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Naughty New Yorker gets top-weighted Robb win for 10th stakes tally by Rab Hagin
At the wire, the top weight was insignificant, the undesirable "good" track that had been muddy the previous day was inconsequential, and eight six-figure-earning New York-bred rivals did not matter -- Fox Ridge Farm's NAUGHTY NEW YORKER was the class in Aqueduct's Alex M. Robb Handicap on Sunday, and it showed. Reunited with jockey Jean-Luc Samyn, who has ridden the five-year-old state-bred in 31 of 40 starts and seven of 11 victories, the Fox Ridge Farm standard-bearer rallied to win the mile and a sixteenth Robb as the 2.80-to-1 favorite among nine. It was his 10th stakes victory and third black-type tally on Aqueduct's inner track but his first win on a wet track since his juvenile maiden-breaking effort at the Big A in November of 2004. Breaking from the outside post, Naughty New Yorker stalked at the back of a fairly tightly-packed group of seven contenders that was led by 2.90-to-1 second choice Indian Hawke through even splits of 24.16, 24.43, and 24.37. When 5.60-to-1 fourth choice Run Red Run gained command from Indian Hawke in the upper stretch, Samyn's professionally-performing mount already had split rivals coming out of the second turn and was barely more than a length back in third place on the outside. In the final furlong, Naughty New Yorker overtook Run Red Run and was under wraps late as 9.30-to-1 fifth choice Shuffling Maddnes -- who had beaten Naughty New Yorker in Belmont's Evan Shipman Handicap in July but has finished behind him in three subsequent stakes outings -- closed for second. Run Red Run placed third. Winning jockey Samyn, who had last previously race-ridden Naughty New Yorker in the Evan Shipman, resisted compromising the horse's strengths despite unfavorable track conditions: "Of course I was concerned the way the track has been playing, but you can't take him out of his running style," explained Samyn. "Today he showed up with one of his better races. He was good and well behaved in the starting gate, and I was pretty confident from the half-mile pole on. I'm just very happy to be back on him," added Samyn, who had ridden Naughty New Yorker to a stakes record (1:42.64) 2-3/4-length victory in the 2006 Robb and also had piloted the 1990 and 1992 Robb winners. "He's had a great career." Winning trainer Patrick Kelly, who had given Naughty New Yorker maintenance workouts over Belmont's training track on December 9 and 19, admitted that the horse's Robb win had been scored despite a less-than-preferable running surface: "This really wasn't his track," Kelly acknowledged. "He hasn't done much in muddy tracks lately. He's a professional. He makes it tough on these New York breds. It's neat to win this (the Robb Handicap) a second time. Hopefully, he'll get some New York-bred awards this year," proffered Kelly, who was selected 1986 Trainer of the Year by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders. "There's always someone else out there who's done something good. I'll probably nominate him and Evening Attire for the Aqueduct Handicap (mile and a sixteenth, $75,000 added, for open three-year-olds and up on Saturday, January 19). We'd like to win (another) graded stakes somewhere with him. He's been on a good roll." Victory in the Robb -- named for the late Belmont general manager and advisor to the late Willis Sharpe Kilmer of Sun Briar Court in New York -- increased Naughty New Yorker's earnings to $925,664 and improved his record to 11 - 6 - 7 in 40 starts. The consistent campaigner, who runs with a full cup covering his right eye, has steadily enhanced his resume, winning Aqueduct's 2006 graded Red Smith, capturing the shortest and longest legs of The OTBs' Big Apple Triple in 2005, and placing third in Aqueduct's Grade 1 Cigar Mile on November 24. He is situated to become the 20th New York-bred millionaire (see New York-bred Millionaires Club). Owned by the Fox Ridge Farm, Inc. of Peter Schiff of Syosset, who is president of the private venture and leveraged buyout firm Northwood Ventures, Naughty New Yorker had been purchased by his owner for $145,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2004 March sale of two-year-olds. The bay stallion was bred by the husband-wife veterinarian team of Dr. William Wilmot -- a member of the board of directors of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund Corporation -- and Dr. Joan Taylor and was foaled at his breeders' Stepwise Farm in Saratoga Springs. The son of Quiet American is a half-brother to stakes-winning filly router and Grade 2-placed Pupil ($204,280), being the third of four winners produced from Naughty Natisha, by Known Fact. Stepwise Farm had purchased Naughty Natisha -- who is a half-sister to stakes winners Victorica ($293,067 and dam of Irish stakes winner King Hesperus) and Noble Minstrel -- for $150,000 at Keeneland's 1998 November sale when the future multiple stakes producer was carrying Pupil as her first foal. |
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Distaffers are dominant among 78 NY-bred open stakes horses in 2007 by Rab Hagin
Older distaff campaigners OPRAH WINNEY ($585,970), J'RAY ($507,689), and HALF HEAVEN ($435,526) dominate the list of 78 New York-breds that have won or placed in black-type stakes outside state-bred competition in 2007, with all three each having scored three open stakes victories from January through mid-December. In addition, three New York-bred males each have captured two open stakes wins -- all at different racetracks -- in 2007. The 78 New York-bred stakes horses have registered a total of 118 top-three finishes in open (to runners bred and/or conceived anywhere) 2007 black-type stakes events in 12 U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, Italy, Dubai, and Puerto Rico. Another four New York-breds, including one steeplechaser, have won or placed in at least five non-black-type stakes events in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Barbados. Four-year-old filly Oprah Winney, who races for Michael Dubb of Jericho, Long Island, Sanford Goldfarb of Old Westbury, and the Bunch of Characters Stable that is identified with Pamela Caliendo and is trained by Richard Dutrow, captured Laurel's Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Breeders' Cup Handicap in February. She also won Aqueduct's Interborough Handicap on New Year's Day 2007 and Monmouth's Regret Stakes by 3-1/3 lengths in August and has placed second or third in three other open stakes -- two of them Grade 2 events.
