Bankit delivers again in Commentator; Classy Edition back home to win Critical Eye

By Tom Law and Paul Halloran

Bankit made his ninth appearance on a New York-bred Showcase Day program Monday at Belmont Park and came away with his eighth stakes victory in the headlining $200,000 Commentator Stakes.

The 7-year-old son of leading New York sire Bankit closed the star-studded Big Apple Showcase Day card with a determined victory in the co-featured Commentator. Bankit skipped over a muddy track to win the 2021 Commentator by 13 1/4 lengths. He won the 2023 renewal by a head under Joel Rosario over a determined Olympic Dreams with Sherriff Bianco third and Dr Ardito fourth in the field of 12.

Campaigned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing LLC and trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Bankit improved to 9-12-6 in 40 starts and boosted his earnings to $1,406,405 in the Commentator. Bankit also moved up to 28th on the list of all-time leading New York-bred earners, just ahead of fellow legend Mr. Buff ($1,403,536) and just behind another in Win ($1,408,980).

Bankit also became a stakes winner for the sixth straight season, going back to his victory at 2 in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes on Empire Showcase Day in 2018 at Belmont Park. He also won last year’s Commentator on Big Apple Showcase Day and has placings in six other Showcase Day appearances – 2018 Funny Cide, 2019 Mike Lee and Albany, 2020 Commentator and Empire Classic and 2022 West Point. The 2021 victory in the Commentator helped propel Bankit to the champion New York-bred older dirt male title.

Dismissed as the 5-1 third choice behind 5-2 favorite Ouster in his stakes debut and 5-2 second choice Dr Ardito looking to rebound from a fifth in the Grade 3 Westchester, Bankit and Rosario settled into fourth early as Sea Foam set the pace. Sea Foam clicked off strong fractions of :22.88, :46.28 and 1:10.55 in the 1 1/16-mile Commentator, which had been run at 1 mile in Bankit’s other appearances.

Rosario put Bankit four paths off the fence around the far turn and took command from Sea Foam in the lane. Bankit led by a half-length at the eighth pole, with 27-1 longshot Olympic Dreams to his inside and Sheriff Bianco making a run while getting to the outside. Bankit held it together inside the final yards to win in 1:43.01.

“As soon as he took the lead, he waited on horses a little bit,” Rosario said. “Then I just had to keep riding and hopefully he would get ahead of them. That’s the way he runs, I guess.

“It set up good and I kind of had to ride him a little bit, engage him a little and keep him in the race so he didn’t pack himself in there. I got a good trip and was able to come out and he went on. It looked like we were home and going to win by a couple, but he likes to just wait a lot when he passes the last horse.”

Toby Sheets, Asmussen’s New York-based assistant, handled the saddling about an hour after the stable celebrated a comeback victory by Eclipse Award winner Echo Zulu in the Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill Downs.

Bankit has trained at Belmont since last September, not long after the Saratoga meet, and Sheets sensed something big again from the horse Monday.

“He was doing really well. He does so well here,” he said. “He has a routine. He rolls in the round pen and all that good stuff. He can get a little on the muscle in the morning, but he’s very manageable. It was a great run from him and a good ride by Joel.”

Bred by Hidden Brook Farm LLC and Blue Devil Racing and foaled at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, Bankit is the first foal out of the Colonel John mare Sister in Arms. He originally sold out of the Hidden Brook consignment to SGV Thoroughbreds for $85,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.

Bankit was purchased by Winchell Thoroughbreds for $260,000 at the 2018 OBS March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training sale.

Central Banker, a 12-year-old Grade 2-winning son of Speightstown, stands for $7,500 at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds. Central Banker topped the New York general sire list in 2022 and 2021, after a runner-up season in 2020. He led the 2023 list by a comfortable margin heading into Monday’s Memorial Day racing programs.

 

• They call it Big Apple Showcase Day and, while it is a card for the entire New York breeding program to bask in the spotlight, it is common for a horse who has run at the highest levels of open company to return to the state-bred ranks for a relatively easy payday.

That happened in the Critical Eye Stakes last year, when Make Mischief, who had multiple in- the-money finishes in graded stakes, rolled to a 4-length win. And that was the case Monday, when Classy Edition, a winner of the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream in February, looked like a winner every step of the way after overcoming a stumble out of the gate.

