Leon Blue digs in for Rick Violette victory

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Leon Blue edges Smooth Breeze in Thursday’s Rick Violette Stakes at Saratoga. Coglianese Photo.

Leon Blue fended off odds-on favorite and became the latest headline maker produced by Alana’s Allure in the $145,500 Rick Violette Stakes during Thursday’s New York Thoroughbred Aftercare Day at Saratoga Race Course.

Leon Blue, under apprentice Chris Elliott, dug in and fended off several challenges from Smooth Breeze, under reigning Eclipse Award winner Flavien Prat, to win the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-old New York-breds by a neck. Dismissed at 6-1in the field of five, Leon Blue improved to 2-3-1 from six starts with his first stakes victory for trainer Melanie Giddings and owners Paul Braverman, Al Gold’s Gold Square, AWC Stables and Scott Akman.

“It’s a really good group of people that own this horse and they’ve been super patient with him and let us do anything the horse needs – to take the time and be patient with him,” Giddings said.

Bred by Cheryl Prudhomme and Dr. Michael Gallivan, foaled at Shamrock Hill Farm in Fort Edward and named for the late trainer and lifelong racetracker, Leon Blue is the second foal out of the unraced Shackleford mare Alana’s Allure. She’s out of the Group 2-place Chilean-bred Dancing Groom mare Bella Madame.

Alana’s Allure’s first foal, the 5-year-old Central Banker gelding Allure of Money, sports a record of 8-2-1 in 22 starts and $248,345 in earnings. Also bred by Prudhomme and Gallivan, Allure of Money won the 2022 Tin Cup Chalice Stakes to close his 2-year-old campaign and returned to win the New York Derby and Leon Reed Memorial Stakes, both at Finger Lakes, to earn a finalist nod for champion 3-year-old male honors in 2023.

Bloodstock agent Joe Hardoon purchased Leon Blue for Paul Braverman for $100,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. He went winless in three starts last year, but now sports two wins in three starts this year.

Leon Blue came into the Rick Violette off a runner-up finish by a nose to Outsource in a 1 1/16-mile state-bred allowance on the turf June 4 at Saratoga. After a brief duel with Sounds Like a Plan, Leon Blue settled into third behind that foe and Smooth Breeze into the first turn and through the opening quarter-mile in :23.29.

Sounds Like a Plan continued to lead around the turn and into the backstretch, with the field bunching up a bit to the half in :47.31. Sounds Like a Plan stayed in front through 6 furlongs in 1:11.08 with Leon Blue ready to take command in the stretch and Smooth Breeze poised a bit further out.

Leon Blue came wide into the stretch, forcing Smooth Breeze out just a bit and taking over. Smooth Breeze came in on Leon Blue at about the three-sixteenths pole but didn’t stop the eventual winner’s momentum. Leon Blue won in 1:41.34. Smooth Breeze, the 1-2 favorite after a win two starts back in a state-bred allowance April 27 at Aqueduct, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Sounds Like a Plan with Outsource and I’m Due completing the field. Leon Blue won in 1:41.34.

“That was an unlucky head bob,” Giddings said of Leon Blue’s June 4 race. “Chris rode the horse perfect; the horse was just a little sharp going his first two turns off the layoff. He was bound to be fresh, and I think he got a little tired on him late. We made a couple of equipment adjustments today – cut back the blinkers a little bit and he was fitter today to go the two turns, so we knew we were sitting in a good spot.

Elliott liked where Leon Blue put him every step of the 1 1/16 miles.

“I was really confident in my horse. He was fighting back, he’s a fighter. He really gave me everything he had,” said Elliott, winning his first race at the proper Saratoga meet. “It’s unreal, this is the place to be. I am very fortunate to have gotten all of the support here. I really appreciate all the trainers and everyone who has given me the opportunity.”

Leon Blue picked up $82,500 and boosted his bankroll to $184,200.

Alana’s Allure might have more future winners in the pipeline after her third foal, the New York-bred Vekoma colt now named Kirkwood sold for $300,000 to the late Christophe Clement at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred sale. Kirkwood shows three breezes on his worktab, including a half in :50.01 July 14 on the Belmont Park training track. Alana’s Allure is also the dam of a yearling filly by Tacitus and a weanling filly by Cyberknife, both bred in New York by Prudhomme and Gallivan.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/07/17/leon-blue-digs-in-for-rick-violette-victory/

Mommy’s Turn lands first stakes in Suzie O’Cain

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Mommy’s Turn lands first stakes victory in Wednesday’s Suzie O’Cain at Saratoga Race Course. Coglianese Photo/Susie Raisher.