Four-year-old filly J'ray, Lawrence Goichman's homebred multiple graded grass winner, has demonstrated how tough the New York-bred distaff turf division has become, winning Fair Grounds' graded Bayou Breeders' Cup in February and Marie G. Krantz Memorial Handicap in March and annexing Calder's graded My Charmer Handicap on December 1. She also has placed second in 2007 turf stakes at Gulfstream Park (graded Suwannee River, missing by a neck) and Philadelphia Park (missing by a nose), but in two 2007 efforts against New York-breds could not crack the top-three -- although once on a disliked soft course. A smallish filly (her feet tend to sink into soft turf) but capable of devastating stretch runs, J'ray henceforth will be steered clear of heavy imposts and cushy courses. Half Heaven, Stronach Stables' fortuitous $180,000 purchase at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in November of 2006, effectively owns Turfway Park's Polytrack, on which she has won the Wintergreen and Fairway Fun Stakes -- both in March -- and the My Charmer Stakes (for the second consecutive year) on December 8. Like J'ray, she also ventured into New York to compete in turf stakes for state-bred fillies and mares, placing second twice and third once in five outings from June through October. If there was a synthetic track state-bred divisional championship, she probably would win it. Bred and initially raced (in partnership) by television and singing star David Cassidy, the five-year-old mare is among 46 black-type stakes winners sired by champion millionaire and New York-based Regal Classic. Winning open turf stakes by daylight margins at Saratoga and Meadowlands within a 12-day span in September was Dr. William Coyro Jr.'s New York homebred three-year-old, MISSION APPROVED ($201,332), who captured the Spa's graded Saranac and then tallied by 2-1/4 lengths in the Meadowlands' Princeton Stakes. The bay colt was unraced as a juvenile, but his 2007 record through September stands at 5 - 1 - 1 in nine starts, with his first two victories coming on dirt in a six-furlong March debut on Aqueduct's inner track and a one-turn restricted allowance mile at Belmont in May. Another New York-bred three-year-old multiple open stakes winner in 2007 is STUNT MAN ($353,719), who races for Winning Move Stable (Steve and Brian Sigler), Island Wind Racing (Robert Teeman), and Celebrity Group Stables (Mitchell Klafter) under the care of trainer Gary Contessa. The son of Western Expression has captured four stakes victories in 2007 and is stakes-placed in his lone turf outing, but his biggest winning margins came in two open stakes: Belmont's one-mile More Than Ready in September and Aqueduct's mile and 70-yard Don Rickles on December 14. In the latter event, the Flying Zee Stables-bred gelding won by five lengths with by far the highest Bloodstock Research Information Systems (BRIS) speed rating (110) for the week (December 10-16) -- when three Grade 2 or Grade 3 events for three-year-olds and up were run. Capturing two black-type sprints in Italy in 2007 -- one of them a Group 3 event in Rome -- was New York-bred six-year-old DREAM IMPACT, who was bred by Richard Simon's Sez Who Thoroughbreds North, LLC in Stillwater and races for Scuderia Quattro Mori under the care of trainer Luigi Riccardi. With a record of 16 - 7 - 2 in 38 starts and U.S. equivalent earnings exceeding $500K, Dream Impact has four black-type victories, including the listed Premio Certosa at San Siro in Milan in May and the Group 3 Premio Carlo & Francesco Aloisi at Capannelle (Rome) in November. In the latter event, he carried 134 pounds over 1,200 meters (about six furlongs) of soft turf in 1:09.20, winning by almost two lengths over the odds-on favorite. Winning Grade 2 stakes at Santa Anita in January and on Aqueduct turf in November were New York-bred six-year-olds FRIENDLY ISLAND ($1,369,714) and DAVE ($538,792) respectively. Friendly Island, who raced for the Anstu Stables, Inc. of Stuart and Anita Subotnick of New York City (owners of Anstu Farm in Millbrook) and will enter stud at his birthplace, Howard Kaskel's Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag, won the Palos Verdes Handicap to have graded victories on both coasts. Dave, who races for The Three Colleens and Partingglass Stables under the care of trainer Barclay Tagg, captured Aqueduct's Red Smith Handicap as the only New York-bred in that event. Other New York-bred open stakes winners in 2007 -- and the open stakes they won -- in alphabetical order, are: BY THE LIGHT, two-year-old filly, won Boyd Gaming's Delta Princess Powered by Youbet.com Stakes at Delta Downs on December 7. CANNONBALL, two-year-old gelding, won King Cugat Stakes going a one-turn mile on Belmont turf on October 21. Five days later he placed third in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. CARMINOOCH, five-year-old horse, won Proud Appeal Stakes at Aqueduct on January 28. FACTUAL CONTENDER, six-year-old mare, won Destiny Dance Stakes on Belmont turf on May 3. FUNNY CIDE, seven-year-old gelding and Eclipse Champion, won Wadsworth Memorial Handicap at Finger Lakes in his final career start on July 4. GIMME CREDIT, four-year-old gelding, won Notoriety Stakes on Belmont turf on June 17. GLACKENS GAL, two-year-old filly, won Astoria Stakes at Belmont on July 1. GOLDEN DREAMER, three-year-old filly, won Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct on January 7; placed second in Grade 3 Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct on March 24. HOOSICK FALLS, five-year-old mare, won Proud Puppy Handicap at Finger Lakes on October 6. MAGNOLIA JACKSON, five-year-old mare, won Correction Handicap at Aqueduct on February 11; also placed second in two open stakes (including a Grade 2) and third in another