Conformist rolls to Ontario County victory

By Tom Law

Conformist avoided a close call between rivals at the start and rolled to an 11-length victory in his second start off the claim in Monday’s $50,000 Ontario County Stakes at Finger Lakes.

A $30,000 claim by My Purple Haze Stables and trainer Chris Englehart out of a 6-furlong open-company sprint Feb. 25 at Aqueduct, Conformist improved to 2-for-7 in the Ontario County for New York-bred 3-year-olds.

Sent off the 3-5 favorite in the field of six, the Hit It a Bomb gelding came away clean from the gate after balking a bit during the loading process. He avoided a squeeze at the start when Penn National shipper Here’s Waldo broke sharp and came out while Florida Endeavour came in.

Conformist came away clean from that squeeze and led Florida Endeavour and Gonna Be Dancing through the opening quarter in :22.96. John Davila Jr. and Conformist continued to lead through the half in :46.41 with only Florida Endeavour within a chance coming off the turn.

The leaders poured it on from there, widening the lead with each stride on the way to an easy win in 1:12.80. The winning time in the co-featured opening stakes of the Finger Lakes season topped the 1:13.15 clocking by A Life That’s Good, trained by Chris Englehart’s son Jeremiah, in the earlier Niagara Stakes for sophomore state-bred fillies.

Florida Endeavour, a son of Central Banker who won back-to-back starts 14 days apart in May to open the Finger Lakes meeting, held second and just ahead of Here’s Waldo in third and A Huge Checkpoint in fourth.

Bred by Scott and Debbie Pierce, foaled at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs and a $40,000 purchase as a weanling by Summerplace at the 2018 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, Conformist is out of the winning Raven’s Pass mare Cravin Raven. The Ontario County marked Conformist’s first win since his debut Oct. 30 against open company for a $40,000 tag for Summerplace and trainer Eddie Kenneally at Churchill Downs. He was claimed out of that race by Robert Bone and trainer Rob Atras.

Conformist started four times for Bone and Atras, the best efforts back-to-back thirds in starter optional events Dec. 31 and Jan. 16 at Aqueduct. He also finished third in the Feb. 25 race when Englehart dropped a claim slip.

Conformist is the second foal out of Cravin Raven. Her first foal, the Kentucky-bred Alcindor gelding bred by the Pierce’s Omega Farm, won one of seven starts. Cravin Raven, sold in foal to Central Banker for $25,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale, subsequently produced a colt by New York’s leading sire in Ireland. He sold for $43,920 to Durcan Bloodstock and Satish Seemar at this year’s Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale in Newmarket. Cravin Raven is also the dam of a yearling Irish-bred colt by Acclamation.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/06/28/conformist-rolls-to-ontario-county-victory/

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A Life That’s Good returns with Niagara Stakes victory

By Tom Law

Emcee Stable’s homebred A Life That’s Good opened the 2021 stakes slate at Finger Lakes Monday with a comeback victory in the $50,000 Niagara Stakes for 3-year-old New York-bred fillies.

Off since finishing fifth of five in her stakes debut in the Jan. 16 Franklin Square at Aqueduct, A Life That’s Good won by 1 1/4 lengths over odds-on favorite Summer Brew. The daughter of Congrats won the 6-furlong Niagara in 1:13.15 under Andre Worrie for trainer Jeremiah Englehart.

Sent off the 2-1 second choice in the field of four – reduced by one with the scratch of Beach Banker – A Life That’s Good ducked out at the start then raced close to the pace of 1-5 favorite Summer Brew. Summer Brew, the winner of three straight including an open-company allowance against older fillies and mares May 29 at Belmont Park, led by a half-length through the opening quarter-mile in :22.58.

Summer Brew and jockey Oscar Gomez still led by a length after a half in :45.52. A Life That’s Good still trailed by a length with a furlong to run and after a brief battled she edged away late for her first stakes win. Summer Brew held second by 4 1/4 lengths from Isle Storm with Pazzion another 27 ¾ lengths back in fourth.