By Alec DiConza

Mommy’s Turn isn’t always the easiest horse to handle, but that didn’t matter Wednesday when she ran away from her rivals under Jose Lezcano to win the $150,000 Suzie O’Cain Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

“She’s a challenge to train and to ride,” winning trainer Chad Brown said. “Jose has done a good job with her. I’m really happy for him because she’s one of the more challenging horses I have in my stable to ride. We made a couple little adjustments for this race. I don’t think she’s ever going to be not difficult. I like that she drew inside and Jose did a great job to sort of walk that line between not taking too much out of her, holding her in there and keeping her straight as he held her, but holding his position. Great ride, great performance.”

Breaking from post two in the 1 1/16-mile stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies, Mommy’s Turn sat a ground-saving trip in third through the first turn while slightly keen, tugging at Lezcano throughout. The daughter of Mendelssohn settled more on the backstretch and into the far turn before slicing through early leaders Grace and Grit and Boston’s Phinest in the stretch to take the lead.

Mommy’s Turn dashed home from there and won by 2 lengths in 1:42.28 for owners Team Hanley and Thirty Year Racing.

“She relaxed more today,” Lezcano said. “We made a change on the bit and that helped, too. My filly, she can do anything. She can go inside, outside. I had the chance to go outside, but I had a little space between horses. I said, ‘I’ll go for it’ and she did it.”

Coming off a second in an allowance against New York-breds last month at Aqueduct, Mommy’s Turn successfully stepped up in class, boosted her record to two wins in four starts and increased her career earnings to $143,075. Brown said the filly could run back in another New York-bred stakes race.

“We skipped our conditions today just because she’s eligible,” he said. “You don’t see too many straight 3-year-old New York-bred turf races, so I decided to skip the allowance race and go here. She’s a nice horse for the future if we take care of her, too. Pick our spots this year, take care of her.

“I’ve had some of these New York-bred turf horses through the years where we just run them when their season is in bloom, and we rest them when they’re not. If she stays healthy, that’s what we’ll do with her.”

Mommy’s Turn was bred by Chester and the late Mary Broman, foaled at their Chestertown Farm in Chestertown and sold for $115,000 at the 2024 OBS April sale. She’s the fourth foal out of the two-time stakes-winning More Than Ready mare Hard To Stay Notgo.

Hard To Stay Notgo’s other foals include the stakes-winning Makin My Move and the stakes-placed Gotta Go Mo. Evaluation, another one of her offspring, won on debut at Saratoga last summer. Hard To Stay Notgo is also the dam of an unnamed 2-year-old by Justify and a yearling colt by Yaupon – both bred by the Bromans – and a colt by Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish born April 23 and bred by Chester Broman.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/07/16/mommys-turn-lands-first-stakes-in-suzie-ocain/

Train the Trainer delivers in New York Derby

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Train the Trainer rolls to victory in Monday’s New York Derby at Finger Lakes. SV Photography.

Train the Trainer continued his ascent up the ranks of New York-bred 3-year-olds with a front-running victory in Monday’s $156,000 New York Derby at Finger Lakes.

Alipony Racing’s and Saints or Sinners’ Train the Trainer, the 1-2 favorite making his first start around two turns, won the 1 1/16-mile New York Derby by 4 lengths over second choice Hit the Post. Irad Ortiz Jr., in from Saratoga Race Course on the first dark day of the summer meeting, rode the winner for trainer Rob Atras.

Train the Trainer also improved to 3-for-3 since returning to his home state. He won a 6 1/2-furlong state-bred maiden special weight May 4 at Aqueduct before a 2 3/4-length score over Mike Lee Stakes June 4 to open the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga.

Ortiz rode the Dialed In gelding in both of those starts and employed similar tactics against his three opponents in the New York Derby. Train the Trainer took the lead from the inside post and battled with Hit the Post to and around the first turn. Those two clicked off splits of :23.67 and :47.60 with a 2-length gap over Buttah and King’s Leap.

Train the Trainer continued to lead the way through 6 furlongs in 1:12.24, shaking off Hit the Post in the stretch before drawing off late to win in 1:44.66 over the fast track. Hit the Post finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of King’s Leap with Buttah fourth. Calling Card, fourth last time in the Mike Lee, scratched.

Bred by Hibiscus Stables and foaled at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, Train the Trainer is out of the winning Forestry mare Heavenly Vision. Trainer Mark Glatt bought him for $52,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale and trained Train the Trainer for his first start for the same ownership group. Train the Trainer finished second behind Goal Oriented in an open-company maiden race April 6 at Santa Anita Park before his owners sent him to Atras.