The final margin in the $200,000 stakes was 2 1/4 lengths for the 4-year-old daughter of Classic Empire out of the Bernardini mare Newbie.

“She stumbled a little bit, but she recovered quickly,” winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said. “She put me in a beautiful position and I was biding my time there. When I asked her to go, she responded very well. It worked out perfect to be honest.”

After the misstep, Ortiz guided Classy Edition to the outside for an unobstructed trip down the backstretch. Venti Valentine broke second and set the pace through a quarter-mile in :23.87, with Let Her Inspire U second on the rail and Classy Edition sitting chilly on the outside. Ortiz made his move on the turn, getting to the front while barely asking his filly for run.

Once the field straightened for home, Ortiz offered mild urging and Classy Edition responded in kind, opening a 1 1/2-length lead at the stretch call and maintaining a comfortable advantage to the wire. The winning time was 1:42.82 over the fast track, with Sterling Silver second and Timeless Journey third.

“The outside filly Venti Valentine showed some speed and can be a little keen,” Ortiz said. “I was looking to break and try to relax, and if I could sit second outside of her, that would have been perfect. It worked out perfect because before we were 100 meters out, I was in the position I wanted to be in.”

Classy Edition, bred by Chester and Mary Broman and foaled at their Chestertown farm, sold for $550,000 out of the Sequel Bloodstock consignment at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale of 2-year-olds in training, with bloodstock agent Jacob West signing the ticket for Robert and Lawana Low. She is a half-sister to multiple New York-bred stakes winner Newly Minted and the stakes-placed New Girl In Town.

Newbie is also the dam of unraced New York-bred American Pharoah colt Pharoah Lake and a yearling New York-bred colt by Vekoma bred by the Bromans. She produced the unraced Speightstown mare Colonizer, who sold for $150,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. The Bromans bought back Colonizer, in foal to Omaha Beach, for $150,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.

The Bromans bought Changeisgonnacome, carrying Newbie, for $320,000 at the 2008 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Bred in Virginia by Audley Farm, that mare won the P.G. Johnston Stakes at Saratoga and was third in a Grade 2 stakes at Belmont. All five foals of her foals to race were winners.

Classy Edition started her career with three straight wins against New York-breds, including the Joseph A. Gimma and the Key Cents for 2-year-old fillies. She then ran five straight times in open company, with a placing in the 2022 Grade 2 Davona Dale and this year’s Royal Delta win her best showings. Trainer Todd Pletcher swung for the fences in the Grade 1 La Troienne on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, but she finished last of 10, making the move back to a state-bred stakes logical.

“She shipped in (from Churchill Downs) in good form and her energy level has been great,” said Pletcher assistant Byron Hughes. “She has a good coat and is a very classy filly, very consistent, and a pleasure to train.”

 

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/05/29/all-eights-bankit-wins-commentator-stakes-classy-edition-back-home-to-win-critical-eye/

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Marvelous Maude collects first stakes in Mount Vernon; City Man up in time to take Kingston

By Tom Law and Paul Halloran

Slumber’s strong spring continued during Monday when his daughter Marvelous Maude collected her first stakes victory in the $125,000 Mount Vernon Stakes on the Big Apple Showcase Day card at Belmont Park.

Owned by Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group and Michael Caruso, Marvelous Maude won the 1-mile Mount Vernon in her first start since finishing fourth in the Oct. 30 Ticonderoga Stakes on Empire Showcase Day. She also became Slumber’s second stakes winner on the season, along with Fluffy Socks, winner of the Grade 2 Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile on the Kentucky Derby Day undercard.

Dubb bred Marvelous Maude through his Beechwood Bruckner LLC and named her after Maude Walsh, the former hospitality manager for the New York Racing Association who also worked as the paddock host for Breakfast at Belmont and during morning workouts at Saratoga Race Course.

Dubb and partners also campaigned Slumber, who stands for $7,500 at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, late in his career and before he entered stud in 2017.

“I raced the mare and I remember she ran a 91 Beyer so she was kind of fast,” Dubb said after Marvelous Maude won the Mount Vernon. “The timing was such that we had retired Slumber to Calumet (in Kentucky). I had a few breedings, so I tried breeding Wait Your Turn to Slumber. A couple years went by and no one was breeding to Slumber and Calumet was getting ready to geld the horse.

