Spirit of New York fends off Black Volt late to win the Bertram F. Bongard Saturday at Aqueduct. Coglianese Photo.
Spirit of New York bounced back from a solid effort in his open company stakes debut to score in Saturday’s $150,000 Bertram F. Bongard Stakes for New York-bred 2-year-olds.
Owned by Michael Dubb, Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group, Winners Win and Mark Parkinson, the son of New York-based sire Honest Mischief won the 6-furlong Bongard by a half-length under Manny Franco. Trained by Adam Rice, Spirit of New York came into the Bongard off a third in the Skidmore Stakes August 16 at Saratoga Race Course.
“He seemed to find his friends,” Rice said. “He was up against it pretty good last time at Saratoga, so maybe New York-bred (company) helped him – three-quarters, big turns here. It was a nice race.
“I’ll be honest with you, I think I left him a little short last time. The way he came back and looked after the race and the way he looked today – that’s going back to the drawing board and taking notes of him. Maybe I made a mistake that he should have been a little more honest. I didn’t think that he was that bad off against open company, but I could have been wrong.
Sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the field of six, Spirit of New York raced third early while Funny Factor and Cristobal clicked off the opening quarter-mile in :22.50 over the firm turf.
Funny Factor still led by a half-length through the half-mile split in :45.25. Spirit of New York came wide out of the far turn and into the lane. He took the lead in upper stretch and led by a length past 5 furlongs in :56.76. Spirit of New York widened his advantage from there while Black Volt, coming out of an open-company maiden win September 1 at Colonial Downs, made a late run in the stretch.
“I had the trip that I wanted,” Franco said. “I wanted to sit right off of horses. This horse was helping me the whole way. I felt like I had horse under me. I was just waiting for the moment to move. I made my move and he made the lead. He kind of waited a little bit on horses. As soon as he felt the horse outside of him, he kept on going. He got it done.”
Spirit of New York held off Black Volt to win in 1:08.55. Lawyer Mason finished another 3 ¼ lengths back in third.
Bred by Magic Oaks Farm, Spirit of New York is the third foal and second winner out of the Candy Ride mare Unbroken Spirit.
Magic Oaks bought Unbroken Spirit for $4,500 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale. Her first foal, the 3-year-old New York-bred Mo Town gelding Skippy Town, is 2-1-1 in seven starts with $42,844 in earnings.
Spirit of New York made his debut July 16 at Saratoga for owner and trainer Adam Rice, winning a 5 ½-furlong state-bred turf maiden by 3 1/4 lengths. Rice sold the gelding privately after that win and his current connections owned him when he finished 4 3/4 lengths behind Bobrovsky in the $139,500 Skidmore.
“I like the horse a lot,” Rice said. “I’m blessed to be able to keep him after the new ownership took over. I’m really just glad to win for them and to win here. It’s awesome.”
Spirit of New York collected $82,500 for his win in the Bongard and boosted his bankroll to $150,000.