Train the Trainer is a half-brother to six winners out of Heavenly Vision. She’s a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner and sire Cairo Prince and the Grade 1-placed Empire Maker mare Nonna Mia, the dam of Grade 1 winner Outwork.

Train the Trainer picked up $93,600 to boost his bankroll to $260,600.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/07/14/train-the-trainer-delivers-in-new-york-derby/

Jak N Burny in time for Leon Reed win

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Jak N Burny fends off longshots for another Finger Lakes victory in Monday’s Leon Reed Memorial. SV Photography

A last-gasp head win at the wire. A steward’s inquiry at the start. For owner/breeder Sherry Washburn and trainer Debra Breed, the Leon Reed Memorial had 1:11.98 of it all.

Ridden by regular rider Joel Cruz, the 5-year-old son of Destin did what he does best, breaking sharply, blitzing to the front and then hanging tough to the line. Sent off the favorite in the 6-furlong stakes, Jak N Burny held off 39-1 Crypto Causeway who rallied late along the rail. Newport Bridge at 93-1 finished third with second-choice Rotknee fading to fourth in the $50,000 sprint stakes.

Breaking from the inside of the field 10, Jak N Burny angled out, initiating a six-horse chain reaction before darting back to the rail. The bay gelding opened a half-length through the first quarter in :22.50 and a half in :45.37. Jak N Burny dispatched Looms Boldly by the quarter pole, widened a 3-length chasm turning for home and looked free until the waning strides. Head rising with each stride, Jak N Burny managed to get to the wire just in time for his second stakes win. Stewards looked at the start but let the results stand. Crypto Causeway was untouched, and Newport Ridge was bothered slightly in the opening strides.

Jak N Burny improved his record to eight wins and two seconds from 11 starts for $184,180. His only off-the-board finish came in the 2023 Reed when he hopped and bobbled at the start and wound up fourth. It was the only time he wasn’t on the engine at the first two calls of a race.

Jak N Burny is the fifth foal out of the winning New York-bred Duckhorn mare Betty’s Chance. He’s a half-brother to 2018 Leon Reed winner Winston’s Chance who earned $495,264 in a 14-win career and Ifihadachance, a 13-time winner and $447,914-earner.

Betty’s Chance, bred by Washburn and Michael Haers, went 2-3-0 in six starts for $23,930 in earnings. She’s also the dam of the 3-year-old New York-bred Cloudy Chance, who was also bred by Washburn. The daughter of Cloud Computing finished third in her career debut in February and followed with a fourth at Belmont Park at Aqueduct and an eighth at Saratoga July 5.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/07/14/jak-n-burny-in-time-for-leon-reed-win/

Lottie Margaret slips through inside to win New York Oaks

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Madaket Stable’s Lottie Margaret and Manny Franco cruise to the finish of Monday’s New York Oaks. SV Photography.

A hop in the air at the start of Monday’s $75,000 New York Oaks at Finger Lakes proved to be no problem for Madaket Stable’s Lottie Margaret, the convincing winner of the 1 1/16-mile race for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies.

The daughter of Global Campaign settled into stride several lengths behind her three rivals after that start. She saved ground going into the first turn under Manny Franco to put herself in third, within 2 lengths of the lead, through the opening quarter-mile.

Tracking the pace set by Mischief Lady, Lottie Margaret stayed glued to the rail along the backstretch through opening fractions of :24.34 and :48.57. Entering the far turn, Franco sat motionless on Lottie Margaret as the rest of the field started being asked for their runs. Franco guided his filly through an opening on the inside nearing the quarter pole, and the pair had no trouble finishing from there.

Lottie Margaret won by 3 lengths in 1:46.53 as the longest shot in the field at 7-2. Valtellina finished second, followed by Vehemente and Mischief Lady. Practically Summer scratched.

Trained by Brad Cox, Lottie Margaret earned her first stakes victory in the New York Oaks. She entered the race off a fifth in an allowance-optional against open company and a second in the state-bred Maddie May Stakes, both run at 1 mile at Aqueduct. Prior to that, she broke her maiden and won an allowance-optional against state-breds by a combined 20 1/4 lengths. Her victory Monday boosted her record to three wins in six starts with earnings of $165,020.

