Hronis Racing’s Tapalo and jockey Hector Berrios dominate Sunday’s Lazaro Barrera. Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Benoit Photo.

Hronis Racing’s Tapalo, a 3-year-old son of Tapiture bred by Saratoga Glen Farm, became the latest New York-bred stakes winner in Southern California with a victory in Sunday’s $98,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Tapalo, who earned his first stakes placing two starts back in the El Camino Real Derby, broke best in the 7-furlong Barrera and went straight to the lead. Allowed to set his own pace under Hector Isaac Berrios, Tapalo looked much the best down the backstretch as his rider sat quietly with a loop in his reins. Berrios had plenty of horse left as they entered the turn after setting early fractions of :22.69 and :45.02.

Running just behind the leader for much of the race, fellow New York-bred and 2-5 favorite Ball Don’t Lie was asked to close in the final quarter-mile but never mounted a serious challenge. Tapalo felt the whip a few times early in the stretch, but Berrios put it away in the final furlong to let the ridgling coast home a 7-length winner in 1:21.86. Ball Don’t Lie, a son of Blame bred by River Valley Farm and Hidden Lake Farm, settled for second with Tessuto another 5 1/2 lengths back in third.

“The break was perfect, he was traveling very comfortably,” Berrios said. “At the turn, he was very comfortable. The other horse needed a faster pace. My horse finished well. He has matured since the last time I rode him in October.”

Breaking his maiden in January for Hronis Racing and trainer John Sadler, Tapalo finished second in the $101,350 El Camino Real Derby in early February. He finished fifth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in early April. The Barrera victory improved his record to 2-2-1 from seven starts with $137,020 in earnings.

Sadler said Tapelo will most likely continue to be seen in middle-distance races in the future.

“He got eliminated in the Santa Anita Derby and I was thinking about giving him a little more time, but he had such a good work last weekend. I said ‘he’s ready to go back,’ ” Sadler said. “I thought this was a good distance for him. Anywhere from 7 to a mile, a mile and an eighth might be OK. He’s kind of a free-running horse. He has a lot of mobility. Hopefully we have a lot more ahead of him.”

Although he’s spent his racing career California, Tapalo has plenty of experience traveling around the country after selling at three sales in two states before making his way to the West Coast.

He sold for $40,000 as a short yearling at the 2022 OBS winter mixed sale before returning to his native state to sell for $20,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. Tapalo later sold for $55,000 at last year’s OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training to Martin Anthony.

Foaled at Saratoga Glen Farm in Schuylerville, Tapalo is one of three winners from three to race out of the Empire Maker mare Agent Romanoff. A daughter of Grade 3 winner Bridge Game, Agent Romanoff is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Shalako and six other winners from 11 runners out of her their dam. Tapalo descends from the extended family of Horse of the Year Tiznow and Grade 1 winners Paynter, Oxbow and Sweet Azteca.

After two years without foals, Agent Romanoff foaled a Saratoga Glen Farm-bred colt by Sequel Stallions New York’s Honest Mischief in March.

Tapalo joins two-time graded stakes winner Kinza as California stakes winners hailing from the New York-bred program in 2024.

Dancing Buck draws off to win Saturday’s Elusive Quality in his New York return. NYRA Photo.

After a pair of runner-up finishes in graded stakes events at Santa Anita Park, Grade 3 winner Dancing Buck returned to his winning ways Saturday with a victory in the $150,000 Elusive Quality Stakes.

Racing over 6 furlongs on the turf in one of three stakes that highlighted the first Saturday card of the Belmont at the Big A meeting, Dancing Buck broke well and immediately took the lead to control the pace. The 6-year-old son of War Dancer opened more than a length on the field early before the other added pressure through the first quarter in :22.40.

Dancing Buck didn’t have it easy on the front end but kept his lead through the half in :44.60. He turned for home in front, putting away his early arrivals and bracing for a late run from American Monarch. That rival cut the gap but fell short by 1 1/4 lengths. Alogon finished another half-length back in third. Dancing Buck won in 1:07.58 over the firm turf.

