New York-bred champion City Man is one of the stars on Monday’s Big Apple Showcase Day card at Belmont Park. Janet Garaguso/NYRA Photo.

By Tom Law and Sean Clancy

The Memorial Day weekend comes to a close Monday but not before a spectacular day of racing at Belmont Park with the annual Big Apple Showcase Day card for New York-breds.

One of three special programs of the year for state-breds – the others are set for the summer at Saratoga and this fall at Belmont – the Big Apple Showcase features six stakes for big purses and four complimentary events that pack a punch. The team at The Saratoga Special is again privileged to preview all of the action, and more, with a special edition of The Big Apple Showcase Special.

The Showcase Special offers the perfect primer for anyone heading to Belmont for the day’s action, or those watching from home. And we’ve thrown in some of the popular features you see every summer in The Saratoga Special.

Here’s the primer for Monday May 29. Safe journeys and good luck.

By the Numbers

96: Horses entered for Monday’s Big Apple Showcase Day program.

6: Stakes on the Showcase Day card.

8: Entries on Showcase Day for Linda Rice, the most of any trainer. Mike Maker and David Donk have six entrants apiece.

10: Mounts for Irad Ortiz Jr. on the day.

1,220,000 Dollars in purses offered on Showcase Day, including $900,000 in stakes purses.

Names of the Day

Race 1. Miracle. We’re suckers for one-word names and this is a good one. The 3-year-old filly is by Mendelssohn and out of Good Omen.

Race 3. Timeless Journey. The 6-year-old mare is by Verrazano and out of Matchmadeinheaven.

Race 9. Whittington Park. The 4-year-old colt is out of See The Forest. When you’re in Hot Springs, make sure you enjoy the shade of Whittington Park.

Race 10. Utamaro. We always like horses named after artists.

Worth Repeating

“Big Apple Showcase Day is not only a celebration of the New York-bred program but also a culmination of the achievements of New York breeders who continue to raise the bar in the quality of racehorses foaled in New York State each year. We are thankful for our longstanding partnership with NYRA in highlighting each of our three annual Showcase Days throughout the year for all participants in the New York-bred program with lucrative purses and competitive fields for handicappers to wager on as a marquee event for racing fans on the Memorial holiday.”
New York Thoroughbred Breeders Executive Director Najja Thompson

“These smaller guys are the backbone of the game. The first five races a day are filled by the little guys, and without them, the game wouldn’t survive. We need small owners and syndicates to keep us going.”
Trainer Bobby Ribaudo

“He’s been training well and I’m very happy with him. He’s so consistent and he’s just so exciting. It’s been a positive experience with him and he makes you feel good.”
Toby Sheets, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, on Commentator contender Bankit

As for the races …

Race 1. Bouwerie Stakes. $125,000, fillies, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Post time 1:00 p.m. ET. Miracle scratched out of last weekend’s Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico for this spot. She’s deserving off chance coming off back-to-back graded stakes tries. Daughter of Mendelssohn meets old rival Les Bon Temps, who beat her by a length in last year’s Maid of the Mist on Empire Showcase Day. Downtown Mischief, the 7-5 favorite, exits runner-up in off-the-turf open stakes after winning three straight to start her career.

Race 2. Allowance-optional claiming, $85,000, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs, turf. Post time 1:30 p.m. Plenty of stakes competitors in the field, including Moonage Daydream, Howdyoumakeurmoney and Fleetfooted.

Race 3. Critical Eye Stakes. $200,000, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles. Post time 2:03 p.m. Strong field of six led by Classy Edition, Venti Valetine and Sterling Silver for co-featured event. Classy Edition makes first start in state-bred ranks since winning back-to-back stakes at end of her 2-year-old season in 2021. Don’t discount Let Her Inspire U, either, as she walloped foes in last year’s Empire Distaff and sports a strong record against fellow New York-breds.

Race 4. Mike Lee Stakes. $125,000, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Post time 2:32 p.m. Fairly evenly matched group of seven, including Maker’s Candy, NYSS winner Lifetime of Chance and Damon Runyon winner Looms Boldly. Maker’s Candy crossed the finish first in the Gander Stakes in late February but was disqualified. He then finished fifth in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby. Looms Boldly comes in off back-to-back wins.

Race 5. Allowance. $80,000, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles, turf. Post time 3:03 p.m. Smokie Eyes didn’t care for the dirt last time in her return but should be plenty tough on the grass for Christophe Clement, who also sends out Waterville.

Race 6. Mount Vernon Stakes. $125,000, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 1 mile, turf. Post time 3:34 p.m. First of two turf stakes on the card and a good one. Marvelous Maude makes her first start since last fall, when she ended the season in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl (sixth), John Hettinger (second) and Ticonderoga (fourth). Daughter of Slumber is 2-for-5 on the course and meets top challenger in Runaway Rumour, who makes her first start for trainer Horacio De Paz.

Race 7. Allowance. $80,000, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs. Post time 4:06 p.m. Pineapple Man, second in similar spot last time out in his return, takes on nine others including Pete N Billy, Zeebear, Daufuskie Island and East Coast Girl.

Race 8. Kingston Stakes. $125,000, 4-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles, turf. Post time 4:40 p.m. City Man, crowned champion turf male for 2022, returns to the state-bred ranks after three straight starts in graded company. He’s won his last two against New York-breds, in the Mohawk and Ashley T. Cole last fall during the Belmont at the Big A meeting. No layup here though, with the likes of multiple New York-bred champ and graded stakes winner Somelikeithotbrown, Dakota Gold and Jerry the Nipper in the field.