Bred by Steve Schuster and foaled at Old Saratoga Equine Services in Schuylerville, Lottie Margaret sold for $75,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale in August 2023. She’s the sixth foal and first stakes winner out of the Street Cry mare Passionate Diva, whose other foals include the three-time winner and stakes-placed Mashnee Girl. Passionate Diva has foaled two other winners in Cape Cod Diva and I’m More Ready. She is the dam of the unraced 2-year-old A L Leader, by Code Of Honor.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/07/14/lottie-margaret-slips-through-inside-to-win-new-york-oaks/

In memory of D. Wayne Lukas

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Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas passed away Saturday at the age of 89, leaving a long and deep legacy on the global Thoroughbred industry. Coglianese Photo.

By Lynne Snierson/NYRA

The New York Racing Association, Inc. mourns the passing of legendary Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas at age 89, who passed away on Saturday evening after battling serious illness in recent weeks.

“D. Wayne Lukas’ vision and creativity transformed horse racing forever,” said David O’Rourke, NYRA president and chief executive officer. “He achieved success on a scale without precedent and developed a generation of trainers who continue to shape the future of the sport. New York’s racing community and fans will miss Wayne, and we look forward to celebrating his life and legacy this summer at Saratoga Race Course.”

New York is the biggest stage in the world and no one in the sport of thoroughbred racing has been a brighter star at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course than Lukas.

Though recognized for his custom-made Italian suits, aviator sunglasses and an abundance of charisma, he is renowned and revered as the most innovative, influential and prolific trainer in history. For six decades, Lukas has been the dominant force in this sport which he revolutionized.

Before announcing his retirement on June 22 two months before his 90th birthday, “Coach” won 4,953 races and earned purses of $300,548,290. His 15 Triple Crown race victories are second only to fellow Hall of Famer and close friend Bob Baffert, and he long held the record for most Breeders’ Cups wins with 20 until Aidan O’Brien tied him last November. The four-time Eclipse Award-winner and four-time Kentucky Derby-winner trained 26 horses who won divisional championships and three of his charges attained the honor of Horse of the Year.

As a mentor and coach, Lukas leaves behind a long list of proteges, including fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Classic-winner Kiaran McLaughlin, as well as George Weaver, Mark Hennig, Ron Moquett, Mike Maker, Dallas Stewart and Randy Bradshaw.

Horses conditioned by the legendary Lukas won 222 Grade 1s, many of which were contested at NYRA tracks. He won outright or shared 16 leading trainer titles at Belmont and Saratoga in the 1980s and 1990s, and his trophy case holds the hardware from almost all the illustrious top-level races at Belmont and Saratoga. Even better, he took most of those Grade 1 events in New York more than once.

Count among his accomplishments four scores – and three straight – in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2-miles at Belmont Park with Tabasco Cat [1994], Thunder Gulch [1995], Editor’s Note [1996] and Commendable [2000], and consider his trio of wins in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga with Corporate Report [1991], Thunder Gulch [1995], and Will Take Charge [2013].

Lukas, who is credited with changing the business model of horse racing, experienced some of his greatest achievements with his Belmont Stakes horses.

After taking the 1994 edition with Preakness winner Tabasco Cat – the colt who had trampled and nearly killed his only child and top assistant Jeff Lukas – in 1995, he planned to run Thunder Gulch. But the Kentucky Derby winner wasn’t his marquee player. That distinction went to stablemate and reigning Preakness winner Timber Country, who was installed as the heavy morning-line favorite once the pair was entered. But then Timber Country spiked a fever and was scratched the day before the Belmont.

Thunder Gulch rose to the occasion and was a two-length winner, and the victory gave Lukas a record fifth straight win in a Triple Crown race [to be extended to six straight when he took the 1996 Kentucky Derby with Grindstone].

“When we got down to one horse today, we knew we had to have it all on this little horse’s shoulders,” Lukas told the Washington Post. “I’m a little bit overwhelmed.”

In 1999, Lukas was on a hot streak with Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Charismatic, whom he had elevated from the claiming ranks earlier in the season. Dispatched as the 8-5 favorite in the field of 12, the colt was leading in the stretch, and it looked as though Lukas would be the first to train a Triple Crown winner since 1978. Shockingly, Charismatic suffered a fractured leg but he still finished third.

“He was a part of our career – a big part of it,” Lukas told Daily Racing Form when Charismatic died in 2017. “You don’t replace Derby winners very easy. I really loved that horse. I was very fond of him. He was a knockout looker. When you get one that’s such an overachiever – I really thought that he might end up in the claiming ranks his entire career and the next thing he’s going for the Triple Crown – it was just a joy to be around him.”

Lukas, who has a record of 26-4-1-1 in the Belmont, was back in 2000 with Commendable. His final Belmont win is arguably his best Triple Crown training job. Commendable not only had finished 17th in the Kentucky Derby, but he was also winless since his debut the previous August at Del Mar and in six successive starts had fared no better than fourth. Yet, in the “Test of the Champion” Lukas had him at his best, scoring the upset at 18-1.