“I showed Chad [Brown, trainer of Marvelous Maude] a picture of the baby who is now Marvelous Maude and he sent it to Calumet, and they decided not to geld Slumber after all. That is how Slumber became a stallion in New York. They were very close to gelding him and it was a picture of Marvelous Maude that saved him from being gelded.”

Marvelous Maude won a photo finish in the Mount Vernon, edging Runaway Rumour on the last jump to win by a nose. She improved to 5-for-12 in the turf stakes and the $68,750 first-place check boosted her bankroll to $374,500.

Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode Classy Edition to victory in the Critical Eye on the Showcase Day card, rode Marvelous Maude. They closed from fourth through the first 6 furlongs in 1:10.20 over the firm turf, before following moves at the lead by Sanura and then by Runaway Rumour.

“Her style is not to run like that, but the track has been playing for the speed,” Ortiz said. “It was 1-mile flat and I think she’s much better going a mile and a sixteenth or a mile and an eighth. So, I had to ride her to try to win and give her the best chance to win. I was a little closer. I moved a little early and was wide, too. She still got there. She’s a nice filly. That’s not her style of running, but she got it done.”

Marvelous Maude is the first foal out of Wait Your Turn, who is also the dam of the winning 4-year-old Freud filly Jet Set Juliet and the unraced 3-year-old Freud filly Phillipsburg Mike. Dubb sent Wait Your Turn back to Slumber in 2021 and 2022 and she’s now the dam of a yearling filly by the sire and another filly by the sire born April 19.

Marvelous Maude won the Mount Vernon in her fourth stakes appearance and in her first start of 2023. She finished sixth in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl at Saratoga, second in the John Hettinger against New York-breds at Aqueduct and fourth in the Ticonderoga at Aqueduct in her final three starts of 2022, races that came after back-to-back wins on the grass in allowance company at Belmont and Saratoga.

 

• It was hard to find a blemish on the resume of accomplished New York-bred City Man heading into Monday’s Kingston Stakes on Big Apple Showcase Day, but there was the matter of his record at Belmont Park: 0-10 overall and 0-6 on the turf, where he excels.

Make that 1-11 and 1-6.

Sent off as the 3-5 favorite in the stakes race named for a horse that won 89 times in 138 starts from 1885-93, City Man needed every bit of the 8 1/2 furlongs to record his inaugural Belmont victory. Trapped behind a wall of three horses on the far turn, jockey Joel Rosario opted not to swing to the far outside, instead waiting until the last possible second for a small opening that allowed him to take City Man to the middle of the course.

From there it was simply a matter of whether he could run down Jerry the Nipper, who was given a perfect ride by Jose Ortiz, sitting off 46-1 longshot Rinaldi for about 7 furlongs before taking the lead just after they straightened for home. He looked like a winner until City Man got loose and in full stride and beat him by a nose. A fast-closing Dakota Gold ran third.

“The track is playing fast and those horses aren’t coming back like they were,” said Dean Reeves, who owns City Man with Peter and Patty Searles and also Dakota Gold. “He couldn’t come inside so I’m glad that Joel brought him outside. He really kicked in and it looked like he hesitated a little bit and then got on with it. Dakota Gold was coming on strong, too. I was really happy with both horses.”

Rosario had City Man in sixth on the inside down the backstretch and into the turn. Sitting behind the two leaders – and forming the de facto blockade – were Ocala Dream on the hedge, Citizen K in between and Somelikeithotbrown on the outside. The way it turned out, if Rosario had opted for the overland route, he may not have gotten up. The winning time was 1:39.46.

“He was ready and as soon as I said, ‘Go,’ he was there for me,” Rosario said. “For a second, I thought the horse in front of me (Jerry the Nipper) was going to keep moving and he made it a little hard for me to pass him. It seems like the track was a little speed-favoring and he took his time today, but he finished really well.”

The 6-year-old City Man won his ninth stakes and improved his career record to 10-5-4 from 29 starts. The $68,750 winner’s share increased his career earnings to $1,079,870, good enough for 52nd among all New York-breds.

“He’s a fun horse who wins a lot; I like it,” winning trainer Christophe Clement said. “He always finishes well. Joel did his job. I train, he rides. This horse always finishes strongly. The choices a couple weeks ago, we were either training for this race or the Grade 1 Manhattan (June 10). Obviously, this is a much easier race than the Manhattan and it’s nice to go back to winning ways. We can be a little more ambitious with him next time.”