in 2007. PAYS TO DREAM, three-year-old gelding, won Glow Stakes at Saratoga turf on August 4; placed third behind New York-bred winner Mission Approved in Grade 3 Saranac Stakes on Saratoga turf on September 2. PREMIUM WINE, three-year-old colt by New York-based sire Prime Timber, won $250,000 Gallant Bob Handicap at Philadelphia Park on September 29. REMARKABLE REMY, two-year-old filly, won Swinging Mood Stakes on Belmont turf on October 21; earlier had placed third in Belmont's Miss Grillo Stakes on turf. REWRITE, four-year-old filly, won Gailey Gailey Stakes on Aqueduct turf on November 18. SAGAMOON, three-year-old filly, won Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct on January 14; placed second in Aqueduct's Busher Stakes on February 25. SAY TOBA SANDY, two-year-old filly from first crop of New York-bred multi-millionaire Say Florida Sandy, won Finger Lakes Juvenile Fillies Stakes on October 13; placed second while racing against males in Finger Lakes Juvenile Stakes on November 3. TIN CUP CHALICE, two-year-old gelding by New York-based sire Crusader Sword, won Finger Lakes Juvenile Stakes on November 3. |
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Stunt Man wins Big A's open Don Rickles - his 4th stakes score of 2007 by Rab Hagin
Scoring his fourth stakes win at a different distance in 2007 -- on all four NYRA dirt tracks and his first-ever wet track victory -- New York-bred STUNT MAN led throughout to tally by five in Aqueduct's Don Rickles Stakes for open three-year-olds going a mile and 70 yards on Friday. The versatile gelding was co-topweighted under 123 pounds as the 1.85-to-1 favorite among six, dominating the $76,500 event in his second stakes score under jockey Ramon Dominguez, who rode two winners on the Big A's Friday card for owner Winning Move Stable and trainer Gary Contessa. Stunt Man can sprint or route, has indicated that he can handle turf, can win on fast or wet tracks, and seems equally at home at Aqueduct, Belmont, or Saratoga. What will he do next? Breaking from the third post, Stunt Man immediately grabbed the lead and effectively controlled the rail and the pace following a 24.05 opening quarter, with his closest pursuer being the other co-topweight in the Don Rickles, previous inner track stakes winner and 6.30-to-1 fourth choice Pink Viper. With subsequent quarter-miles going in even splits of 24.11, 24.53, and 24.51 (a la Fleet Indian in 2006), the dark bay gelding led by two lengths for a half-mile before drawing off through the stretch, striding easily over the sealed sloppy surface to win "ridden out." Victory in the Don Rickles -- named for the sardonic New York (Queens) native and actor-comedian who has the well-earned title of "Merchant of Venom" -- increased Stunt Man's earnings by $45,900 to $353,719 while improving his record to 6 - 3 - 3 in 18 starts. The smooth-striding gelding has gleaned $335,381 of that bankroll since being claimed 37 weeks earlier for $25,000 by two-time New York Thoroughbred Breeders Trainer of the Year Contessa while breaking his maiden by eight lengths at Aqueduct under the colors of his breeder, Carl Lizza Jr.'s Flying Zee Stables. Racing for Winning Move Stable (Steve and Brian Sigler), Island Wind Racing (Robert Teeman), and Celebrity Group Stables (Mitchell Klafter), Stunt Man has won stakes at seven furlongs, a one-turn mile, a mile and an eighth, and a mile and 70 yards -- within a 114-day span. In the three-year-old's latest previous outing 33 days earlier, he had captured Aqueduct's seven-furlong New York Stallion Thunder Rumble Stakes, after which he had five-furlong workouts at Aqueduct on November 25 and December 7. Stunt Man has won stakes events named for horses, a city, and a person. Both of his two-turn stakes victories, in the Don Rickles and Saratoga's mile and an eighth Albany Stakes, have been registered with Dominguez in the irons. It was a busy Friday at Aqueduct for trainer Contessa and Stunt Man's part owner, Winning Move Stable, as that combination teamed up to win twice on the card, although losing their first winner through the claiming ranks. Contessa and Winning Move Stable also claimed two horses -- one of them a re-haltering of stakes-placed five-year-old New York-bred mare What's Your Point. Foaled at Highcliff Farm in Delanson that breeder Lizza owns with Joseph Bartone, Stunt Man is one of two Saratoga 2007 stakes winners -- dirt and turf -- sired by Flying Zee Stables' Western Expression, whose annual progeny earnings topped $2-million as a result, with cumulative offspring earnings exceeding $5.1-million. The gelding is the fifth of six winners and the second $300K-plus earner produced from New York-bred Ribboned, who won Finger Lakes' 1991 Niagara Stakes by six lengths while racing for Lizza's Tri-Noble Stable and is a half-sister to Panamanian juvenile champion Mangatruco. Stunt Man, whose previous open stakes victory had come in Belmont's one-mile More Than Ready for three-year-olds in September, is among 26 New York-breds that have won stakes outside state-bred company in 2007. The Don Rickles was the 35th open (to horses bred or conceived anywhere) black-type stakes event captured by a New York-bred this year. |
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Giant Moon now 3-for-3 following front-running tally in Damon Runyon by Rab Hagin
