Arctic Arrogance leads superfecta sweep for Broman-breds in the Sleepy Hollow. NYRA Photo.
You expect Chester and Mary Broman to cast a long shadow on Empire Showcase Day, but breeding the top four finishers of a stakes race is impressive, even for them.
That’s what happened in the $200,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes for 2-year-olds Sunday at the Belmont at the Big A meeting, as all you needed to do to hit the superfecta was to box the Broman-breds.
The Broman-owned Arctic Arrogance, by Frosted out of the Uncle Mo mare Modest Maven, gave up the lead but rallied on the inside in the stretch and won the Sleepy Hollow by 4 1/2 lengths. Quick to Accuse, a son of Accelerate and half-brother to New York-bred champion Mr. Buff, got up for second over Starquist with Donegal Surges fourth.
“There’s no race in New York where you’re not going to find a Broman-bred horse,” said winning trainer Linda Rice. “They have a great program and I’m fortunate to be a part of it.”
Rice wins at only 10 percent with her first-time starters, so when Arctic Arrogance was bet down to 5-2 and won his debut on Closing Day at Saratoga Race Course, you had the feeling this horse might be a good one. He was sent off as the 4-5 favorite in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes Sept. 29, but was caught by longshot Jackson Heights in the stretch.
“He’s a hard horse to keep fit,” Rice said. “After he won at Saratoga, I let the weight get out of control and it cost us. I put more pressure on him (three 5-furlong works) than you would typically put on a 2-year-old, and it paid off.”
Rice attributed the win in the career debut to the horse being extremely fit, albeit green.
“We had a difficult time getting him to leave the gate,” she said. “He was fit enough to run three weeks before we ran him. I knew this horse had real talent and there was no reason he shouldn’t win first time out. I had to spend an extra few weeks with him, just to convince him we had to leave the gate. His gate schooling took much longer than usual. Hence, he was really ready to run at Saratoga.”
In the Sleepy Hollow, Starquist broke first, but Arctic Arrogance saved ground and led through a quarter-mile in :23.62 and a half in :47.93. Starquist took the lead on the far turn, but once the field straightened out, Arctic Arrogance put on a burst up the rail and won impressively.
“Today, going a mile, he doesn’t have to use his energy too early and he got more comfortable the whole way,” jockey Jose Lezcano said. “When I asked him, he took off very well. I got to the quarter pole and put my hands down and he acted very nice.”
Arctic Arrogance, who earned $110,000 for the win to pad his bankroll to $183,400, was foaled at Chestertown Farm in Chestertown and is the second foal out of Modest Maven. A $1 million purchase at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale of 2-year-olds in training, Modest Maven is also the dam of the 3-year-old Accelerate colt Overstep, who finished second in last year’s Sleepy Hollow. Modest Maven is also the dam of a yearling New York-bred filly by Frosted, bred by the Bromans.
– Paul Halloran
Les Bon Temps handles stretch out in Maid of the Mist
Les Bon Temps edges away from Miracle late to win the Maid of the Mist. NYRA Photo.
Les Bon Temps needed to improve off her first start in a new barn to succeed in the $200,000 Maid of the Mist Stakes and did just that, toppling nine rivals for her first stakes victory at 13-1.
Third behind Gambling Girl and Miracle last time out in the Joseph A. Gimma Sept. 28 at the Belmont at the Big A meeting, the 2-year-old daughter of Laoban handled the added distance of the 1-mile Maid of the Mist under Luis Saez. Les Bon Temps edged Miracle by a length after a duel with that foe for more than a furlong.
“It was pretty tough,” said Saez, who rode the winner for trainer Mike Maker and owners Deuce Greathouse, Cindy Hutson and Brett Setzer. “The horse on the lead [Miracle] didn’t want to stop and they fought until the end. But on the final jump, we got right there in time. It was an exciting race.”
Saez said stretching out to a mile “definitely helped” Les Bon Temps, who won her 5-furlong debut at Churchill Downs before three straight defeats at 6, 6 ½ and 7 furlongs.
“That was best for her. She gave me a good kick at the top of the stretch,” Saez said.
Miracle, the 4-1 third choice behind 9-5 favorite Gambling Girl and Im Just Kiddin, took the lead from the start and clicked off splits of :23.32 and :46.82 under Flavien Prat. Banterra and Les Bon Temps gave chase before the latter moved into second through 6 furlongs in 1:11.73.
Les Bon Temps swung four wide into the stretch and made a bid to the outside of Miracle in the lane. The two dueled from outside the eighth pole through the stretch before Les Bon Temps edged clear just before the finish. Miracle finished 13 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Silver Skillet with Gambling Girl fourth in the field of 10. Les Bon Temps won in 1:37.70.
Bred by Southern Equine Stables, foaled at Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater and out of the unraced Tapizar mare Winsanity, Les Bon Temps was purchased by Greathouse and Pura Vida Racing for $65,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale. She made her first three starts for Norm Casse before being transferred to Maker, who prepped the filly out his Belmont Park barn.
Les Bon Temps is the second foal out of Winsanity, who also produced the winning New York-bred 3-year-old Bodemeister gelding The Man to See, and a yearling full brother to the Maid of the Mist winner and a weanling New York-bred filly by Honest Mischief foaled March 1. The latter two foals were bred by Cypress Creek Equine.
– Tom Law