City Man was in the second crop of 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man, also owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing. Out of the City Zip mare City Scamper, he was bred by Moonstar Farm and sold for $20,000 as a weanling in 2017. Two years later he went to Reeves for $185,000 at the OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training.

City Scamper is the dam of six-figure New York-bred earner Go Kelly Go and the Laoban colt El Mayor, who has earned $71,767. City Scamper also produced a New York-bred colt by Hoppertunity in 2020; Miss City Girl, a 2-year-old full sister to City Man who has not yet raced; and a yearling filly by Vino Rosso.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/05/29/marvelous-maude-collects-first-stakes-in-mount-vernon-city-man-up-in-time-to-take-kingston/

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Disco Deano scores massive upset in Barker

Disco Deano lit up the Finger Lakes tote board in his first start in more than seven months, upsetting Monday’s $50,000 George W. Barker Stakes.

The 6-year-old Verrazano gelding won the traditional Memorial Day stakes and opening stakes of the 2023 Finger Lakes season at 37-1, holding off defending champ and 11-1 Flying Emperor and 48-1 third-place finisher Writer’s Regret to trigger monster exotic payoffs. Owned and trained by M. Anthony Ferraro, Disco Deano won for the ninth time in 27 starts and improved to 8-for-18 at Finger Lakes in the Barker.

Disco Deano and jockey Keibar Coa also survived a steward’s inquiry and jockey’s objection from Nazario Alvarado, aboard fourth-place finisher and even-money favorite Lady’s Golden Guy.

Disco Deano swept to the lead in the 6-furlong Barker around the far turn, taking over from Lobsta after the half-mile in :46.29. Lady’s Golden Guy, prominent throughout, came up the inside to reach contention before Disco Deano responded to the challenge in deep stretch. Disco Deano won by head in 1:12.39 over the fast track. Flying Emperor finished 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Writer’s Regret with Lady’s Golden Guy another three-quarters of a length back in fourth. Senbei, Winston’s Chance, Neava York, Lobsta and Samay completed the field.

Bred by Joe DiRico and out of the unraced Disco Rico mare Nurse Disco, Disco Deano sold for $36,000 out the Harry L. Landry Bloodstock consignment at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern fall yearling sale. Ferraro has trained the gelding throughout his career, including in his winning second start at 2 that earned appearances in the Aspirant Stakes and New York Breeders’ Futurity at Finger Lakes.

Disco Deano finished unplaced in those two events and didn’t make a stakes appearance again until last year’s Leon Reed Memorial in early October at Finger Lakes. He finished fifth in the Reed, which also marked his final start of 2022.

Ferraro prepped Disco Deano for his return with three works at Tampa Bay Downs in April and four more back home at Finger Lakes, including a bullet 5 furlongs in 1:01.40 May 17 and a 3-furlong tightener in :37.10 May 23.

Alfred DiRico purchased the New York-bred Nurse Disco for $30,000 as a yearling out of the Flying Zee Dispersal Phase I in October 2011 at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky. Disco Deano is the third foal out of Nurse Disco, who is also the dam of three-time winner and $174,384-earner Quai Voltaire.

Disco Deano collected $30,000 for the victory and boosted his earnings to $196,788.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/05/29/disco-deano-scores-massive-upset-in-barker/

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Downtown Mischief leads off Showcase Day; Maker’s Candy leaves no doubt in Mike Lee

By Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Lady Shelia Stable’s stakes winning homebred Downtown Mischief avenged her lone defeat Monday when she came home a determined winner of the $125,000 Bouwerie Stakes to kick off Big Apple Showcase Day at Belmont Park.

Returning to 7 furlongs after finishing second over 1 mile last out in the Memories of Silver Stakes, the Linda Rice-trained daughter of Into Mischief broke well to enter a three-way duel out of the gate. It didn’t take long for Les Bon Temps and Miracle to yield the lead to Downtown Mischief with Jose Lezcano staying relaxed. Miracle tried to pressure the leader through an opening half in :45.65.

Downtown Mischief repelled that rival, who tried to head her around the turn, and spurted away as the field straightened into the stretch. Miracle grinded away at her lead in the closing furlong but was only able to get within a length at the finish. Midtown Lights settled for third, 7 lengths back. Downtown Mischief won in 1:23.98 over the fast main track.