Leading at all calls but looking laid-back throughout his performance, Albert Fried Jr.'s regally-bred GIANT MOON advanced his record to three-for-three in Aqueduct's Damon Runyon Stakes for New York-bred two-year-olds on Sunday, forcing jockey Ramon Dominguez to earn his fee while holding off the consistent and relentless Spanky Fischbein. The Giant's Causeway colt was cautiously favored at 1.65-to-1 among five starters in the two-turn mile and a sixteenth event, which boasts a glittering history of previous winners that went on to become graded victors. The stakes' namesake, colorful New York sports columnist and author Damon Runyon (1884 - 1946), had a knack for spotting the eccentric and undoubtedly would have relished the idea of a colt with such insouciant eccentricities winning a race that bears the Runyon name. Breaking from the inside post, Giant Moon secured the lead with an opening quarter in 23.31 and then steadily slowed the pace down from there while never allowing 2-to-1 second choice Spanky Fischbein -- at his throatlatch all the way to the stretch -- to go by him. The bay colt was slow to switch to his right lead once he reached the stretch, and for a few strides it appeared that Spanky Fischbein would assume command, but the Fried homebred lurched to his correct lead and edged away, winning by a length and three-quarters. Spanky Fischbein, the leading money-earner going into and coming out of the Damon Runyon with a current bankroll of $161,595, also kept his own record intact, since that son of Hook and Ladder still has never finished worse than second in six starts. Now with $135,870 in earnings following consecutive stakes tallies in Belmont's one-turn mile Sleepy Hollow and the Damon Runyon, Giant Moon gave jockey Dominguez -- race-riding the colt for the first time -- a workout of his own: "I can honestly say I haven't been this tired in a while," remarked Dominguez. "You have to keep after him every step." Winning trainer Richard Schosberg, who had given Giant Moon six workouts at Belmont (five at a half-mile; one at five-eighths) during the 50-day span between New York Showcase Day's Sleepy Hollow (October 20) and the Damon Runyon, echoed Dominguez's observations: "He makes those riders work so hard," acknowledged Schosberg. "In his last race (the Sleepy Hollow), Kent (Desormeaux) got off and said, 'I know what it looked like, but believe me, you haven't gotten to the bottom of him yet.' Ramon (Dominguez) was on Big Truck last time (also in the Sleepy Hollow) and thought he had him every step. He's (Giant Moon) in the middle of a learning curve; I didn't want to be on the lead, but it worked out that way. We'll take it one step at a time. I'd like to see him rate off the pace. Possibly we'll look at the Count Fleet (for just-turned three-year-olds, mile and 70 yards on Aqueduct's inner track, Saturday, January 5)." Bred and owned by Fried of Buttonwood Farm in Rhinebeck, who was named Outstanding New York Breeder for 2002 by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Giant Moon is the first offspring produced from Fried's stakes-winning New York homebred, Moonlightandbeauty ($228,053), who scored five of six wins beyond sprint distances. Fried had purchased Moonlightandbeauty's dam, future Grade 2 juvenile winner Stolen Beauty ($303,894), for $30,000 at Keeneland's 1990 September yearling sale. Upon learning that Stolen Beauty's dam -- a mare named Finally Found -- was being offered at Keeneland's 1992 January mixed sale, Fried had purchased that mare for $70,000 and subsequently bred Grade 2 stakes record-setter and New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2002 Champion Turf Male Finality ($375,075) from her. Finality is currently the leading first-crop sire standing in Canada with five juvenile winners, including two stakes winners and two more stakes-placed. A half-brother to Moonlightandbeauty, Stolen Thunder, placed third in the 2005 Damon Runyon. |
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NY-bred Half Heaven resumes ruling Turfway with win in My Charmer by Rab Hagin
Picking up where she had left off when departing Turfway Park early last spring after winning three of four stakes outings there, Stronach Stables' New York-bred HALF HEAVEN advanced from sixth-to-first among 10 to capture the northern Kentucky track's My Charmer Stakes on a rainy Saturday evening. The five-year-old mare was favored at 2.70-to-1 in the mile and a sixteenth event over a Polytrack surface for fillies and mares and was one of three carrying full scale weight of 124 pounds in her first outing under jockey Dean Sarvis. Setting the pace through six furlongs was 2007 stakes-winning turf miler Put Away the Halo, who clocked a 23:71 opening quarter and then accelerated her second split to an unrealistic 23.05 before decelerating on the second turn, where Half Heaven began overtaking the competition while three-wide. Half Heaven led by daylight at mid-stretch and then held off graded-placed 3.10-to-1 second choice Marquee Delivery, who was carrying seven pounds less weight, scoring her fifth stakes victory in six starts over synthetic surfaces -- with one second. The bay mare seems to own Turfway Park, where she also had won the My Charmer a year earlier, but she has never been tried about 80 miles south at Keeneland, which has virtually an identical main track surface to Turfway's. Winning trainer Dale Romans, who has conditioned Half Heaven since owner Frank Stronach of Stronach Stables had purchased her as a broodmare prospect for $180,000 at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's 2006 November selected mixed sale, has obvious admiration for the New York-bred: "She loves Polytrack," acknowledged Romans. The trainer then added: "She's a game mare, and she runs hard every time you lead her over. They were going awfully fast up front, and I thought Dean (jockey Dean Sarvis, who had two winning rides on Turfway Park's Saturday card) rode a great race. When she gets to the front, it's hard for a horse to get by her. She's very competitive. It's hard to beat an old class mare." Victory in the My Charmer -- named for the Fair Grounds Oaks-winning dam of Seattle Slew and three other stakes winners-- increased