“If any touch of greatness rubbed off on Commendable, it probably came through his trainer, D. Wayne Lukas,” Joe Durso wrote in the New York Times.

No praise was higher than that bestowed by Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel, who had sent out the runner-up and favored Aptitude. “Give Lukas credit. I don’t know how he did it,” Frankel said after the race.

Lukas defied the odds in the Travers as well. In 1991 Corporate Report had been unable to catch Strike the Gold in the Kentucky Derby or Hansel in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, but he led all the way in the Mid-Summer Derby. After Thunder Gulch executed the Belmont-Travers double in 1995, it would be another 18 years before Lukas graced the Travers winner’s circle again. To get there, Coach called an audible for Will Take Charge, who had been beaten in all three 2013 Triple Crown races. He gave the mount to a young Luis Saez, and they pulled it off at 9-1.

“I changed up a few things. I took a chance on an up-and-coming young rider. You look terrible if it doesn’t work, but it’s sweet when it does,” Lukas, then 77, told Daily Racing Form’s Dave Grening. “It feels pretty good. It’s been a long time between drinks, but when they come like this they double.”

Lukas wouldn’t return to the Travers until 2018, when he saddled his final and 20th runner, Bravazo, to a third-place finish.

Another of Lukas’ Triple Crown competitors included New York-bred Grade 1 winner Victory Speech. A son of Deputy Minister out of the Alydar mare Ida’s Image, Victory Speech finished third in the Grade 3 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park and third in the Grade 3 Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park before a 10th in the Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Preakness Stakes in 1996. He later won four stakes as a 3-year-old, including the Empire Classic Handicap at Aqueduct, and earned his Grade 1 victory in the 1997 Strub Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Victory Speech, who was bred by Robert Entenmann, earned New York-bred Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male honors in 1996. He won nine of 27 starts and earned $1,289,020.

The Coach is the consummate horseman who has been a mentor, motivator, teacher, guide, influencer, inspiration, and most important, a friend to so many. His presence will forever loom large.

Multiple Grade 1 winning trainer Cherie DeVaux, who has been assigned Lukas’ former barn at Saratoga, summed it up best in a recent social media post.

“As I walked the shedrow this morning, I kept thinking about the horses that stood in these very stalls- champions whose names helped shape the sport. And then I sat in the office he left behind, at his desk, and stared at the empty chair. I wondered what he thought about in those quiet early hours. How many dreams began right there with a legal pad and a coffee?,” DeVaux wrote. “Wayne didn’t just train horses. He set a standard. He built a legacy that inspired generations, myself included. And while the tack room may bear a new name this summer, his spirit lingers in every inch of this place. Honored doesn’t begin to cover it. Grateful. Humbled. Inspired. We’ll do our best to honor what he built here – one horse, one morning, one moment at a time.”

Lukas’ Spa ledger includes a record number of wins in the Hopeful [8], Adirondack [7], Schuylerville [6], Spinaway [6, tied with Todd Pletcher], and H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, formerly the King’s Bishop [5]. However, when asked by NYRA’s press office in July 2024 to try and pick out a favorite Saratoga memory, he landed on the first-out maiden score by eventual Hall of Famer Winning Colors in August 1987.

“Any time you win one of these big stakes it’s a good memory. I think maybe it was Winning Colors breaking her maiden up here and going on to win the Kentucky Derby,” Lukas said. “I also remember one year up here I flew up and my son was running the barn and we had 13 individual Grade 1-winners in the barn. That was special.”

Lukas’s presence will be dearly missed by the sport, but his legacy will certainly live on.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/06/30/in-memory-of-d-wayne-lukas/

Sunday Girl rolls in John Hettinger Stakes

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Sunday Girl soars in turf debut, winning Sunday’s John Hettinger Stakes at Aqueduct. Coglianese Photo.

Sunday Girl made a winning return in her first start since March and a successful turf debut in Sunday’s $125,000 John Hettinger Stakes for fillies and mares at Aqueduct.

Katie Davis guided the 4-year-old daughter of Central Banker to the front just after the break and they stayed there throughout the 6-furlong stakes. Sunday Girl, off since winning the Correction Stakes against open company March 2 at Aqueduct, won by 2 1/4 lengths over Silver Skillet for her fourth straight victory. Loon Cry, the even-money favorite in the field of seven, finished third. Sunday Girl won in 1:07.76 over the firm turf.