“Manny (Franco) gave him a great ride,” said Michelle Nevin, who trains Dancing Buck for his breeders J & N Stables and Diamond M Stable. “He took advantage of (Nothing Better) not breaking and once he had control of the race, the horse was there for him.”

The Elusive Quality was Dancing Buck’s first victory since he took the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint back on Oct. 2, 2022 during the first Belmont at the Big A meet. Dancing Buck improved to 7-for-21 with five seconds in the Elusive Quality and padded his bankroll to $592,920. Included in those 21 starts are two stakes wins and five stakes-placings.

Dancing Buck spent the winter in Southern California with trainer Rick Dutrow before returning to Nevin’s barn in New York after his second in the Grade 3 San Simeon March 9. He also finished second in Santa Anita’s Grade 2 Joe Hernandez in late December.

“Having more recency on the other horses is always going to help,” Nevin said. “He loves this turf course, so we were excited to have him back.

Nevin said Dancing Buck’s next start could come in the Grade 1 Jaipur on the June 8 Belmont Stakes card at Saratoga Race Course.

A third-generation New York-bred, Dancing Buck is out of the multiple stakes-placed Catienus mare Frivolous Buck. That mare has produced four winners from six to race with Dancing Buck’s full sister, Mz Big Bucks, earning her own stakes victory in June 2023. Mz Big Bucks has been working regularly at Belmont Park as she prepares for her 2024 debut.

Frivolous Buck is one of two stakes performers for her own dam Terminal Buck, who produced multiple stakes placed Buck Mountain. Buck Mountain is also the dam of multiple stakes-winning mare Our Last Buck.

Frivolous Buck foaled a War Dancer colt named Shenanigans Buck last year for Elizabeth Jameson and was bred back to the stallion for 2024.

My Mane Squeeze keeps big week rolling for her breeder and co-owner Buck Butler in the Grade 2 Eight Belles Friday at Churchill Downs. Coady Media/Churchill Downs Photo.

By Tom Law

William “Buck” Butler won a maiden race Sunday at Aqueduct with homebred Mama’s Dream – who wound up claimed for $30,000 to add to the $19,800 he picked up from the purse – and figured the week couldn’t get much better.

Friday between raindrops at Churchill Downs in front of a packed pink-clad house on Kentucky Oaks Day, Butler went for a revision.

“This is pretty good,” he said after celebrating with new partners from WinStar Farm when My Mane Squeeze scored a mild upset in the Grade 2, $534,340 Eight Belles Stakes. The 3-year-old daughter of Audible won the 7-furlong Eight Belles under Luis Saez by 2 lengths from Impel over the sloppy and sealed track.

Butler, who bred My Mane Squeeze out of his Speightstown mare In Spite of Mama, said the Eight Belles ranked as his best win.

“This has got to be it,” he said. “My first graded win. Some of the others with offspring of my mares, with siblings … they were real good, too, but not like this. And it all goes back to my Mama Theresa. She was the only stakes placed horse I had so that’s where I started with her.”

Mama’s Dream, a 3-year-old by Freud claimed Sunday, is out of the Carson City mare Mama Theresa. So is In Spite of Mama, who has now produced a graded stakes winner in addition to the multiple stakes winner Rotknee. About 24 hours before My Mane Squeeze’s victory, Butler and his wife Loretta were on hand at Aqueduct to celebrate Rotknee’s win in the $97,000 Affirmed Success Stakes to open the Belmont at the Big A meeting.

An early-morning flight from New York to Louisville got the couple to Churchill with plenty of time, but when Buck Butler felt the heat and humidity that blanketed the area following overnight, morning and afternoon showers he wasn’t quite sure what to think.

“With the rain and the heat, I said, ‘I’m going home,’ ” Butler said. “But (Loretta) made me stay. We went down and saw her in the paddock and I was overjoyed when I saw her. She wasn’t feeling real good out at Oaklawn. She looked her old self out here.”