Half Heaven's earnings to $435,526 while improving her record to 9 - 9 - 2 in 29 starts, with five wins on synthetic surfaces and four on turf. It was her first outing since finishing fifth seven weeks earlier in New York Showcase Day's Ticonderoga Handicap on soft Belmont turf, prior to which she had a June-to-September state-bred campaign of placing second twice and third once in four grass stakes efforts at Belmont and Saratoga. Half Heaven has placed second or third in seven turf stakes and has won an open allowance on Aqueduct turf, but all of her stakes victories have been scored on synthetic surfaces. Half Heaven is the second New York-bred open stakes winner in eight days that has found success after battling winless in what the "Bloodstock Journal" of Bloodstock Research and Information Services (BRIS) has described as, "the tough New York-bred distaff turf division" -- following multiple graded winner J'ray. The stretch-running state-bred was bred by television and singing star David Cassidy and initially had raced for Cassidy and Edward Lipton until that partnership was dissolved through the mare's sale at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky shortly after her first black-type victory in Woodbine's off-the-turf River Memories Stakes. Foaled at Dr. Jerry Bilinski's Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, the daughter of Regal Classic is the first of four offspring -- all winners, two stakes winners, one stakes-placed -- bred by Cassidy in New York from seven-time winner (6-1/2 furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth) Sand Pirate, by Desert Wine. Sand Pirate is a half-sister to the dam of Grade 2-winning millionaire Continental Red ($1,383,788). Half Heaven is among 26 New York-bred winners of black-type stakes outside state-bred competition in 2007; the My Charmer was the 34th open (to horses bred or conceived anywhere) black-type stakes event captured by a New York-bred this year. |
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NY-bred By the Light is 4-for-4 - scores by 5-1/4 in $300K Delta Princess by Rab Hagin
Dominating Midwestern stakes winners on Delta Downs' six-furlong bullring as thoroughly as she had beaten New York-breds at Belmont and Finger Lakes, Jay Em Ess Stable's BY THE LIGHT extended her unbeaten record in the $300,000 Boyd Gaming's Delta Princess Powered by Youbet.com Stakes for two-year-old fillies on Friday evening. The now four-for-four state-bred was making her first venture outside New York, her first start against open company, and her first two-turn effort or beyond six furlongs -- and was favored at 2.10-to-1 among 10 (four of them already stakes winners), winning in a romp. The list of juvenile fillies that have won on tracks as varied as Belmont, Finger Lakes, and Delta Downs, dominated stakes competition from two different circuits, and also beaten males (New York Breeders' Futurity on October 6) is limited to the exceptional few. By the Light is its latest addition. Breaking from the eighth post with jockey Rafael Bejarano -- who had ridden her to a 6-1/4-length victorious Belmont debut last July -- back on board, By the Light settled in fourth and fifth place as longshot Swifty Victress and 7.60-to-1 fifth choice Miss Missile set fractions of 22.23 and 46.78. The latter, a multiple stakes-winning daughter of New York-based new stallion arrival Golden Missile, seized command before reaching the midpoint in the two-turn mile event, as By the Light quickly advanced three-wide around the second turn. The unbeaten New York-bred was within striking distance of Miss Missile at the top of the stretch, and in the final furlong she forged ahead and drew away, winning by 5-1/4 lengths. Miss Missile, who along with By the Light was one of only three starters carrying more than 120 pounds (121) and was coming off a 10-3/4-length two-turn stakes victory at Delta Downs four weeks earlier, placed a clear second. Jockey Bejarano acknowledged that By the Light had broken well from the gate but credited the filly's relaxation as the key to her commanding stretch run: "She was so relaxed in the race, that's why she gave me a big run." By the Light boosted her earnings by $180,000 to $451,815 while extending her streak to four-for-four, including Finger Lakes victories by 5-1/4 lengths in the $137,825 Lady Finger Stakes on Labor Day and by 2-3/4 lengths against males in the $269,200 New York Breeders' Futurity on October 6. Following the Futurity, New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2002 Trainer of the Year Richard Dutrow Jr. had given her four five-furlong drills at Saratoga and Aqueduct prior to shipping her to Louisiana, where she had works at Fair Grounds on November 29 and December 5. Prior to the Delta Princess, Dutrow had implied ignorance about how the New York-bred would fare after shipping some 1,300 miles to run under lights (and through fog) for the first time, telling Daily Racing Form's Mary Rampellini: "We wanted to try to stretch her out some. I'm hoping she will. I can't tell you that she will. I can't tell you that she won't." Bred by Paul Rothfuss of Winter Springs, Florida, By the Light had a history of steady appreciation in value as she passed through three different sales rings over a span of less than nine months during 2006. She was a $120,000 "winter yearling" at Keeneland's January sale, failed to meet her reserve despite a $145,000 bid at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga select yearling sale, then fetched $190,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's October yearling sale from her current owner, the Jay Em Ess Stable of Samantha Siegel of Santa Monica, California. The Malibu Moon filly is the third offspring and third multiple winner produced from eight-time winner Dixie Tempo, who had been purchased for $30,000 by Thoroughbreds International, agent, at Keeneland's 2004 November sale when she was carrying By the Light. Dixie Tempo is by Major Impact and is a full sister to graded-winning mare and dirt and turf stakes winner Queen of Wilshire ($441,102). By the Light is the 26th New York-bred to win a black-type stakes outside of state-bred company in 2007, and the Delta Princess was the 33rd open (to horses bred or conceived anywhere) black-type stakes event captured by a New York-bred in 2007. Those 33 stakes victories this year have been scored in New York, California, Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Italy. |