A Life That’s Good finished sixth in her debut late last October in a 6-furlong state-bred turf maiden. Englehart switched her to the main track following that effort and she won a 6-furlong maiden Dec. 4 at Aqueduct by 5 ½ lengths to earn a trip to stakes company.

Sent off at 9-1 in the 6 1/2-furlong Franklin Square, A Life That’s Good raced toward the back early before fading to fifth behind Secret Love and 2020 New York-bred champion 2-year-old filly finalists Laobanonaprayer and Vacay.

After two breezes at Belmont after the Franklin Square, A Life That’s Good went to the sidelines and didn’t work again until late April with Travis Durr at Webb Carroll Training Center in St. Matthews, S.C. She breezed twice there before joining Englehart’s string bedded down in the Oklahoma Annex at Saratoga Race Course, where she breezed five times on the main track before the Niagara.

Foaled at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, A Life That’s Good is the third foal out of the Lion Hearted mare Lions Terms, a Maryland-bred who won 16 of 43 starts and earned $235,042. Her first foal, I Still Miss You, a New York-bred daughter Majestic Warrior, won a pair of stakes in 2017 and retired with six wins in 15 starts and $276,737 for Englehart and owners Gold Star Racing Stable, Matthew Hand and Brian McKenzie.

Lion’s Terms second foal, an unraced colt by Blame, sold for $100,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. She’s also the dam of an unraced New York-bred 2-year-old Flatter filly named Raymond Road and a yearling filly by Twirling Candy born Feb. 7.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/06/28/a-life-thats-good-returns-with-niagara-stakes-victory/

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Runaway Rumour stays unbeaten with Wild Applause upset

By Tom Law

Lawrence Goichman keeps it simple with his small New York-based breeding operation.

“I’ve been in the business since 1979 and right now I’ve got 11 mares,” Goichman said last summer at Saratoga. “Generally, we keep the fillies and sell the colts. If we think we’ve got a filly coming, we bring her up here so she can be part of this program. It’s been great.”

The filly Goichman referred to that day was Myhartblongstodady, winner of the Yaddo Stakes on Saratoga Showcase Day, and Saturday at Belmont Park her younger 3-year-old half sister Runaway Rumour ran her record to 3-for-3 with a victory against open company in the $100,000 Wild Applause Stakes.

The daughter of second-crop sire Flintshire won by a half-length over 6-5 favorite Minuan under Luis Cardenas, who picked up the mount for trainer Jorge Abreu after Jose Lezcano took off his later mounts Saturday following a mishap in the post parade before the second race.

Sent off at 13-1 in the field of eight, Runaway Rumour raced seventh through the opening half-mile while Bye Bye and Joel Rosario set the pace in :22.79 and :47.28 over the firm Widener Turf Course. They remained in seventh through 6 furlongs in 1:11.69 while making a run on the outside with Bye Bye clinging to a narrow lead over Lovestruck, Sussex Garden and Minuan.

“[Abreu] worked out the plan with me and we both agreed to just let her run her race,” Cardenas said. “She likes to be able to run horses down and that’s what she did. She loves doing that and I love her, too. We popped out of the gate and let the speed go.”

Runaway Rumour continued her run through the lane, took the lead inside the eighth pole and edged clear while Minuan closed to finish second. Nevisian Sunrise finished a half-length back in third, with Sussex Garden fourth. Runaway Rumour won in 1:34.25.

“I was a little concerned about the jockey change because I had never rode Luis in that type of race before, but he gave me so much confidence when I was giving him instructions,” Abreu said. “He told me he was looking at the replays and I knew it going to be OK. I told him, ‘whatever you do, do not go on the inside.’

“He broke sharp and tucked her in behind horses and he kept her in the clear. She likes to run free on the outside. When I saw at the five-sixteenths pole that she was picking up momentum, I had a pretty good feeling about her.”

Runaway Rumour improved to 3-for-3 with the Wild Applause victory, worth $55,000 to pad her earnings to $140,250. Foaled at Vivien Malloy’s Edition Farm in Hyde Park, she’s the third foal out of the Elusive Quality mare Elusive Rumour, third in the 2012 Yaddo Stakes and 2013 You Go West Girl Stakes and Mount Vernon Stakes for Goichman.

