Myhartblongstodady adds Ticonderoga to growing resume for owner and breeder Lawrence Goichman. NYRA Photo.
By Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Myhartblongstodady kept her 2020 record unblemished with a gate-to-wire win of the Ticonderoga Stakes Saturday at Belmont Park and had owner-breeder Lawrence Goichman breathing a sigh of relief.
The 5-year-old Scat Daddy mare drifted to the center of the track for a few strides in the stretch but made it clear she was going to win well before the wire on the way to a 3-length victory. Goichman thought Myhartblongstodady had a good chance at crossing the line first but the worrying wasn’t over when she straightened up.
“I just said “thank God” and I was hopeful that nobody else showed great energy and determination,” he said of the closing stage of the race. “You do hold your breath when you’re ahead, believe me. You don’t take anything for granted, you never know what will happen.”
For Myhartblongstodady’s owner and breeder, the victory was a culmination of years of work that started when he brought her granddam from Juddmonte Farm.
“It’s what people who breed horses dream about,” Goichman said. “When you plan pedigrees you say ‘can I get in the winner’s circle, can I win a stakes race?’ She’s just been awesome. She’s been a really terrific horse for us, I bought her granddam from a Juddmonte dispersal in England a number of years ago and I’ve done well.”
The victory is the fourth straight for Myhartblongstodady, who broke her maiden on debut in 2018 and had been close to another win in four starts since that race but didn’t secure it until last November. Off for eight months after that win, Myhartblongstodady moved to trainer Jorge Abreu’s barn and Goichman thinks that may have played a big part.
“Jorge Abreu has done a wonderful job getting her to relax, be comfortable,” he said. “He’s got some grooms that get along with her and they make her feel very happy and comfy. She comes out, she loves her job, she’s not stressed. You can see her body language and that she’s really comfortable and she’s not fretting and rearing up and doing anything stupid in the paddock.”
While Goichman cautioned that things can change, right now he is leaning toward bringing her back next year with hopes of adding another mark on the family’s resume.
“I enjoy the family and I’d like to see them win a graded stakes, that’s everyone’s dream here,” he said. “So far she’s definitely stepped up her game. She’s shown a dimension she didn’t before where we didn’t see her ever try to take the front. Now she plays the break and if the pieces come her way, she’ll take the front. Once upon a time we might take her back and now we just let her have fun.”
Foaled at Edition Farm in Hyde Park and a second generation homebred for Goichman, she is out of his stakes placed New York-bred mare Elusive Rumour. Goichman also bred Elusive Rumour’s stakes-winning half-sister Beebe Lake and her own stakes-placed daughter Roses for Romney.
Elusive Rumour also has a 3-year-old gelding named Scuttlebuzz who is racing in New York, a 2-year-old filly by Flintshire named Runaway Rumour, a yearling colt by More Than Ready and a weanling colt by Oscar Performance with her foals keeping their proud New York-bred tradition alive. Elusive Rumour was covered again this year by Oscar Performance.
Somelikeithotbrown continues climb toward another title
Already a New York-bred champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old, Somelikeithotbrown made it clear he is searching for another trophy this year with a win in the Mohawk Stakes.
Battling with Rinaldi for the lead as they ticked off early fractions of :23.72 and :47.67 early in the 1 1/16-mile Mohawk, owner and co-breeder Skychai Racing’s Harvey Diamond was worried it may be too fast for the son of Big Brown. However, when the 4-year-old colt had a second to relax around the turn it played to his strength.
“I was very surprised. The half went in 47 and change and I thought maybe that was a little fast for him but it really wasn’t,” Diamond said. “He kind of took a breather on the turn, he got in to the stretch a length or so on the lead and changed leads and took off.”
While Rinaldi would fade to finish last, Somelikeithotbrown went on to win by 1 1/2 lengths over Therapist. Not able to attend the New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ Annual Awards Dinner this year, Diamond is hopeful they’ll get to take home another trophy this year. Cross Border, who like Somelikeithotbrown is trained by Mike Maker, finshed third in the Mohawk to boost Diamond’s hopes.
“He was named 2- and 3-year-old of the year the last two years of New York-bred horses and we didn’t get to come up this year to Saratoga because of COVID-19,” Diamond said. “Hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to come to Saratoga in April. I think Cross Border was a close contender [for divisional awards] and I think this race did it. I kind of thought this was the race for the championship for the older horses.”
Diamond said that as long as all goes well Somelikeithotbrown would return next year.
Bred by Hot Pink Stables and Sand Dollar Stables and foaled at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson, Somelikeithotbrown has been special to the Skychai team from the start. They named him as a weanling, with his moniker a play on both his dam, the Tapit mare Marilyn Monroan, and Kentucky Derby and Preakness-winning sire.
“We named him after the movie Some Like It Hot, one of [Marilyn Monroe’s] best movies and then we added on the brown and it kind of goes along with Hot Brown, which is one of the sacred foods here in Louisville,” Diamond said. “[Partner Jim Shircliff] and I went up to the farm to see him as a weanling and as soon as we saw him Jim said Somelikeithotbrown so he was named as a weanling, which is very unusual for us.”
Racing for Skychai Racing and David Koenig, Somelikeithotbrown is one of two stakes winners for Marilyn Monroan and Skychai Racing alongside 3-year-old Jolting Joe. Skychai races that colt with Sand Dollar Stable with the pair also racing Marilyn Monroan alongside Hot Pink Stable.
