River Thames flies the flag for Empire State in Preakness

New York-bred River Thames takes his turn in the 2025 Triple Crown when he takes on eight others in the 150th running of the $2 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.

Owned by WinStar Farm, CHC Inc., Pantofel Stable and Wachtel Stable and trained by Todd Pletcher, River Thames drew post six in the field of nine for the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride the son of Maclean’s Music, who is pegged as the 9-2 third choice behind 8-5 morning-line favorite and Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism and 4-1 second choice and Arkansas Derby winner Sandman.

River Thames comes into the 1 3/16-mile Preakness with two wins in four starts and placings in the Grade 2 Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park and Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. The Fountain of Youth loss came by just a neck to eventual Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty.

River Thames earned sufficient points to land a spot in the starting gate for the May 3 Kentucky Derby but his connections opted to wait, giving the colt six weeks between starts.

“He has proven that he has held good company,” Pletcher said. “We’ve been able to give him a little space here, after his first three races were all pretty close together. So hopefully that little extra time from [the Blue Grass] to the Preakness and being fresh, gives him a chance to make a move forward.”

Pletcher breezed River Thames three times between the Blue Grass and Preakness, including a half-mile tightener in :48.25 last weekend on the Belmont Park training track.

“We are happy with his condition,” Pletcher said after the work. “He has bounced out of the Blue Grass well. He has been training consistently here. He has put on a few pounds, so we are happy with the way he is coming into it.”

Bred by CTR Stables LLC and foaled at Stonegate Stables in Fort Edward, River Thames sold to CHC, Siena Farm and WinStar’s Maverick Racing for $200,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. He’s the first foal out of the winning Discreet Cat mare Proportionality, a half-sister to stakes winner Miss Interpret from the family of Grade 1 winners Paulassilverlining and Dads Caps.

The Preakness, broadcast by NBC, goes as the 13th of 14 races Saturday with post time set for 7:01 p.m. ET.

• Waterville Lake Stable’s homebred Loon Cry, a finalist for champion New York-bred turf female honors in 2024, makes her first start since early November in Friday’s $100,000 The Very One Stakes sprinting on the turf. Trained by Christophe Clement and foaled at Stonewall Farm in Granite Springs, the 5-year-old daughter of More Than Ready won one of her two stakes on the Maryland circuit last year when she took the 6-furlong Sensible Lady at Laurel Park. She’s the 9-5 favorite on the morning line for jockey Flavien Prat, not including potential main track only runners if the race is moved off the grass. Post time for The Very One, which goes at 5 furlongs on the turf, is 4:38 p.m.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/05/12/river-thames-flies-the-flag-for-empire-state-in-preakness/

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Whatchatalkinabout grits out John A. Nerud win

Whatchatalkinabout returned to stakes company for the first time since October 2023 and came away with a gritty victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $169,750 John A. Nerud at Aqueduct.

Owned by Ice Wine Stable and trained by Wesley Ward, the 4-year-old son of Dialed In also returned from an almost five-month layoff to win a three-way photo in the 6-furlong Nerud. Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Whatchatalkinabout, who edged Silver Slugger to his inside and Surveillance to the outside.

Bet down to even-money favoritism, Whatchatalkinabout broke well and relinquished the lead early to Silver Slugger up the backstretch. Silver Slugger led through the opening quarter-mile in :21.89 over the fast track, just ahead of Whatchatalkinabout with Surveillance and Full Moon Madness right behind the top pair.

Silver Slugger and Whatchatalkinabout continued their battle around the far turn and to the half in :44.84 with Surveillance ranging up three wide at the top of the lane. The trio flashed past the eighth pole heads apart in :56.67 for the 5 furlongs and threw it down in deep stretch.

Whatchatalkinabout edged clear of Silver Slugger just before the wire for his second stakes score and fourth overall win from seven starts. Whatchatalkinabout, scratched at the gate before last month’s Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland, won in 1:09.03.

“He’s a good horse, talented,” Ward said. “He ran a gutsy race. I was proud of him. That horse on the inside [Silver Slugger] ran a big one and also the grey horse on the outside [Surveillance]. To be in the middle of those two and for him to gut through it really showed something.

Ortiz came away equally impressed.

“He was good. I was supposed to ride him last time and we scratched at the gate,” he said. “He was much better at the gate. That helped, we broke so good, he put me right in the race, and after that I was closer than I thought, and I go from there. He was game at the end. He felt the outside horse and fought. Then the inside horse came back, and he fights back and by the time we hit the wire he had his head in front. He was game, he was fighting.”