Elusive Rumour, who earned $140,050 during her career, is the dam of multiple stakes winner and 2020 champion New York-bred female turf horse finalist Myhartblongstodady (Scat Daddy) and three-time winner and $137,500-earner Scuttlebuzz (The Factor). Those New York-breds are also half siblings to the 2-year-old More Than Ready colt Ripe for Mischief, purchased at the OBS April sale by Bond Racing Stable for $75,000.

Myhartblongstodady, who races for Goichman and Abreu, strung together a three-race win streak in late 2019 and into the summer of 2020 capped by the Yaddo Stakes at Saratoga and Ticonderoga Stakes at Belmont. She finished off the board in two graded stakes this season and third in the Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct in April. Scuttlebuzz is 2-for-3 in 2021, including a victory in a 6-furlong state-bred allowance on the grass June 18 at Belmont.

Runaway Rumour didn’t make her debut until May 9 in a 6-furlong state-bred maiden at Belmont, which she won by 1 3/4 lengths after closing from last of 12 early. She added an allowance victory at 1 mile on the grass in the race immediately following the June 5 Belmont Stakes.

Abreu said she could try graded company next, in the $150,000 Lake George Stakes July 23 at Saratoga Race Course.

“Depending on how she comes out of the race, we’ll look at the Lake George at Saratoga,” he said. “I’d say a mile to a mile and a sixteenth is good for her. I don’t want to stretch her out to a mile and an eighth or a mile and quarter. Time will tell.”

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/06/26/runaway-rumour-stays-unbeaten-with-wild-applause-upset/

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Ocala Dream scores in Spectacular Bid for late sire Effinex

By Melissa Bauer-Herzog

After breaking his maiden on the Belmont Park turf last month, Ocala Dream was quick to add a stakes victory to his resume Saturday with a victory in the $150,000 Spectacular Bid division of the New York Stallion Stakes.

The chestnut son of the late Effinex broke among the leaders in the 7-furlong restricted turf stakes and immediately gave himself an advantage. Ocala Dream settled among a trio a few lengths behind the leading Dreamer’s Disease and The King Cheek as they set opening fractions of :22.82 and :45.61 for the first half-mile. Jockey Junior Alvarado had Ocala Dream well in hand as they joined the leaders late in the turn with the colt going four wide to take command into the stretch.

Ocala Dream had to hold off 52-1 shot Barrage in the stretch but he started pulling away from that rival in the final sixteenth. The margin was cut down by a late-closing Step Dancer, a son of War Dancer who was a length behind him at the line. Barrage, another son of War Dancer, settled for third. Ocala Dream won in 1:21.20 for his second win from three starts this year. He’s finished on the board in three of his five starts.

“It’s always a big edge when you have a horse who breaks out of the gate very good,” Alvarado said. “It helps you to get the position you want. He broke alertly and put himself in a good spot, I just had to guide him turning for home. Once I got him in the clear, he knew what to do after that. I kept after him just a little bit to get the job done. He wasn’t the favorite but he was much the best today.”

Racing for Thomas Albrecht, Vincent Fusaro and James Klein, Ocala Dream boosted his bankroll to $137,600. Bred by Mahwinney, Liberman, Beglin and Coutsodontis and foaled at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson, Ocala Dream gave the late Effinex his first stakes winner.

Going through the ring last year as a 2-year-old, the colt was purchased for $50,000 at the OBS March sale racing co-owner Thomas Albrecht from the Daylight Farm Racing & Sales consignment.

“We bought him in Ocala last year just when COVID hit,” Albrecht said. “We didn’t even think the sale was going to happen when we were down there. Everything was getting cancelled. But we bought him, we have a good bloodstock agent in Conor Foley of Oracle Bloodstock. They do a fantastic job and so does [trainer] Tom Morley and his staff. We’re really pleased. We’re looking forward to the $150,000 Cab Calloway [July 28 at Saratoga Race Course].”

