style) that suggests he will go longer. In the fourth generation of his pedigree are such classic or stamina stalwarts as Tom Rolfe, Northern Dancer, In Reality, and Damascus, and in the next generation are Ribot, Hail to Reason, Buckpasser (to whom his dam is inbred 4 x 4), Sword Dancer, and Forli. Sharp Humor is the fifth New York-bred open stakes winner of 2006, and the Swale was the sixth open stakes of the year captured by a New York-bred -- those victories having been scored in New York (twice), Florida (twice), and California (twice). He is the second New York-bred graded winner of 2006, and the Swale was the third graded event captured by a state-bred in the first nine weeks of 2006. |
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| 7 NY-breds gross $1,345,000 at Fasig-Tipton Calder
sale of 2yos in training by Rab Hagin (2/28) Led by the highest-priced New York bred to sell at Fasig-Tipton's Calder selected sale of two-year-olds in six years, the average amount paid for state-breds increased for the fourth consecutive year at the 2006 auction, held on Tuesday, February 28, as seven youngsters bred in the Empire State grossed $1,345,000. The New York-bred average, $192,143, was 24.6 percent higher than the 2005 average for New York-breds at the Fasig-Tipton Calder sale, when 12 state-bred juveniles had grossed $1,850,000 for a $154,167 mean. Four of the seven New York-breds sold brought more than the $200,000 overall median price for the record-breaking sale, at which the average was significantly skewed by a world record $16-million price. The Fasig-Tipton Florida auction brought the total amount spent on 19 New York-bred two-year-olds at the two 2006 February selected juvenile sales at Calder -- Fasig-Tipton and Ocala Breeders' Sales Company (February 7) -- to $2,855,000 for an average of $150,263. At the two 2005 selected juvenile sales at Calder, 24 New York-breds had grossed $3,412,000 for an average of $142,167. Another four New York-bred two-year-olds in training at the Fasig-Tipton Florida auction were offered for sale but did not bring their reserve prices -- even though three brought six-figure bids -- including a filly (Hip No. 110) that was taken home after eliciting a bid of $440,000. Topping the New York-breds at $375,000 was Hip No. 192, a relatively late-foaled (April 30) colt by Stormin Fever - Patriotism, by Pleasant Colony, consigned by Scanlon Training Center, Agent, and purchased by the Donada Farm of Michael Levy of Lexington, Kentucky. Bred by Joan T. Simpson of Fiddlers Green Stable in Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts and foaled at Hidden Lake Farm, LLC in New Hampton that is owned and operated by Chris Bernhard of Questroyal Stud, this colt -- named Stormin Normandy -- has three half-siblings of racing age, all multiple winners. His dam is a half-sister to the dam of stakes winner Treasureathend. Stormin Normandy had been purchased for $100,000 by the Circle C Stables of Jeffrey Cooper of East Alton, Illinois at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga preferred sale of New York-bred yearlings last August. At the two under tack shows preceding the Fasig-Tipton Florida auction (February 19 and 26), he had worked a furlong in 10 3/5 (February 19) followed by a quarter-mile in 21 1/5. His dam, Patriotism, had been purchased by Questroyal Stable for $14,500 at Keeneland's 2000 November sale when she was carrying her second foal and second winner. Selling for $300,000 was Hip No. 99, a filly by Freud - Giana, by Exclusive Era, consigned by Parrish Farms and purchased by English trainer Paul Cole. This was one of two New York-breds by the popular New York-based second-crop sire Freud (Storm Cat - Mariah's Storm, by Rahy) selling at the Fasig-Tipton Florida auction. At the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's (OBS) Calder sale three weeks earlier, two-year-old sons of Freud had sold for $400,000 and $140,000. Hip No. 99, who had worked a quarter-mile in 22 3/5 on February 19 and a furlong on turf in 10 3/5 a week later, was bred by Becky Thomas and foaled at Lakland North, LLC in Hudson that Thomas owns in partnership with Lewis Lakin and where Freud stands. A profitable pin-hook, she had been sold for $82,000 to her Fasig-Tipton Florida consignor, Parrish Farms, at Keeneland's September yearling sale. This bay filly is a half-sister to five winners, including six-time stakes-placed Sweeping Analysis ($330,425), and her winning stakes-placed dam, Giana, is a half-sister to six-time stakes-winning (and graded-placed) filly/mare Sadie's Dream ($488,529). Lakland had purchased Giana for $20,000 at an OBS 2002 January mixed sale and bred her to Freud the following year. Selling for $240,000 was Hip No. 165, a colt by Officer - Miss Jeanne Cat, by Tabasco Cat, consigned by Paul Sharp, Agent and purchased by Centennial Farms, which specializes in racing partnerships and is managed by Don Little Jr. of Boston, Massachusetts. Centennial Farms also is a partnership owner in New York-based graded-winning stallion Ground Storm. This chestnut colt, who had worked a quarter-mile in 22-flat on February 19, had been sold as a weanling for $75,000 at Keeneland's 2004 November sale. He was bred by the JMJ Stables, LLC of Dennis Narlinger of Capistrano Beach, California and had been foaled at Lakland North. Hip No. 165 is the first offspring produced from stakes winner Miss Jeanne Cat, whom JMJ Racing Stables had purchased for $160,000 through trainer Jeff Bonde at the OBS 2001 February select sale of two-year-olds in training. Miss Jeanne Cat was bred by Arthur B. Hancock III and Stonerside Ltd. and won two of three starts as a two-year-old, including Bay Meadows' five-furlong Time to Leave Stakes by three lengths early in her juvenile season. Selling for $225,000 was Hip No. 161, a colt by City Zip - Midway Gal, by Midway Circle, consigned by Robert Harris, Agent and purchased by trainer Timothy F. Ritchey. Bred by Gus Schoenborn Jr. and foaled at Schoenborn's Contemporary Stallions in Coxsackie where City Zip -- currently North America's second-leading second-crop sire of 2006 -- had stood for three seasons, this chestnut colt turned in under tack show furlong workouts of 10 3/5 and 10 2/5. His indestructible dam, Midway Gal ($236,370) -- as well as one of his half-sisters, New York-bred Halfway to Heaven ($269,643) -- must have been constructed with titanium. Midway Gal started 48 times -- virtually all in sprints -- winning 13 races at Belmont (six), Aqueduct (three), Gulfstream (three) and Saratoga and once running six furlongs at Belmont in 1:09 3/5. Hip No. 161's half-sister and NYRA campaigner Halfway to Heaven has raced more than 50 times at a variety of distances and has 10 wins to her credit. Midway Gal is a half-sister to two stakes-placed winners, including a track record-setter at Sportsman's Park, and to the winning dam of stakes winner New York Harbor and graded-placed winner Nine Lives. This colt is inbred 4 x 4 to Raise a Native through Mr. Prospector (paternal grandsire of City Zip) and Alydar (paternal grandsire of Midway Gal. |
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