Now the winner of four of her five starts, the two-time stakes winning 3-year-old boosted her earnings to $221,850 in the Bouwerie. Each of Downtown Mischief’s starts have come in 2023, with the filly racing once a month since winning her debut January 14.

“She has so much heart and soul and that’s a big part of their careers: do they want to win?” said Lady Shelia Stable’s Shelia Rosenblum. “And she definitely does like to win. She has shown it from Day 1.”

As for what’s next for the filly, trainer Linda Rice said they’d eye a graded stakes.

Downtown Mischief has already faced open company in her career, winning Aqueduct’s Cicada Stakes in March by 1 1/2 lengths. Her runner-up in the Memories of Silver also came against open company, though Rice admitted that race was more of an in-between start than an actual target for the runner.

“I told Sheila that we would try open company after this race if she runs as well as she did today,” she said. “Frankly, we’ll probably be in an open company 3-year-old fillies race. Probably the (Grade 3) Victory Ride.

Foaled at Edition Farm in Hyde Park, Downtown Mischief is a second-generation runner for Lady Shelia with Rice purchasing her dam, the Speightstown mare Downtown Mama, for $440,000 at the OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training for the operation. Downtown Mama went on to win $126,837 with three victories in a seven-race career for her owners.

Downtown Mama is a half-sister to the Grade 2-winning Alpha Kitten and three other winners out of Alpha Mama. She is also one of three stakes producers for that mare with half-sister Malibu Breeze producing stakes winner Coastal Charm and half-sister Mamasez producing Grade 2 winner Brooke Marie.

Downtown Mischief is the first foal out of her dam, who also produced a New York-bred Maclean’s Music filly last year for Lady Sheila Stable and a New York-bred Violence colt April 11.

• Maker’s Candy earned a stakes placing two starts back and went one better Monday with a victory in the $125,000 Mike Lee Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds.

Returning to the dirt after making a start on Turfway Park’s synthetic surface last out in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, 2-1 favorite Maker’s Candy took up a place behind Looms Boldly early in the 7-furlong Mike Lee. Looms Boldly led by a half-length through the first quarter-mile in :23.07. Jockey Jose Ortiz decided not to fight Maker’s Candy, let him out a notch and his mount quickly poured the pressure on the pacesetter.

The rest of the field couldn’t mount a challenge around the far turn as the timer registered Loom’s Boldy’s half in :45.42, but the game was about to change as they entered the stretch. Looms Boldly and Maker’s Candy continued to battle in the lane with Radio Red charging on the outside. Looms Boldly grudgingly gave in with a sixteenth left to run as Maker’s Candy went by.

Maker’s Candy pulled away late to win by 2 1/2 lengths from Radio Red in 1:23.35 on the fast track. Looms Boldly finished three quarters of a length back in third with What’s Up Bro, Lifetime of Chance, Jackson Heights and Etnico completing the field.

“He didn’t break that sharp, but I saw the opening on the inside and was able to take it,” Ortiz said. “I had a good trip and moved a little bit early to get good position. My horse responded well and I knew he had the stamina because he had run the mile race before and had done well in it, so I wasn’t afraid to move a little bit early.”

Bred by Newtownanner Stud, Maker’s Candy has won two of his four starts in 2023 with one other second via disqualification (from first) in the Gander Stakes. Trained by Mike Maker for Paradise Farms, David Staudacher, Maxi Stable and John Huber, he was a $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale of 2-year-olds in training purchase last year.

“We narrowed down several horses at the sale, got down to about seven or eight horses,” said Paradise Farms’ Peter Proscia. “This horse had great conformation, Mike liked the way he moved and galloped out in the sale warm up. It just worked out for us. We got him for the right price.”

By Twirling Candy, Maker’s Candy is out of the two-time winning Bluegrass Cat mare Purple Cat. Sold for $550,000 as a yearling in 2009, she has produced three winners from six to race.

Purple Cat is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Sky Diva and stakes winner and the multiple Grade 1-placed Freud mare Quick Little Miss with her dam producing six winners from 12 to race. The family also includes dual Grade 1 winner Pure Clan and Grade 1 winner Finley’sluckycharm, among others.