Whatchatalkinabout started his career with two wins in three starts, including a debut score in mid-May 2023 at Belmont Park and the New York Breeders’ Futurity in mid-October at Finger Lakes. He also finished third behind The Wine Steward and El Grande O in the Funny Cide Stakes on Saratoga Showcase Day during his juvenile season.

Off until last October, Whatchatalkinabout returned with back-to-back seconds at Aqueduct before an 8-length victory in mid-January at Aqueduct. Ward purposely waited until this spring to bring Whatchatalkinabout back to the races.

“He ran such a big number in his last race, I just wanted to give him a bunch of time,” Ward said. “I’ve learned a lot over the 35 years. When I started, I had black hair and now it’s white, so, I’ve learned what not to do. It’s hard to be patient, especially when he ran a big one like that.”

Bred by Newtown Anner Stud, Whatchatalkinabout is the sixth foal out of the unraced Super Saver mare Super Savvy. A half-sister to Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed Don’t Forget Gil, Super Savvy is the dam of 10-time winner and $354,215-earner Prince James and winner Stopdropandroll.

Super Savvy is also the dam of the 2-year-old New York-bred Sharp Azteca colt Hamilton’s Reason and a colt by Maxfield born February 12 in Kentucky. Newtown Anner Stud bred both colts.

Originally consigned by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale, Whatchatalkinabout left the ring unsold on a bid of $38,000. Reoffered by Blake-Albina at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale, Whatchatalkinabout sold to Ward for $82,000.

Whatchatalkinabout earned $96,250 for the Nerud victory to boost his bankroll to $335,328.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/05/10/whatchatalkinabout-grits-out-john-a-nerud-win/

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Spirit of St Louis collects second Grade 1 in Old Forester Turf Classic on Derby Day

Spirit of St Louis vaulted to the top of the North American male turf division Saturday with a rousing victory in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs.

Reunited with Manny Franco – who rode the Medaglia d’Oro gelding to six stakes wins in 2023 and 2024 – Spirit of St Louis added the Turf Classic to his victory two starts back in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park. He also bounced back from a close fourth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes in late March at Fair Grounds.

Sent off again as the favorite – this time 3-1 against nine others over the saturated turf course labeled good – Spirit of St Louis closed from the back of the field to win a six-way wild finish by three-quarters of a length over Mercante and Highway Robber. Franco angled Spirit of St Louis wide into the lane, avoiding any trouble down inside to give owners Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Richard Schermerhorn the win in the traditional Derby Day fixture.

“I was so happy in the last 200 yards because I thought I made the right move,” Franco said. “There were a lot of horses back in the same spot and I never had to stop and that was the key.”

Brown also praised Franco’s ride, which provided the trainer with his fifth victory in the Turf Classic following scores with Program Trading (2024), Domestic Spending (2021), Digital Age (2020) and Bricks and Mortar (2019).

“He was standing flat-footed and he didn’t break all that well,” Brown said. “But Manny did a good job of saving ground with him in the first turn and then got him running late. I was confident today with this horse because he does real well on soft turf. I’ve been following his numbers and he is getting better and better. But he has surprised me with how far he can run.”

Spirit of St Louis improved to 3-for-4 at 9 furlongs, winning in 1:48.20. A full brother to New York-bred Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold, Spirit of St Louis also improved to 11-for-16 with three seconds in the Turf Classic. He earned $530,110 to boost his bankroll to $1,809,250, good for 14th on the all-time list of New York-bred earners.

Bred by Chester and the late Mary Broman and foaled at their Chestertown Farm in Chestertown, Spirit of St Louis is also a half-brother to stakes-placed New York-breds Land Mine and Homeland. Khancord Kid, a Grade 3 winner, has produced five winners. She’s also the dam of a 2-year-old full brother to Spirit of St Louis named Kid’s Khanclusion.

The Bromans bought Khancord Kid’s dam, Confidently, for $1 million at the 2000 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. Out of Grade 1 winner Key Phrase, Confidently is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Yankee Gentleman with her dam a half-sister to the dam of champion Shared Belief.

Spirit of St Louis, a $300,000 purchase by BSW/Crow out of the 2020 Keeneland September yearling sale, made his first two starts for owner Peter Brant and Brown. He won his debut on the dirt in mid-February 2023 before a second in a 9-furlong allowance on the dirt, both at Aqueduct. Dubb purchased Spirit of St Louis for $280,000 shortly after that effort, at the Keeneland April horses of racing age sale. He’s won 10 of 13, including a run of five straight stakes from late 2023 to the summer of 2024.