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Sherine takes East View; Light Tactic rallies in Personal Flag - both win by more than 3 at Big A by Rab Hagin
Favored New York-bred fillies SHERINE and LIGHT TACTIC picked up their first winning black-type on Sunday at Aqueduct with three-length-plus victories, respectively, in the Big A's East View Stakes for state-bred juvenile fillies going a mile and a sixteenth and Personal Bid Stakes for state-bred three-year-old fillies going six furlongs. Both appeared to be unfazed by moderate racing difficulties encountered during their participation in those events -- difficulties that could have served as legitimate excuses for not winning. In the $83,375 East View, Zayat Stables LLC's versatile two-year-old filly Sherine looked like she stumbled badly at the start but still grabbed the early lead before reaching the first turn, after which she never seemed to be seriously challenged. Stalking odds-on (.80-to-1) Sherine throughout was the 2.30-to-1 second choice among the eight East View starters, a three-time stakes-placed daughter of Freud, Meriwether Jessica, who stayed within a half-length of the front-running favorite for about a half-mile before losing contact on the second turn. Sherine was unthreatened thereafter, opening up a seven-length advantage after jockey Alan Garcia had shifted her slightly to get her to switch to her right lead in the upper stretch and then cruising home to win by 3-3/4 lengths. Meriwether Jessica, who had been considered for Aqueduct's Grade 2 Demoiselle on November 24 following a second-placing in Aqueduct's Grade 3 Tempted eight days after placing second in New York Showcase Day's Maid of the Mist (another confirmation of the quality of that day's competition), again placed second. Now with earnings of $129,007 and a record of three wins and two seconds in six starts, Sherine already has a wide range of accomplishments in her youthful racing career. Twice going a mile and a sixteenth on Saratoga turf last August, she had broken her maiden by 6-1/2 lengths in her second start and had placed third as the only filly among nine juveniles -- despite stumbling at the break -- in the Spa's open With Anticipation Stakes. Dropping back to six furlongs on dirt at Aqueduct 25 days prior to the East View, the talented dark bay filly had romped by a front-running 11-1/4 lengths in 1:10.03. What can she not do? Winning jockey Garcia, who had three victorious rides aboard fillies on Aqueduct's Sunday card and has now ridden Sherine in four races, holds a special regard for the New York-bred: "She stumbled a little bit at the break," Garcia acknowledged, "but once she got the lead she was so comfortable. She's one of my favorites. I've been aboard her for all three of her wins now. When she lost the With Anticipation (placing third), she was the only filly in that race. She's really nice." Phil Scott, assistant to winning trainer Anthony Dutrow, agreed with Garcia, two of whose three winning mounts on Sunday had come from Dutrow's barn: "She's a great filly to be around," confirmed Scott. "She comes over here and does her job. She always gives you 100 percent. The boss (Dutrow) had her doing great. She's had two hard races in a row; we'll give her a little break. Now we know she can 'dirt.' We have a lot of options for her next year." Purchased for $85,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2007 February sale of two-year-olds by Egyptian/American beverage entrepreneur Ahmed Zayat of Hackensack, New Jersey -- also $230,000 purchaser of New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2006 Champion Juvenile Filly Chief Officer -- Sherine is the second East View winner bred by Sez Who Thoroughbreds. The first, 2004 East View winner Successfully Sweet, also had raced for the owner of Sez Who Thoroughbreds (North) in Stillwater, Richard Simon of Aventura, Florida. The daughter of Precise End is the second offspring and second stakes-caliber winner produced from Willa Dear, by Red Ransom, being a half-sister to versatile 10-time winner (five in dirt routes, four in dirt sprints, once on turf) and two-time stakes runner-up Biloxi Pride ($211,526). Willa Dear, whom Sez Who Thoroughbreds had purchased for $85,000 as a four-year-old unraced and not-bred broodmare prospect at Keeneland's 2000 January mixed sale, is a half-sister to two stakes winners, including Spanish Parade, dam of multiple graded winner Parade Queen and granddam of graded winner Untouched Talent. Light Tactic rallies from 5th among 8 to win Aqueduct's Personal Bid by 3-1/2