Purple Cat was sold for $12,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale and foaled a New York-bred Speightster colt named Dream Alliance for Brendemuehl and Smith a few months later. Purple Cat’s youngest live foal, Dream Alliance was sold for $20,000 at last year’s OBS October yearling sale.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/05/29/downtown-mischief-leads-off-showcase-day-makers-candy-leaves-no-doubt-in-mike-lee/

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Big Apple Showcase Special

By Tom Law and Sean Clancy

The Memorial Day weekend comes to a close Monday but not before a spectacular day of racing at Belmont Park with the annual Big Apple Showcase Day card for New York-breds.

One of three special programs of the year for state-breds – the others are set for the summer at Saratoga and this fall at Belmont – the Big Apple Showcase features six stakes for big purses and four complimentary events that pack a punch. The team at The Saratoga Special is again privileged to preview all of the action, and more, with a special edition of The Big Apple Showcase Special.

The Showcase Special offers the perfect primer for anyone heading to Belmont for the day’s action, or those watching from home. And we’ve thrown in some of the popular features you see every summer in The Saratoga Special.

Here’s the primer for Monday May 29. Safe journeys and good luck.

By the Numbers

96: Horses entered for Monday’s Big Apple Showcase Day program.

6: Stakes on the Showcase Day card.

8: Entries on Showcase Day for Linda Rice, the most of any trainer. Mike Maker and David Donk have six entrants apiece.

10: Mounts for Irad Ortiz Jr. on the day.

1,220,000 Dollars in purses offered on Showcase Day, including $900,000 in stakes purses.

Names of the Day

Race 1. Miracle. We’re suckers for one-word names and this is a good one. The 3-year-old filly is by Mendelssohn and out of Good Omen.

Race 3. Timeless Journey. The 6-year-old mare is by Verrazano and out of Matchmadeinheaven.

Race 9. Whittington Park. The 4-year-old colt is out of See The Forest. When you’re in Hot Springs, make sure you enjoy the shade of Whittington Park.

Race 10. Utamaro. We always like horses named after artists.

Worth Repeating

“Big Apple Showcase Day is not only a celebration of the New York-bred program but also a culmination of the achievements of New York breeders who continue to raise the bar in the quality of racehorses foaled in New York State each year. We are thankful for our longstanding partnership with NYRA in highlighting each of our three annual Showcase Days throughout the year for all participants in the New York-bred program with lucrative purses and competitive fields for handicappers to wager on as a marquee event for racing fans on the Memorial holiday.”
New York Thoroughbred Breeders Executive Director Najja Thompson

“These smaller guys are the backbone of the game. The first five races a day are filled by the little guys, and without them, the game wouldn’t survive. We need small owners and syndicates to keep us going.”
Trainer Bobby Ribaudo

“He’s been training well and I’m very happy with him. He’s so consistent and he’s just so exciting. It’s been a positive experience with him and he makes you feel good.”
Toby Sheets, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, on Commentator contender Bankit

As for the races …

Race 1. Bouwerie Stakes. $125,000, fillies, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Post time 1:00 p.m. ET. Miracle scratched out of last weekend’s Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico for this spot. She’s deserving off chance coming off back-to-back graded stakes tries. Daughter of Mendelssohn meets old rival Les Bon Temps, who beat her by a length in last year’s Maid of the Mist on Empire Showcase Day. Downtown Mischief, the 7-5 favorite, exits runner-up in off-the-turf open stakes after winning three straight to start her career.

Race 2. Allowance-optional claiming, $85,000, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs, turf. Post time 1:30 p.m. Plenty of stakes competitors in the field, including Moonage Daydream, Howdyoumakeurmoney and Fleetfooted.

Race 3. Critical Eye Stakes. $200,000, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles. Post time 2:03 p.m. Strong field of six led by Classy Edition, Venti Valetine and Sterling Silver for co-featured event. Classy Edition makes first start in state-bred ranks since winning back-to-back stakes at end of her 2-year-old season in 2021. Don’t discount Let Her Inspire U, either, as she walloped foes in last year’s Empire Distaff and sports a strong record against fellow New York-breds.

Race 4. Mike Lee Stakes. $125,000, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Post time 2:32 p.m. Fairly evenly matched group of seven, including Maker’s Candy, NYSS winner Lifetime of Chance and Damon Runyon winner Looms Boldly. Maker’s Candy crossed the finish first in the Gander Stakes in late February but was disqualified. He then finished fifth in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby. Looms Boldly comes in off back-to-back wins.