“That was a whole lot of fun,” said David Duggan, who trains the filly for owners Mitre Box Stable, Clear Stars Stable and Eight Note Stable. “I was concerned [about the turf debut]. We had breezed her on it at Saratoga and she got over it fine, but when you get into a competitive level like this, it’s a concern without having tried it.

“I knew we were going to be close to the pace but being given an easy lead like that, I didn’t think that was going to happen. It was fantastic.”

Sent off as the 5-2 third choice, Sunday Girl led Cara’s Time up the backstretch to the opening quarter-mile in :23.04 with Silver Skillet and Sinead tracking in third and fourth.

Cara’s Time got within a half-length entering the far turn as Silver Skilled angled to the outside to make a run. Sunday Girl responded to the immediate challenges, edging clear by 1 1/2 lengths after a half in :45.34. Sunday Girl spurted clear in the stretch and opened up 4 lengths in midstretch, past 5 furlongs in :56.21.

Davis stayed busy on Sunday Girl in the lane and she finished well clear of the runner-up and 5-2 second choice. Silver Skillet edged Loon Cry by 1 1/2 lengths for the place spot with Cara’s Time fourth. Soloshot, Sugar Bee and Sinead completed the field.

“I know the filly very well. They’ve done a wonderful job with her,” Davis said. “The question was, will she like the grass? They breezed her over it once, and said she did not look horrible, but she was green. Today, she came out of the gate and went nicely on the lead, down the backside, I knew I had it. She just floated over the turf. I’m happy she liked the turf because now we have more places to go.”

Sunday Girl commanded the top price for a New York-bred in the open portion of the 2022 OBS October yearling sale on a bid of $43,000 from Kathryn Martin. Mitre Box Stables purchased her for $100,000 about seven months later at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale, out of the de Meric Sales consignment.

Bred by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds LLC and Spruce Lane Farm and foaled at McMahon of Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, Sunday Girl is out of the winning Harlan’s Holiday mare Lady Daphne.

Sunday Girl is a half-sister to Lady Jasmine, a New York-bred daughter of Cairo Prince also bred by McMahon and Spruce Lane who won her debut in 2022 at Saratoga Race Course. She’s won two of 19 starts with two other placings and earned $103,146. Lady Daphne is also the dam of the winning New York-bred Laoban mare Proper Grammar.

Lady Daphne was purchased by McMahon of Saratoga for $17,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. She’s also the dam of the 3-year-old Solomini colt Brimsley and a 2-year-old New York-bred full sibling to Sunday Girl named Sunday Boy, who sold for $65,000 at the OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training. Sunday Boy breezed a half-mile in :49.50 Saturday on the Belmont Park training track, his third official workout since the OBS sale. McMahon and Spruce Lane also bred a yearling full brother to Sunday Girl, foaled May 4, 2024.

Central Banker, a 15-year-old son of Speightstown, stands for $7,500 at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs. He’s topped the New York general sire list the last four seasons, including in 2024 with progeny earnings of $5,436,573.

Sunday Girl, winner of the Park Avenue division of the New York Stallion Series Stakes as a 3-year-old, improved to 7-for-9 and boosted her bankroll to $463,738.

“It’s huge,” Duggan said of the importance of having a filly like Sunday Girl in the barn. “How hard are these to find? For us, it’s extra special to have one like this. She’s a lot of fun.”

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/06/29/sunday-girl-rolls-in-john-hettinger-stakes/

Mo Plex handles trip, and trip, in Ohio Derby win

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Mo Plex storms to victory in the Ohio Derby at Thistledown. JJ Zamaiko Photography

By Alec DiConza

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart will fondly remember the seven-hour road trip he took from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to Thistledown Race Track in North Randall, Ohio this weekend. He spent time with his family and members of his team while improving his record at Thistledown to 1-for-1 when 3-year-old colt Mo Plex won the Grade 3 $500,000 Ohio Derby Saturday.

“I brought my son Eli,” Englehart said Saturday evening. “He didn’t have any baseball or lacrosse this weekend, so we started the drive yesterday, stayed at my parents’ house in Finger Lakes and then finished the drive this morning. Now, we’re headed back to my parents’ house tonight.”

When Mo Plex broke far behind the field in the Ohio Derby, Englehart felt like his race was already finished. The son of Complexity had primarily run on or near the lead in his seven prior starts, and the slow beginning meant Mo Plex would have to make up ground in a race where he already faced the task of running around two turns for the first time. However, none of these challenges stopped Mo Plex and jockey Joe Ramos from coming home a 2-length winner in the 9-furlong contest for 3-year-olds.