The Turf Classic marked just the fourth graded try for Spirit of St Louis, who also finished a troubled fifth in last year’s Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland. He bounced back from that effort to win his second straight Mohawk Stakes on Empire Showcase Day in late October to close his 5-year-old campaign and set up a strong start to 2025.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/05/03/spirit-of-st-louis-collects-second-grade-1-in-old-forester-turf-classic-on-derby-day/

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New York-breds set for Oaks-Derby weekend

A trio of runners will fly the flag for the New York Thoroughbred breeding program at Churchill Downs in Grade 1 events on this weekend’s Kentucky Oaks-Kentucky Derby cards.

The group includes Early On in Friday’s headlining $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks, which lost a New York-bred Thursday morning following the scratch of potential contender Five G.

Early On, a 3-year-old daughter of Union Rags bred by John Lauriello, will start from post one in the 9-furlong Oaks for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and owners C2 Racing Stable, Ken Reimer and Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch and Bradley Kent. She finished second by a nose behind Ballerina d’Oro last time out in the Grade 3 Gazelle April 5 at Aqueduct and is listed at 30-1 on the morning line for the Oaks.

“This is unbelievable. She’s going to be in the Kentucky Oaks,” Lauriello said last month. “I’m 77. I’ve been in and out of the horse business in a small way for 50 years. This is just a miracle. That filly has really done well. Sometimes you get lucky, not often.”

Lauriello lives in Alabama and keeps a small band of broodmares as a hobby. He purchased the winning Distorted Humor mare Sally O’Brien, carrying Early On in utero, for $75,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Sally O’Brien later sold in foal to Corniche for $55,000 to Fortune Farm at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale.

Early On, who also finished second behind fellow Oaks entrant Fondly in the Virginia Oaks March 15 at Colonial Downs, was foaled at Hickory Hill Farm Thoroughbreds in Fort Edward and sold for $20,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.

“I love the New York program,” Lauriello said. “The New York breeding program is second to none in my opinion. I’ve been involved in horse racing with some folks from Birmingham and upstate New York, but the breeding was as much or more fun. The people from Birmingham got old and stopped their horse racing business, still fans, but didn’t want to breed or race, so I started about 15 years ago buying broodmares.

“I grew up in Amsterdam. The Sanford family had a farm there. When the season started at Saratoga, we used to hitchhike, and when kids couldn’t get in, we’d stand on the hoods of cars and look over the bushes to see the track. From the time I was a kid in Amsterdam going to the Sanford farm, I got bit early. Long story short, I got the bug.”

The New York program lost its other Oaks entrant, Grade 1 Gulfstream Parks Oaks winner Five G, when trainer George Weaver scratched the daughter of Vekoma after she reportedly backed off her feed and didn’t train to his satisfaction. The Gatsas Stables’ homebred figured to be one of the potential threats to favorites Good Cheer, Quietside, La Cara and Ballerina d’Oro.

“This is the type of race where you’ve got to be 110 percent and we don’t feel like she is,” Weaver told Daily Racing Form’s David Grening Thursday morning.

The Kentucky Oaks goes as the 11th of 13 races Friday with post time set for 5:51 p.m. ET.

The other two Grade 1-bound New York-breds run on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby Day card.

• Gary Barber’s Mi Bago, the winner of three straight stakes to end 2024 and start this season, leads things off when he takes on a full field of 13 other 3-year-olds in the newly upgraded $1 million American Turf presented by Ford. Bred by Highclere Inc., the son of Vekoma drew post four in the full field for the 1 1/16-mile turf event that goes as the ninth race at 4:06 p.m.

Mi Bago won the Pulpit Stakes on the turf in late November, Dania Beach on synthetic on New Year’s Day and Colonel Liam back on the grass in early March, all at Gulfstream for trainer Mark Casse. Foaled at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham and out of the Indian Charlie mare Wabanaki, Mi Bago is 10-1 on the morning line for jockey Jose Ortiz.

• Spirit of St Louis, winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf two starts back, could give the Empire State its best chance of the weekend in the $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes. Campaigned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Richard Schermerhorn, the 6-year-old Medaglia d’Oro gelding is the 9-2 second choice in the field of 12 entered in the 9-furlong stakes.