Favored at 1.70-to-1 despite being the least-experience among eight starters and the only participant still eligible for restricted N2X allowance competition, Albert Fried Jr.'s homebred Light Tactic broke from the outside post and rallied to a 3-1/2-length victory in Aqueduct's six-furlong Personal Bid Stakes for state-bred three-year-old fillies. The distinctive-looking gray/roan was first out of the gate but could not get clear of rivals to her inside, so jockey Ramon Dominguez eased her back into fifth place in the opening quarter-mile and then guided her to the inside on the turn. Leading to the final furlong was 1.90-to-1 second choice Brown Eyed Belle, but Light Tactic charged through on the inside of that front-runner and also overtook outside closer Sunset Cocktail, who faltered in the final sixteenth and had to settle for third, as the Fried homebred won going away. Victory in the $78,000 Personal Bid -- named for Sandra Austin's New York-bred open Belmont stakes-winning three-year-old filly of 1993 -- boosted Light Tactic's earnings into six figures at $113,900 and gave her three wins in four starts since her August 17 winning debut at Saratoga. It was her first outing under Dominguez, who seemed aware that he was aboard the event's most talented starter even if she never had come from as far out of it as fifth in her previous races. Light Tactic had won first-out at the Spa by 3-3/4 lengths, then a month later had tallied by 4-3/4 lengths going six furlongs at Belmont, then had tired the following month in New York Showcase Day's seven-furlong Iroquois Handicap at Belmont on October 20. The only rival from the Iroquois that she faced in the Personal Bid was Sunset Cocktail, but the event still drew a field that included three stakes winners and three stakes-placed winners. Light Tactic was the second homebred two-turn winner for Fried on Aqueduct's Sunday card that trains under the supervision of Richard Schosberg, who after the filly's disappointing effort in the Iroquois had given her three half-mile workouts at Belmont on November 9, 20, and 27. Two races prior to the Personal Bid, Fried's homebred five-year-old Run With the Lark ($127,538) had boosted his earnings into six figures with a 6-3/4-length romp in a restricted N2X allowance/optional claiming contest at a mile and 70 yards. Fried, recipient of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's award as outstanding New York breeder for 2003, also has raced New York homebred stakes winners Tinchen's Prince ($953,463), Hearts at Risk ($375,009), Lamplight, and Marc's Rainbow. He owns Buttonwood Farm in Rhinebeck. A daughter of Grade 1 winner Tactical Cat -- from whom she inherited her gray/roan color -- Light Tactic is the second six-figure-earner produced from Fried's New York homebred Light the Lamp, who won on dirt and turf and placed third in Belmont's 2000 Mount Vernon Handicap on turf. Light the Lamp is a half-sister to 1996 Mount Vernon winner Lamplight and to stakes-placed four-time winner The Lamp Is Lit ($223,742), being out of Arabic, a Nijinsky II mare that Fried had purchased for $37,000 at Keeneland's 1991 November sale when she was carrying Lamplight. Light Tactic can be expected to thrive at longer distances and on turf. |
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J'ray wins Calder's G3 My Charmer under top weight; Who What Win takes $80K Big A stakes by Rab Hagin
Confirming her class and proving that the New York-bred distaff turf division is loaded with talent, Lawrence Goichman's homebred J'RAY carried top weight to victory in Calder's Grade 3 My Charmer Handicap at a mile and an eighth on turf on Saturday, scoring her sixth grass stakes tally. Twelve minutes earlier, Gatsas Thoroughbreds LLC's homebred WHO WHAT WIN -- race-ridden for the first time by J'ray's frequent jockey John Velazquez -- carried co-topweight to a 2-1/2-length win in Aqueduct's $80,000 Mellow Roll Stakes for New York-bred three-year-olds and up going a mile and 70 yards. Neither New York homebred winner was a surprise: J'ray was the 3.60-to-1 second choice among nine fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, in the My Charmer; Who What Win was favored at 1.20-to-1 among eight in the Mellow Roll. Breaking from the outside (ninth) post in her first outing under jockey Manoel Cruz, J'ray settled back in seventh place early before rallying four-wide on the second turn to advance to fifth place at the three-eighths pole. The smallish chestnut was still fifth at mid-stretch, trailing front-running 2.70-to-1 favorite Bayou's Lassie (carrying four pounds less weight) by almost four lengths, but she rallied quickly through the final furlong in a series of spurts even though Bayou's Lassie hung with her, prevailing by three-quarters of a length. There was a 2-1/4-length margin separating Bayou's Lassie from the third-place finisher. It was the second stakes win at Calder for J'ray, who has captured black-type grass events in Kentucky, Maryland, and Louisiana (graded) in addition to Florida but has not cracked the top three against fellow New York-breds in stakes outings at Saratoga and Belmont. "She (J'ray) loves Florida and has done very well here (at Calder)," confirmed owner-breeder Goichman of Greenwich, Connecticut, who is in the computer technology equipment leasing business and also bred New York-bred Grade 2 winner and state-based stallion Read the Footnotes. "She's had some excuses in a couple of her races when she got beat," Goichman continued. "We found that she doesn't handle soft turf (which she encountered in New York Showcase Day's Ticonderoga Handicap at Belmont on October 20), and we think the weights have been a problem a couple of times. They asked her to carry 124 pounds in the Yaddo at Saratoga, and no filly had won that race with that much weight since the (19)80s. She's a tiny filly, and weight is a problem. Today, she gave four pounds to Bayou's Lassie, who had beaten her here last year (in Calder's Grade 3 Frances A. Genter Stakes going 7-1/2 furlongs at equal weights, in which J'ray had missed by a head), but she overcame that to win today. I have about a dozen mares and usually breed them to Kentucky studs but let them foal in New York to take advantage of that program. She's the best I've ever bred."