Ocala Dream is a second-generation New York-bred with Kentucky-bred granddam Smoke N Shadows spending her five-race career on the NYRA circuit. The mare then joined the New York breeding pool and produced Ocala Dream’s dam Eleni’s Daughter as her sixth foal.

The Freud daughter won one of her two starts and was retired after that maiden-breaking run for Jay Liberman. She has stayed in New York after her racing days were over and has three winners from four to race.

The mare also has an unnamed Florida-bred 2-year-old Mission Impazible filly who is a full sister to the winning 4-year-old gelding Operative.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/06/19/ocala-dream-scores-in-spectacular-bid-for-late-sire-effinex/

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Freud filly Sport Model hangs tough in NYSS Cupecoy’s Joy

By Tom Law

Sport Model couldn’t catch a break in her first two starts.

The 3-year-old daughter of Freud caught a sloppy track on the dirt in late February and finished 11th in a field of 12 New York-bred maidens. Two months later in her turf debut against 11 others at 5-2 odds, Sport Model clipped heels, lost her rider and caused a three-horse pile-up in a state-bred maiden claimer.

Since then, including Saturday’s Cupecoy’s Joy division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Belmont Park, Sport Model has done everything right. She won a 6-furlong state-bred turf maiden for a $40,000 tag May 7 and came back Saturday to win the $150,000 Cupecoy’s Joy to add another highlight bullet to her sire’s flush resume.

Sport Model edged Funwhileitlasted by a half-length in the 7-furlong Cupecoy’s Joy under Luis Saez for trainer Christophe Clement and owners Reeves Thoroughbred Racing. Shaker Shack, the pacesetter hounded most of the trip by the eventual winner, held second by 1 ½ lengths over Shesadirtydancer with the 5-2 favorite Ava’s Grace ninth of 10. Sport Model won over the firm Widener Turf Course in 1:21.16.

“Luis gave her a great ride,” Clement said. “He was always very comfortable and she was the best horse today, which is nice.”

Saez, aboard Sport Model for the first time after Eric Cancel, Junior Alvarado and Trevor McCarthy rode the filly in her first three starts, also came away impressed.

“She’s progressing,” he said. “She was very good today. I needed the pony going out because she’s so strong. I knew I had a lot of horse and when we got to the top of the stretch, she just took off. She was battling. When she felt the pressure coming, she gave me another gear.”

Sport Model and Saze set up shop just off the pace of Shaker Shack in the early stages and were just a half-length back through the opening quarter-mile in :23.22. Ava’s Grace, making her turf debut off a second in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes in early April at Oaklawn Park, Sport Model’s stablemate Proper Grammar and Big Time Lady, chased the top two up the backstretch while Shaker Shack made the bend and ran past the half in :46.15 with a 1-length lead.

Sport Model took over after the field turned for home and opened up a 2-length lead past 6 furlongs in 1:09.29. Saez stayed busy on Sport Model in deep stretch while Funwhileitlasted, a daughter of War Dancer who shipped in from Monmouth Park for Kent Sweezey, ran on well to finish second.

“I liked both fillies going in, but obviously one was very disappointing and the other ran very well,” Clement said of the winner and last-place finisher Proper Grammar.

Bred by Mr. and Mrs. James P. Curran and Dr. and Mrs. John McDermott and foaled at Emerald Isle Farm in Hebron, Sport Model is the fourth foal out of the winning Rockport Harbor mare Just Say Hey.

Jonathan Thorne purchased the filly as a weanling for $70,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale, not long after Just Say Hey’s second foal, the Twirling Candy filly Twirling Devon, won her debut and finished second in the Barbara Shinpoch Stakes at Emerald Downs. Thorne resold the Sport Model through his Thorndale Farm consignment for $100,000 to Dean and Patti Reeves’ Reeves Thoroughbred Racing at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.

Just Say Hey, who won three of 17 starts with three seconds and $46,784, was purchased in foal to Wicked Strong by Christopher Shelli, agent, for $14,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. She later produced her third foal and a filly by that sire, the New York-bred Boston Girl. Just Say Hey is also the dam of a 2-year-old Mohaymen filly named Sterling Mistress.