Race 5. Allowance. $80,000, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles, turf. Post time 3:03 p.m. Smokie Eyes didn’t care for the dirt last time in her return but should be plenty tough on the grass for Christophe Clement, who also sends out Waterville.

Race 6. Mount Vernon Stakes. $125,000, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 1 mile, turf. Post time 3:34 p.m. First of two turf stakes on the card and a good one. Marvelous Maude makes her first start since last fall, when she ended the season in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl (sixth), John Hettinger (second) and Ticonderoga (fourth). Daughter of Slumber is 2-for-5 on the course and meets top challenger in Runaway Rumour, who makes her first start for trainer Horacio De Paz.

Race 7. Allowance. $80,000, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs. Post time 4:06 p.m. Pineapple Man, second in similar spot last time out in his return, takes on nine others including Pete N Billy, Zeebear, Daufuskie Island and East Coast Girl.

Race 8. Kingston Stakes. $125,000, 4-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles, turf. Post time 4:40 p.m. City Man, crowned champion turf male for 2022, returns to the state-bred ranks after three straight starts in graded company. He’s won his last two against New York-breds, in the Mohawk and Ashley T. Cole last fall during the Belmont at the Big A meeting. No layup here though, with the likes of multiple New York-bred champ and graded stakes winner Somelikeithotbrown, Dakota Gold and Jerry the Nipper in the field.

Race 9. Commentator Stakes. $200,000, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles. Post time 5:12 p.m. Dr Ardito saw his six-race win streak come to an end last time in the Grade 3 Westchester. He looks to get back on track here against veteran stakes winner and $1,296,405-earner Bankit, multiple stakes winner Barese, the improving Ouster and nine others in strong renewal of the co-feature.

Race 10. Maiden special weight. $75,000, 3-year-olds and up, 7 furlongs, turf. 5:44 p.m. Perfect way to close the card and with plenty of time to make it to the late afternoon cookout. Launch Control returns to the grass for Todd Pletcher, while Kreesa does the same for David Donk. Barry Schwartz’s homebred Cairo Prince gelding Utamaro makes his debut for Linda Rice. He’s out of Mindy Gold, and a half-brother to stakes winner Sharp Starr and stakes-placed Papa Shot.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/05/28/big-apple-showcase-special-3/

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Eye Witness adds second stakes in Paradise Creek

Eye Witness handled another task thrown in his path Saturday at Belmont Park.

Running on yielding ground for the first time – and in open-company stakes competition for the second straight start – Eye Witness withstood a late challenge from Inflation Nation to win the $150,000 Paradise Creek Stakes going 7 furlongs.

The 3-year-old son of City of Light, the top-priced New York-bred at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale, edged Inflation Nation by a head in 1:25.32 over the ground softened significantly by Saturday’s rains in the New York Metropolitan area.

Eye Witness added the Paradise Creek to his victory last time out in the 6-furlong Animal Kingdom Stakes on synthetic at Turfway Park, which came about three months after he broke his maiden there going 1 mile and around two turns. Jose Ortiz rode Eye Witness, who improved to 3-for-4 with earnings of $205,740 for trainer Wesley Ward and owners Westerberg, Susan Magnier, Jonathan Poulin, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor.

Eye Witness closed from fifth after the opening half-mile, overtaking early leader Charging, Son of a Birch, Devils Only Friend and Inflation Nation en route to victory.

“I was very confident in my horse and I was just worrying about Dylan [Davis, aboard Inflation Nation] to the inside of me,” Ortiz said of the early stages of the Paradise Creek. “But he was following the right horse which was [Charging]. So, I said ‘I’m just going to go around – I feel like I have enough horse to kind of block them and make them wait longer than they wanted to.’ I did, and my horse responded so well when I put him in the clear.”

Eye Witness took over into the lane and opened up by 1 1/2 lengths in midstretch. Davis and Inflation Nation reduced the deficit inside the final furlong but couldn’t get past the winner. Vacation Dance, another New York-bred who won last year’s Atlantic Beach Stakes at Aqueduct, finished 5 ½ lengths back in third. Hey Eugene, Joey Freshwater, Son of a Birch, Charging and Devils Only Friend completed the field.

“I felt like I probably moved a little sooner than I wanted to, but with the soft ground, sometimes if you stop the momentum, it’s very hard to get it back,” Ortiz said. “I almost paid the price in the end, but I’m just glad we held on. …I’m thankful for the opportunity from Wesley and the ownership.”