Winning jockey Cruz, who had two stakes-winning rides on Calder's Saturday card and also had piloted the 2006 My Charmer winner, indicated he had not known what to expect but was confident at the top of the stretch: "I didn't have any specific instructions going into the race," Cruz explained. "Our main concern was breaking out of the eleven hole. Of course, I wanted to get over (inside) and save ground, so I let her settle in about seven lengths back. On the backside, I wanted to be a little closer since they went so slow up front (24.07, 48.87, 1:13.17), and she picked up three lengths just like that. She was going so well at the quarter-pole (even though J'ray was fifth at the time) that I knew then we would win." Given three maintenance workouts over dirt at nearby Palm Beach Downs on November 9, 17, and 25 by three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher following her close fourth-place effort among 10 in the Ticonderoga, J'ray increased her earnings to $507,689 with her My Charmer victory. She improved her record to 7 - 4 - 1 in 16 starts, which includes a 4-3/4-length romp in Fair Grounds' graded Bayou Breeders' Cup Handicap at about nine furlongs on turf last February and an equally dominating score a month later in Fair Grounds' $100,000 Marie G. Krantz Memorial Handicap. The now four-year-old filly was voted New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) Champion Juvenile Filly and Champion Turf Female for 2005, when she captured six-figure grass stakes at Keeneland and Laurel Park, and she added Calder's Tropical Park Oaks to her victory resume on New Year's Day 2006. J'ray also has registered four tantalizingly-close runner-up stakes efforts -- three in Grade 2 or Grade 3 events -- missing by margins totaling barely more than a half-length. She is the first New York-bred to win the My Charmer -- although three-year-old Yestday's Kisses had placed third in the event's 1989 renewal a year before becoming a Grade 2 winner. The My Charmer was the 32nd black-type stakes event outside state-bred competition captured by a New York-bred in 2007. A daughter of pensioned English champion Distant View, J'ray is the third winner produced from French-bred winner Bubbling Heights, by Darshaan, and is a half-sister to Saudi Arabian older imported female champion Dadeland. Dam Bubbling Heights is a full sister to the dam of 2006-2007 southern California stakes winner and multiple Grade 2-placed Singalong ($261,531) and a half-sister to the dam of graded winner and Grade 1-placed Millennium Dragon ($503,604). Goichman, who named J'ray after his wife Jennifer (middle name Ray), frequently acquires European mares and breeds them to North American stallions, which is how he bred both Read the Footnotes and J'ray, who was foaled at Keane Stud (managed by Philippe Lasseur) in Amenia. Who What Win squeezes through under top weight to win Mellow Roll by 2-1/2
With barely 500 yards to go, Gatsas Thoroughbreds' homebred Who What Win trailed a four-horse phalanx in Aqueduct's Mellow Roll for New York-breds going a mile and 70 yards, but two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey John Velazquez found room on the rail and guided the gelding to a 2-1/2-length victory. For Aqueduct horseplayers who had sent the four-year-old off as the 1.20-to-1 favorite among eight, there must have been a few anxious moments, but at the finish the popular dark bay was drawing away as though the outcome had never been in doubt. It was the second winning ride on Aqueduct's Saturday card for Velazquez, who had never ridden Who What Win in competition previously but had piloted the day's other New York-bred stakes winner, J'ray, in six outings, including her Tropical Park Oaks victory at Calder 23 months earlier. Co-topweighted under 123 pounds along with 2007 multiple stakes winner and 3.90-to-1 second choice Shuffling Maddnes, Who What Win broke from the second post and closely trailed dueling front-end contenders Chief's Lake and Storm Boot Gold before being overtaken by French Transition and Run Red Run. The latter held a short lead at mid-stretch, but by then Who What Win had squeezed clear and was on a roll to score his second NYRA stakes victory in 66 days and fourth win of 2007. Victory in the Mellow Roll -- named for Anstu Stables' NYTB Champion Juvenile Male for 1997 and three-year-old winner against older state-breds in the 1998 New York Showcase Day's Empire Classic -- boosted Who What Win's earnings to $379,944 while improving his record to 7 - 9 - 1 in 22 starts. The stretch-runner has won at six furlongs, seven furlongs, a mile and 70 yards (first time in the Mellow Roll), a mile and a sixteenth (three times, including Belmont's one-turn Sherpa Guide for New York-breds on September 26), and a mile and an eighth. Trained by John Terranova II, he has four wins and six runner-up efforts in 10 outings over Aqueduct's inner track, on which the gelding has never run a bad race. A homebred for the Gatsas Thoroughbreds of brothers Michael and Theodore Gatsas of Manchester, New Hampshire -- founders of Sovereign Thoroughbreds and campaigners of now-retired millionaire Gander (see New York-bred Millionaires Club) -- Who What Win is the second offspring and second state-bred winner that Gatsas Thoroughbreds has bred from Charms Way. The son of now Argentine-based Dance Brightly obviously enhances the potential broodmare value of his five-year-old winning half-sister, Style to Spare. His two-time sprint-winning dam, Charms Way, by Salt Lake, is a half-sister to multiple graded-placed dirt and turf Canadian route winner Attest ($638,855) and had been purchased by Gatsas Thoroughbreds for $45,000 at Fasig-Tipton Florida's 1999 February sale of two-year-olds in training at Calder. |
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