Eighth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes March 30 at Oaklawn, a defeat which scrapped any aspirations for a run in Friday’s Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, My Mane Squeeze went to the post for the Eight Belles as the 6-1 third choice behind odds-on choice Denim and Pearls and 9-2 second pick Impel.

Saez kept My Mane Squeeze in close pursuit of Asternia, Halina’s Forte and R Harper Rose as they scrimmaged through the opening quarter-mile in :22.46.

My Mane Squeeze inched up to third behind Asternia and Halina’s Forte through the half in :45.23. Saez kept her to the outside to that point and around the far turn before taking the lead turning for home.

“My horse handled the off track beautifully,” Saez said. “She traveled great the entire backstretch and was in a very comfortable position. You can tell by my silks that they are still clean and I think that helped her down the lane. We stayed out of all the kickback and she got stronger as we got closer to the wire.”

My Mane Squeeze, winner of the Franklin Square and Maddie May against fellow New York-breds to start her sophomore campaign, opened up a 1-length lead in midstretch and widened it to 2 at the finish.

Juddmonte’s Impel, third in the Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland last time out, rallied to finish third and was 4 1/2 lengths ahead of the 28-1 Asternia. My Mane Squeeze won in 1:22.85.

Mike Maker, who trains My Mane Squeeze for Butler and WinStar Farm, said the filly was in season during her trip to Hot Springs last time out. She acted up in the starting gate, dropped back to last of 10 early and finished a non-threatening eighth behind eventual Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna.

“That was out of character,” Maker said of My Mane Squeeze’s antics in the gate at Oaklawn. “We did some schooling and it looks like it paid off. Maybe the outside post helped, she wasn’t in gate too long. But the previous start just wasn’t her.

“I was happy the way she saddled, and then when she loaded in the gate and she was behaving I was happy, and then the way she broke it was like, ‘we’ll see if she’s good enough.’ ”

Maker and Butler, who took on WinStar as a partner after her victory in the February 18 Maddie May, said My Mane Squeeze earned a shot at Grade 1 company in the Acorn Stakes June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

My Mane Squeeze and Rotknee were foaled at Keane Stud in Amenia and they’re two of four winners out of In Spite of Mama.

In Spite of Mama is also the dam of the 6-year-old New York-bred Into Mischief colt Lookin for Trouble, was a winner and multiple stakes-placed for Butler and Maker. He earned $170,220. In Spite of Mama is also the dam of the 4-year-old New York-bred Bolt d’Oro colt Mama’s Gold, a four-time winner in 14 starts with earnings of $172,641; and a New York-bred 2-year-old filly by 2019 Preakness Stakes winner War of Will and a yearling full brother to Rotknee.

In Spite of Mama, a 12-year-old out of the Carson City mare Mama Theresa, went 3-2-2 in 17 starts for Butler and Maker from 2014 to 2016.

Butler bought Mama Theresa for $65,000 at the 2005 OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training. She won six of 25 starts, placed in two stakes and earned $240,898 for Butler and Timothy Twomey and the late trainer Dominic Galluscio. In Spite of Mama is Mama Theresa’s second foal and a half-sister to five other winners, including Mana’s Dream and stakes winner A Freud of Mama, an earner of $399,818 who also finished third in the Grade 3 Matron Stakes at Belmont Park in 2019 for Butler and Maker.

My Mane Squeeze picked up $291,400 for her Eight Belles victory to boost her earnings to $604,110 from a record of 5-0-2 in eight starts.

Rotknee returns to the winner’s circle in Thursday’s Affirmed Success to kick off the Belmont at the Big A meeting. NYRA Photo.

Rotknee kicked off what could be a super weekend for William “Buck” Butler and his family with a victory in Thursday’s $97,000 Affirmed Success Stakes on Opening Day of the Belmont at the Big A meeting.