Sport Model is the second stakes winner in 2021 and 68th overall for Freud, a 23-year-old son of Storm Cat who stands for $5,000 at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson. A multiple leader on New York’s general sires list, Freud came into Saturday ranked third with $866,361 in progeny earnings. He’ll be represented in 2021 by a crop of 46 2-year-olds, including one that has already started in Market Dynamics.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/06/19/freud-filly-sport-model-hangs-tough-in-nyss-cupecoys-joy/

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Sadie Lady does it all on the lead to win Dancin Renee

By Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Sadie Lady continued her top 2021 campaign Saturday when she registered her second stakes victory in three starts with an all-the-way win in the $97,000 Dancin Renee Stakes at Belmont Park.

Second in the Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap last out, Sadie Lady was ready to avenge that loss from the moment she broke from the starting gate in the 6-furlong Dancin Renee. The 5-year-old Freud mare was the first out and quickly made it clear it wasn’t going to be easy for the others to come near her.

Opening up a few lengths on the field under Jose Ortiz, Sadie Lady raced through fractions of :22.79 and :45.61 for the first half-mile and was full of run as the field of five turned into the stretch. Sadie Lady slowed a bit in the final sixteenth, but never gave Ortiz a serious concern and he remained confident of a win.

Ortiz gave her a few taps as they approached the wire and it was enough to motivate Sadie Lady to finish. Fierce Lady and Ruvies in Time closed late but were not a real threat as Sadie Lady stopped the clock in 1:11.05. Fierce Lady finished 1 1/2 lengths back in second, a half-length in front of Ruvies in Time in third

“When we passed the half-mile pole, she switched to her left lead and she kind of went on her own,” said Ortiz. “I knew I had enough room to wait, but she went on her own. It was hard to take that momentum away from her. I just let her do her thing and use her speed and she used it well. I was happy with how she carried on. She ran a very good race. Her speed is her weapon.”

The Dancing Renee was the second stakes victory for Sadie Lady, who added “stakes winner” to her resume in the Correction Stakes in March at Aqueduct. She improved to eight wins in 20 starts with Saturday’s win and has now earned $406,232 in her four-year career for owner Dennis Narlinger.

The mare is trained by Rob Atras, who took charge from Arnaud Delacour late in 2019. Atras quickly found success with the mare when training her to a three-race win streak to kick off 2020. Sadie Lady was putting another such streak together this winter with back-to-back victories to end 2020 and start 2021 before her Vagrancy second.

Atras was a worried that Ruvies in Time may push Sadie Lady but had no fear when his charge quickly took command.

“I was a little concerned that Ruvies in Time might challenge us out of the gate, but she broke so sharp and Jose just let her roll out of there and everything went to plan,” he said. “She’s a really cool filly and likes to win. She’s not easy in the morning and the exercise rider does a really good job with her.”

Bred by JMJ Racing Stables and foaled at Sequel New York in Hudson, Sadie Lady is a second-generation homebred for JMJ Racing Stables, who also co-bred her Read The Footnotes dam Zucca with Sequel Thoroughbreds. Unraced herself, Zucca is a full sister to New York-bred stakes winner Out Of Respect.

JMJ Racing purchased their dam Val’s Diablo for $3,000 at the 2006 New York Breeders’ Sales Co. fall mixed sale carrying Out of Respect. The mare was sold again in 2014 to Connie Brown for $6,000 at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale while carrying a foal by Malibu Moon. Zucca has only visited the sales ring once, not selling on a bid of $1,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga fall mixed sale the same year she foaled Sadie Lady.

Zucca has one other foal of racing age – a Florida-bred 2-year-old Tapiture colt named Life Is Great bred by EVS Corp. Last year, the mare returned to New York to foal a Race Day colt and the mare gave EVS Corp a third colt in 2021 when foaling a New York-bred full brother to Sadie Lady a week after she won the Correction Stakes.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/06/12/sadie-lady-does-it-all-on-the-lead-to-win-dancin-renee/

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