Eye Witness sold to Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier during the third session of the 2021 September sale as Hip 723[2]. Bred by Anlyn Farms and foaled at Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater, Eye Witness originally sold as a weanling to Brady Bloodstock for $235,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale.

A half-brother to New York-bred stakes winner More Mischief and stakes-placed winner Myawaya, Eye Witness is the eighth foal out of the Mr. Greeley mare Gracilia. A half-sister to New York-bred champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old and Grade 2 winner Sharp Humor, Gracilia is also the dam of New York-bred winners Scalpeen, Decorator Jenn and Killala Bay.

Gracilia’s New York-bred daughter of Practical Joke sold for $190,000 at this year’s OBS March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training. She is also the dam of a yearling New York-bred filly by Game Winner.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/05/20/eye-witness-adds-second-stakes-in-paradise-creek/

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Maple Leaf Mel stays perfect in Miss Preakness

By Tom Law

Maple Leaf Mel gave the exact impression bidders are looking for from the moment Bill Parcells’ buying team took their first looks of the Cross Traffic filly prior to last year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale of 2-year-olds in training.

“She stood out to me when she came out of the stall,” Jeremiah Englehart, who helped pick out and trains Maple Leaf Mel for Parcells’ August Dawn Farm, said this spring. “She looked good and handled us going over her. She gave a good impression. You feel like you’re standing next to her in the winner’s circle.”

Maple Leaf Mel gave off that winner’s circle impression and hasn’t missed a trip to the coveted space in her four starts, the latest a powerhouse victory over open company in Friday’s Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. Under Joel Rosario, Maple Leaf Mel ripped through the Miss Preakness’ 6 furlongs in 1:09.56 in her 1 1/2-length victory over Topsy. A $150,000 purchase at last year’s Midlantic sale in Timonium, Maryland, Maple Leaf Mel picked up $90,000 for the Miss Preakness win to pad her bankroll to $303,400.

“The way she does it, I always figured she would run with whoever we put her against just because when you ask her to run, she does it,” Englehart said Friday of the filly’s first open-company attempt. “I thought she would handle it, but this was going to be her real, true test to show how she handled it.”

Englehart said Maple Leaf Mel “passed” that test and could head to another graded stakes next – the Grade 3 Victory Ride July 8 at Belmont Park – before a potential Grade 1 attempt in the Test Stakes in early August at Saratoga Race Course.

Maple Leaf Mel, the 8-5 second choice in the field of six, battled in the early stages with 4-5 favorite Key of Life before taking over on the backstretch. She led by a half-length through the opening quarter-mile in :22.26 before shrugging off Key of Life and Afternoon Tea after a half in :45.21.

Rosario gave Maple Leaf Mel her cue in the lane and she opened up, cruising past the eighth pole 3 1/2 lengths in front after 5 furlongs in :56.96.

“She has a lot of speed,” said Rosario, aboard for all of Maple Leaf Mel’s four starts. “Her break was not really super-fast, but she has so much speed. After she got the lead, she looked around a little bit. And I just let her do her thing and hopefully we had something left turning for home.”

Maple Leaf Mel had plenty and won geared down as Topsy made a sustained run past the others to finish a clear second, 3 1/2 lengths clear of L Street Lady. Afternoon Tea, Key of Life and Bound by Destiny completed the field.

Bred by Joe Fafone, foaled at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham and out of the winning City Place mare City Gift, Maple Leaf Mel originally sold for $18,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale. She’s the sixth foal out of City Gift, who is also the dam of the stakes-placed eight-time New York-bred winner Eddie’s Gift.

City Gift sold in foal to Brody’s Cause for $4,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. She delivered a colt by that sire in March 2021 in Ontario.

Maple Leaf Mel won both her starts at 2 last summer at Saratoga, taking a 6-furlong maiden then adding the Seeking the Ante Stakes on Saratoga Showcase Day 16 days later. She went to the sidelines with shin issues and didn’t return until the East View Stakes against fellow New York-breds March 24 at Aqueduct. She won that race by 7 3/4 lengths, before returning to Englehart’s wintertime base at Palm Meadows in South Florida to prep for the Miss Preakness.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/05/19/maple-leaf-mel-stays-perfect-in-miss-preakness/

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