By Bill Heller
Adelphi Racing Club, Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables, Corms Racing Stable and On The Rise Again Stables’ Pandagate has forever answered the question of how far a New York-bred can take his owners. The three-year-old gray ridgling may be the first and only Thoroughbred to make consecutive starts in Dubai, Finger Lakes and Saratoga. To the delight of his many owners, he performed admirably in all three.
He rallied from 11th to finish third in the Grade 2 UAE Derby to Forever Young, the Japanese star who then finished third by a head in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.
Pandagate then won the New York Derby at Finger Lakes by three-quarters of a length and the Albany Stakes on New York-Bred Showcase Day at Saratoga August 25th by one length. Both victories were celebrated by a huge crowd in the winner’s circle. At Finger Lakes, the winner’s circle photo had to be taken on the track.
After the Albany Stakes, managing partner and co-founder of Adelphi Racing Mark Cutair said, “This is the biggest winner’s circle that I have ever been part of. We had a big one in Finger Lakes when we took the party buses up there. That was cool, but this is like insane. Every Adelphi partner in on the horse is here today. Basically, I think every other partner is here as well. I didn’t know 75 to 80 percent of the people.”
Pandagate’s victory in the Albany made him four-for-six with two thirds and a boundless future. Dylan Davis, who is finishing up a spectacular Saratoga season, rode him in all but one of h8s six starts, when he finished third in an open allowance at Laurel under Victor Carrasco in his final start as a two-year-old.
Davis, a native of Saratoga Springs and the son of top jockey Robbie Davis, began the final week of the 40-day Saratoga season with 29 victories, fourth highest in a loaded jockey colony. He is delighted that Pandagate was part of it. “I love him very much,” Davis said. “I started him from the beginning, and (trainer) Christophe Clement and the team do a very good job with him. He’s already taken me across the world. He’s big-striding and he’s very competitive in the New York series here.”
Fred W. Hertrich III bred the son of Arrogate out of Kitty Panda by Sky Mesa. Clement trained stakes-placed Kitty Panda. Pandagate sold for $130,000 at the Fasig-Tipton 2022 Saratoga Preferred New York-Bred Yearling Sale.
Just three years earlier, Cutair, Jordan Zotts and Brian Hahn created Adelphi Racing Club, beginning with claimers. Adelphi is Greek for brothers. “When we started it, we wanted it to be more of a group of people who are like-minded,” Cutair said. “It’s a lot more fun doing horses with other people.”
Cutair, who lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, began following Thoroughbreds growing up in Maryland. “I did go to the track a lot when I was in my late teens,” he said. When he was 19, he got a job in New York City and began watching races at The Playwright Irish Pub and OTB in midtown.
He joined Sovereign Stables in syndicates and met one of his Adelphi Racing Club partners, Jeff Hayes. Cutair also dabbled with Little Red Feather Racing in California. “I was traveling to California a lot for my business,” he said.
Cutair’s success in the media business led to an early retirement. After serving as an executive with Westwood One and Pandora, he co-founded Audio HQ, a digital audio advertisement and sales service company that he wound up selling seven years ago to retire at the age of 40.
The void in his life was quickly filled with Thoroughbreds. He bought his first horse with Adelphi in 2020, and Adelphi’s original three-horse stable has grown to 30, with 110 partners. Cutair maintains a one-third ownership percentage in each horse.
Adelphi uses several trainers besides Clement: Ray Handal, Tom Morley, Robert Falcone Jr., Arnaud Delacour, John Terranova and Dave Duggan.
Adelphi’s ties to the New York-breeding industry were cemented by Funny How. Trained by Handal, the daughter of Overanalyze out of Heavenly Humor by Distorted Humor won five of 11 starts, including the $100,000 Broadway Stakes by 4 ¼ lengths under Katie Davis, with a second in the Grade 3 Distaff Handicap and two third-place finishes. She earned more than $300,000. “We’ve always been interested in New York-breds,” Cutair said. “We like the program. You get to run for big purses. Every once in a while you buy a Funny How or a Pandagate and you can compete in open company.”
The UAE Derby was elite open company. “It was great there,” Cutair said. “The whole event is done at the highest level possible. It was just a lot of fun to experience racing on that stage. The horse acquitted himself very well.”
Joe Krong, who runs On The Rise Again Stables in Saratoga, and Luke Stritsman, who runs Corms Racing Stable in Troy, were partners before they joined Adelphi Racing Club. “We went 50-50 with a lot of claimers,” Krong said. “My family bred horses and owned horses. I’ve been around the game my whole life.”
He’d gotten to know Clement and was delighted that he offered him a piece of Pandagate. “We wanted to buy some nice horses, and Clement told us what horse he was looking at at that sale. He put the syndicate together. He reached out to people.”
Stritsman had a plan to start a stable with his high school friend, Matt “Corms” Canfield. “We had a lot of good times at Saratoga,” Stritsman said. “We always wanted to get involved as owners. Then he fell down a flight of stairs and died. We were just about to start our racing stable. Corms was his nickname.”
Stritsman doesn’t know how Canfield got that nickname, but decided to honor his memory by naming his own stable Corms.”
Stritsman had the good fortune of meeting and then having horses with trainer Danny Gargan. On May 15th, 2017, Gargan claimed Divine Miss Grey for $16,000 for R.A. Hill Stable and Corms Racing Stable off a three-quarter-length victory as the 1-2 favorite. Divine Miss Grey turned into a star for her new connections, finishing second in the 2018 Grade 1 Beldame at Belmont Park and capturing the Grade 2 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs. She finished her career 12-for-26 with six seconds, one third and earnings of $934,172. “We had a good run with her,” Stritsman said.
They had another top horse in Tax.
They claimed Tax for $50,000 in his second career start in a maiden claimer at Keeneland on Oct. 21st, 2018, when he won by two lengths. Tax took them to the 2019 Kentucky Derby, when he finished 15th by 15 lengths at odds of 35-1.
Tax more than made up for it, going on to win the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park, earning $1,102,160.
Pandagate may be that good. He has already earned nearly $450,000.
His most recent victory was duly appreciated. “To win a stakes race at Saratoga the day after the Travers?” Krong said. “This is where you want to win a race. It was a great day. He’s just an exciting horse to have.”