“I was definitely thinking that his race might have been lost right there,” Englehart said about the break. “I thought in the Champagne, we kind of rated him a little bit more than I would’ve wanted and it was more so just tactics than anything. I kind of learned from that race. I’d rather just see him take a nice long hold and let him do his thing, and that’s what Joe did today. It worked out well, but it definitely was not a good start and I was thinking ‘Well, this is going to blow up in my face now,’ because if he can’t handle the distance, he’s really going to get short because he just had to make up 5 or 6 lengths from the start to the first turn.”

Mo Plex quickly passed horses to race second heading into the first turn and sat just outside stakes winner Clever Again through fractions of :23.42 and :47.75. Ramos started asking Mo Plex for a kick rounding the far turn, and the colt responded by taking the lead entering the stretch. Kentucky Derby runner Chunk Of Gold tried to rally, but Mo Plex had too much left. He finished 2 lengths ahead of Chunk Of Gold in 1:50.72 for owner R and H Stable, run by Rick Higgins and Howard Read. The victory marked the fourth stakes win and the second graded stakes win in Mo Plex’s career.

Englehart planned to run Mo Plex in the Mike Lee at Saratoga Race Course June 4, but was forced to scratch when a case of strangles, a contagious respiratory infection, broke out in Englehart’s barn just before the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and forced a 14-day quarantine. That challenged Englehart to look for a different race, and he thought outside the box. He shipped Mo Plex to Thistledown Thursday, trained him Friday and then sent him out to a victory Saturday.

“From a timing standpoint, it (the Ohio Derby) was probably my best dated race where if he didn’t handle the distance, I could do some other things. If he did handle the distance and ran well, we could do other things in his next start. It worked out really well,” Englehart said. “Joe gave him a phenomenal ride. He shipped great. Bill Mott won the race last year (with Batten Down) and I was asking him up in Saratoga how he shipped his horse out and what he did. I did the exact same thing. When he speaks, you listen. So, we did the exact same thing that he did and it worked out great.”

The jump to 9 furlongs going two turns presented a concern for Englehart, but he felt confident that Mo Plex would run his race. Before Saturday, the longest race Mo Plex had competed in was a one-turn mile.

“We always thought he could do the distance, but you never know until you try,” Englehart said. “He ran like I thought he could at the distance and I’m just glad that it worked out the way it did.”

After the change of plans, the longer distance and the poor start, Mo Plex delivered a performance to be proud of. 

“I’ve been proud of this horse since day one,” Englehart said. “He’s a pleasure to be around. Rick and Howard, they’re amazing people that have given me the opportunity to train for them. We’ve actually made a pretty good team, Howard, Rick and myself in mapping these races out. This was the one monkey wrench that was kind of thrown into it. They had the confidence to believe in me that this might be the right spot, and I’m glad they did. Mo made us all look good, really.”

While Englehart started driving home quickly after the Ohio Derby, he said he got the opportunity to hug Mo Plex’s groom as well as his exercise rider, who made the trip to Thistledown. He also said he’d be making many calls to family and his assistant when he got back to his parents’ house.

“We’re going to watch the race over and over again,” he laughed.

Mo Plex won his first three starts as a 2-year-old – a New York-bred maiden at Aqueduct in June, the Grade 2 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga in July and the Funny Cide Stakes for New York-breds) at Saratoga in August – before a third in the Grade 1 Champagne and a second in the state-bred Sleepy Hollow. The bay colt opened 2025 with a third in the Gander in March before winning the Bay Shore in April and the Ohio Derby. He has won five of eight lifetime starts with a bankroll of $745,000, second to Grade 1 winner Ria Antonia on Englehart’s list of earners.

Bred by Everything’s Cricket Racing, Mo Plex did not meet his reserve at Fasig-Tipton’s New York-bred yearling sale in 2023, but joined R and H on a $45,000 bid by Legion Bloodstock for Englehart’s JCE Racing at the OBS April sale as a 2-year-old. His dam, the unraced New York-bred Mo Joy produced a Maximus Mischief colt in 2023 and an Independence Hall colt this year. 