Bred by Chester and Mary Broman, foaled at their Chestertown Farm in Chestertown and out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Khancord Kid, Spirit of St Louis reunites with Manny Franco for the Turf Classic. Franco rode the gelding to six stakes victories in 2023 and 2024, including back-to-back editions of the Mohawk on Empire Showcase Day. Trained by Chad Brown, Spirit of St Louis drew post 10. The Turf Classic goes at 5:39 p.m., leading in as usual to the headlining Kentucky Derby at 6:57 p.m.

Notes: Buck Butler’s homebred My Mane Squeeze was entered in Saturday’s $1 million Derby City Distaff Stakes presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery but reportedly will scratch in favor of next Saturday’s Grade 2 Ruffian at Aqueduct. The 4-year-old daughter of Audible is trained by Mike Maker and co-owned by WinStar Farm.

 

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/05/01/new-york-breds-set-for-oaks-derby-weekend/

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Mo Plex adds another open company score in Bay Shore

R and H Stable’s Mo Plex returned to the winner’s circle – back against open company for the first time since last fall – in Saturday’s $145,500 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct.

The 3-year-old graded stakes-winning son of Complexity dueled for the lead early outside of Faster Gator early and shrugged off that foe in the stretch for his second open stakes victory. The win was Mo Plex’s first in four starts since taking the Funny Cide Stakes in late August at Saratoga Race Course.

“That was great,” winning trainer Jeremiah Englehart said. “The whole team did a great job. He looked great in the paddock. His groom, and Harlem [Johnson] and Dana [Saul, assistants] did really well with him. It was nice to get him back in winning fashion. The 3 horse [Faster Gator] ran a hell of a race and so did the West Point colt [No. 1, Pascaline]. They both look like horses with bright futures so hopefully he moves onward and upward from here.”

Faster Gator, who entered a 2-for-2 record at Laurel Park, made the lead from post 3 under Arnaldo Bocachica but it was 6-5 favorite Mo Plex and jockey Manny Franco who pressured from the outside and put a head in front through an opening quarter-mile in :23.09 over the fast main track.

Pascaline attempted an inside move approaching the turn with New York-bred maiden winner Share the Ludt and McKellen trying wide bids as Faster Gator battled back to gain a half-length advantage after a half in :45.55.

Mo Plex put his head back in front at the stretch call, but a stubborn Faster Gator continued to find more as the field straightened away. Mo Plex, game and determined, would not be denied the narrow win by head in a final time of 1:21.96. Pascaline completed the trifecta with Share the Ludt and McKellen rounded out the order of finish.

“He was [game]. You’ve got give credit to the horse from Anthony [Farrior, trainer of Faster Gator] – he was tough to go by, but at the same time, I feel my horse was running for me, so I was happy,” Franco said. “I was happy with where I was. [Faster Gator] broke on top, I let him take it and just sit right next to him and put the pressure. I knew that I got Javier [Castellano, aboard McKellen] outside, so he wanted to get close to me and I let my horse go a little bit. I had a lot of horse under me the whole way.

“He’s getting more mature, more intelligent. He liked to get out before, but now it seems like he’s straightening out a lot better this year.”

Bred by Avi and Rhoda Freedberg’s Everything’s Cricket Racing and foaled at Stonegate Stables in Fort Edward, Mo Plex is the first foal for the Uncle Mo mare Mo Joy. He was offered but listed as an RNA for $27,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.

Englehart and Legion Bloodstock purchased Mo Plex for R and H Stable for $45,000 out of last year’s OBS April 2-year-olds in training sale.

A finalist for New York-bred champion 2-year-old male honors, Mo Plex won his debut against state-breds by 10 lengths last June at Aqueduct before a victory in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes on opening weekend of the Saratoga Race Course meeting. Mo Plex ran his record to 3-for-3 with a victory in the $200,000 Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital on Saratoga Showcase Day. He finished the season with a third in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes and a runner-up finish in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes on Empire Showcase Day, both at Aqueduct.

Mo Plex improved to 4-for-7 with Bay Shore victory and boosted his earnings to $445,000.

“Any time that you get a horse who looks very precocious as a 2-year-old, and goes on and wins his first three races, obviously he’s going to be running against tougher competition,” Englehart said. “He got beat a couple of times, but if you look at who beat him, they are no slouches. His last race was his first race off a layoff going a flat mile. You want them to back up what you think of them, and I’m glad to get another ‘W,’ and kind of re-affirm what we have thought all along about him.”

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/04/19/mo-plex-adds-another-open-company-score-in-bay-shore/

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