The 5-year-old homebred son of Runhappy topped four opponents in the 6-furlong Affirmed Success, run about 24 hours before his half-sister and fellow Butler homebred My Mane Squeeze runs in the $600,000, Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs.

Rotknee also opened a Belmont meet the same way he closed last year’s fall stand at Aqueduct, winning a stakes against fellow state-breds. He won by 1 3/4 lengths over Sheriff Bianco in 1:09.89 over the fast track. Manny Franco rode the winner for trainer Mike Maker, with Butler and his family on hand before a trip to Louisville Friday morning to catch My Mane Squeeze.

“I’ve never seen a bad step from him,” Butler said. “He’s been outrun before, other than that, he knows how to race. He knows how to race and has a heart. He’s got a big heart. I felt that coming down the stretch.

“I wish I could add something. Honestly, I was watching my grandsons as much as I was watching the horse. I had an absolute ball watching them. They come out with me occasionally and it is nice to be able to bring them along here.”

Rotknee, who improved to 10-for-19 with his sixth stakes victory, won last year’s Hudson Stakes on the Empire Showcase Day card to close the Belmont at the Big A fall meeting. Franco didn’t ride that day, nor in Rotknee’s victory two starts back in the Say Florida Sandy Stakes in late January at Aqueduct, but never felt like he was on anything but the winner.

“Yes. Definitely,” he said when asked that very question.

“I knew Excellent Timing, the horse outside me, he got speed, so I was thought he was going to do it [set the pace],” Franco said. “He never cleared me, so I just kept my position and my horse ended up on the lead before the half-mile. I was comfortable where I was.”

Rotknee led at every call in the Affirmed Success, clicking off splits of :22.39 and :44.97 before turning for home with an almost 2-length lead. He rolled past 5 furlongs in :56.93 and held off Sheriff Bianco’s late run. Donegal Surges finished another 2 ¾ lengths back in third with Excellent Timing and Thrill of It completing the field.

Rotknee earned $55,000 for his latest victory and pushed his earnings to $640,580. He also bounced back from a sixth in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap March 2 at Aqueduct.

“He had some tough competition,” Butler said of the Tom Fool. “He came back to visit the New York-breds and he’s pretty successful here.”

My Mane Squeeze ventures out of the New York-bred ranks for the second straight start in the 7-furlong Eight Belles, which goes as the ninth race on the Oaks Day card at 4:04 p.m. ET. The daughter of Audible finished eighth in the Grade 2 Fantasy last time after trouble behind the starting gate, but won three straight New York-bred stakes before that effort at Oaklawn Park.

Butler remains confident in the filly out of his Speightstown mare In Spite of Mama.

“I’m really excited [after the effort] we gave them last time, and I think we had an excuse with the acting up [before the Fantasy],” Butler said. “I’m very, very excited.”

Rotknee and My Mane Squeeze were foaled at Keane Stud in Amenia and they’re two of four winners out of In Spite of Mama.

In Spite of Mama is also the dam of the 6-year-old New York-bred Into Mischief colt Lookin for Trouble, was a winner and multiple stakes-placed for Butler and Maker. He earned $170,220. In Spite of Mama is also the dam of the 4-year-old New York-bred Bolt d’Oro colt Mama’s Gold, a four-time winner in 14 starts with earnings of $172,641; and a New York-bred 2-year-old filly by 2019 Preakness Stakes winner War of Will and a yearling full brother to Rotknee.

In Spite of Mama, a 12-year-old out of the Carson City mare Mama Theresa, went 3-2-2 in 17 starts for Butler and Maker from 2014 to 2016.

Butler bought Mama Theresa for $65,000 at the 2005 OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training. She won six of 25 starts, placed in two stakes and earned $240,898 for Butler and Timothy Twomey and the late trainer Dominic Galluscio. In Spite of Mama is Mama Theresa’s second foal and a half-sister to four other winners, including stakes winner A Freud of Mama, an earner of $399,818 who also finished third in the Grade 3 Matron Stakes at Belmont Park in 2019 for Butler and Maker.