NOTES: New York-breds Mi Bago and Out On Bail might finally get a chance to compete in Friday’s Grade 3 Penn Mile Stakes at Penn National Race Course. The $400,000 stakes originally scheduled for May 30 wound up rescheduled until June 20 because of wet weather then rescheduled again because of more forecasted rainfall. The Penn Mile goes as the sixth race Friday with post time set for 7:45 p.m. ET.  . . . Another New York-bred competing out of state, Tonka Warrior, also saw a potential stakes start shifted because of weather after Canterbury Park scrapped its Saturday card due to high temperatures. Tonka Warrior takes on five opponents in the $50,000 Brooks Fields Mile, the fourth race on the Canterbury Derby Day card at 7:40 p.m. ET. . . Lone Star Park hosts its Summer Turf Festival Saturday and a pair of New York-breds are entered – Banterra, a 5-year-old son of Practical Joke bred by Rhapsody Farm who runs in the $125,000 Chicken Fried Stakes at Lone Star Park, and Eye Witness, a 5-year-old son of City of Light bred by Anlyn Farms who runs in the $125,000 Grand Prairie Turf Sprint.

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Team Mo Plex celebrates in the winner’s circle. JJ Zamaiko Photography

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/06/23/mo-plex-handles-trip-and-trip-in-ohio-derby-win/

Friend Ofthe Devil speeds to first stakes win in NYSS turf sprint

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Friend Ofthe Devil heads to victory in Saturday’s Spectacular Bid division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series. Susie Raisher/NYRA photo

By Alec DiConza

It’s safe to say that the beginning of Friend Ofthe Devil’s career did not go as planned. The son of Honest Mischief finished eighth and ninth in his first two starts, on the dirt at Saratoga Race Course last summer.

Trainer Carlos Martin then made a switch to grass for Friend Ofthe Devil’s next race and was rewarded when the colt owned by Marc Holliday’s Blue Devil Racing Stable and Jerold Zaro won for fun by 6 1/4 lengths.

In the eight months since that maiden score, Friend Ofthe Devil has risen to the top of the New York-bred 3-year-old turf sprint division. He won his first stakes when dominating Saturday’s $145,500 Spectacular Bid division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a 6-furlong sprint for 3-year-old New York-breds on the outer turf at Aqueduct.

“He’s just a horse that always showed a lot of ability,” Martin said. “We were very disappointed in his first two races and things didn’t go right. It’s funny, Irad Ortiz said ‘Maybe he’ll be a turf horse,’ because he was disappointed after he rode him the second time. I talked to Marc (Holliday) after the race and said, ‘Irad said we have a turf horse here.’ I’m glad we got him on the turf.”

Friend Ofthe Devil contested the Spectacular Bid as the 1-5 favorite off a 6-furlong allowance win in April. Stablemate Dancing Bear broke quicker out of the gate, but that didn’t matter when Friend Ofthe Devil coasted to the lead on the inside and sprinted through a quarter-mile in :21.98 with a 1 1/2-length lead. The colt maintained that margin through the turn, and after a half-mile in :43.92 he spurted to an even bigger lead under Christopher Elliott and crossed the wire 4 lengths in front of runner-up River Of Time. I’m Due finished third, followed by Dancing Bear. Friend Ofthe Devil finished in 1:07.41, less than a second off the track record.

“Leaving there, he did hit the gate. He broke out a little bit, but after that he relaxed nice and was doing it easy,” Elliott said. “He’s a very classy horse. He’s a horse you can’t really take too much of a hold of because he’ll lug out. You have to let him do his thing, but he’s a talented young horse and I’m excited that I had the opportunity to ride him.”

Holliday said he was “thrilled” with his colt’s performance and praised the New York Racing Association for its New York-bred stakes program.

“NYRA has spent so much time and effort to support this program,” he said. “We want to have the best races, and we also want to have our New York-bred and New York-sired horses well represented. Honest Mischief has been a really honest sire, and he has some very nice horses out there. Friend Ofthe Devil is one of them. It’s a little extra satisfaction when you get into the winner’s circle with a horse like that.”

After three 6-furlong victories, Friend Ofthe Devil stretch to a mile for the Cab Calloway division of the New York Stallion Series in his next start.

“He looked great and I’m excited about maybe giving him an opportunity with a little more distance staying in the Stallion Series in the Cab Calloway – he was an old family friend, Cab Calloway,” Martin said of the legendary singer, band leader and racing fan. “Hopefully, if we can get him to cooperate and relax a little, a mile might be within his scope.”

Friend Ofthe Devil was bred by Laurel Least, Farview Farm and Robert Tugel. He sold for $37,000 as a weanling at the Fasig-Tipon fall mixed sale at Saratoga in 2022, and brought $145,000 as a yearling the following August at Saratoga. He is the third foal out of the unraced Bodemeister mare Fabuleux. The other foal to race is two-time winner Janssen, a son of Accelerate and an earner of $94,887.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/06/21/friend-ofthe-devil-speeds-to-first-stakes-win-in-nyss-turf-sprint/