Race 9. Commentator Stakes. $200,000, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles. Post time 5:12 p.m. Dr Ardito saw his six-race win streak come to an end last time in the Grade 3 Westchester. He looks to get back on track here against veteran stakes winner and $1,296,405-earner Bankit, multiple stakes winner Barese, the improving Ouster and nine others in strong renewal of the co-feature.

Race 10. Maiden special weight. $75,000, 3-year-olds and up, 7 furlongs, turf. 5:44 p.m. Perfect way to close the card and with plenty of time to make it to the late afternoon cookout. Launch Control returns to the grass for Todd Pletcher, while Kreesa does the same for David Donk. Barry Schwartz’s homebred Cairo Prince gelding Utamaro makes his debut for Linda Rice. He’s out of Mindy Gold, and a half-brother to stakes winner Sharp Starr and stakes-placed Papa Shot.

Eye Witness edges Inflation Nation for second stakes victory in Saturday’s Paradise Creek at Belmont Park. Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo.

Eye Witness handled another task thrown in his path Saturday at Belmont Park.

Running on yielding ground for the first time – and in open-company stakes competition for the second straight start – Eye Witness withstood a late challenge from Inflation Nation to win the $150,000 Paradise Creek Stakes going 7 furlongs.

The 3-year-old son of City of Light, the top-priced New York-bred at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale, edged Inflation Nation by a head in 1:25.32 over the ground softened significantly by Saturday’s rains in the New York Metropolitan area.

Eye Witness added the Paradise Creek to his victory last time out in the 6-furlong Animal Kingdom Stakes on synthetic at Turfway Park, which came about three months after he broke his maiden there going 1 mile and around two turns. Jose Ortiz rode Eye Witness, who improved to 3-for-4 with earnings of $205,740 for trainer Wesley Ward and owners Westerberg, Susan Magnier, Jonathan Poulin, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor.

Eye Witness closed from fifth after the opening half-mile, overtaking early leader Charging, Son of a Birch, Devils Only Friend and Inflation Nation en route to victory.

“I was very confident in my horse and I was just worrying about Dylan [Davis, aboard Inflation Nation] to the inside of me,” Ortiz said of the early stages of the Paradise Creek. “But he was following the right horse which was [Charging]. So, I said ‘I’m just going to go around – I feel like I have enough horse to kind of block them and make them wait longer than they wanted to.’ I did, and my horse responded so well when I put him in the clear.”

Eye Witness took over into the lane and opened up by 1 1/2 lengths in midstretch. Davis and Inflation Nation reduced the deficit inside the final furlong but couldn’t get past the winner. Vacation Dance, another New York-bred who won last year’s Atlantic Beach Stakes at Aqueduct, finished 5 ½ lengths back in third. Hey Eugene, Joey Freshwater, Son of a Birch, Charging and Devils Only Friend completed the field.

“I felt like I probably moved a little sooner than I wanted to, but with the soft ground, sometimes if you stop the momentum, it’s very hard to get it back,” Ortiz said. “I almost paid the price in the end, but I’m just glad we held on. …I’m thankful for the opportunity from Wesley and the ownership.”

Eye Witness sold to Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier during the third session of the 2021 September sale as Hip 723. Bred by Anlyn Farms and foaled at Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater, Eye Witness originally sold as a weanling to Brady Bloodstock for $235,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale.

A half-brother to New York-bred stakes winner More Mischief and stakes-placed winner Myawaya, Eye Witness is the eighth foal out of the Mr. Greeley mare Gracilia. A half-sister to New York-bred champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old and Grade 2 winner Sharp Humor, Gracilia is also the dam of New York-bred winners Scalpeen, Decorator Jenn and Killala Bay.

Gracilia’s New York-bred daughter of Practical Joke sold for $190,000 at this year’s OBS March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training. She is also the dam of a yearling New York-bred filly by Game Winner.

Maple Leaf Mel improves to 4-for-4 in Friday’s Grade 3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico. Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club Photo.

By Tom Law

Maple Leaf Mel gave the exact impression bidders are looking for from the moment Bill Parcells’ buying team took their first looks of the Cross Traffic filly prior to last year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale of 2-year-olds in training.

“She stood out to me when she came out of the stall,” Jeremiah Englehart, who helped pick out and trains Maple Leaf Mel for Parcells’ August Dawn Farm, said this spring. “She looked good and handled us going over her. She gave a good impression. You feel like you’re standing next to her in the winner’s circle.”

Maple Leaf Mel gave off that winner’s circle impression and hasn’t missed a trip to the coveted space in her four starts, the latest a powerhouse victory over open company in Friday’s Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. Under Joel Rosario, Maple Leaf Mel ripped through the Miss Preakness’ 6 furlongs in 1:09.56 in her 1 1/2-length victory over Topsy. A $150,000 purchase at last year’s Midlantic sale in Timonium, Maryland, Maple Leaf Mel picked up $90,000 for the Miss Preakness win to pad her bankroll to $303,400.

“The way she does it, I always figured she would run with whoever we put her against just because when you ask her to run, she does it,” Englehart said Friday of the filly’s first open-company attempt. “I thought she would handle it, but this was going to be her real, true test to show how she handled it.”

Englehart said Maple Leaf Mel “passed” that test and could head to another graded stakes next – the Grade 3 Victory Ride July 8 at Belmont Park – before a potential Grade 1 attempt in the Test Stakes in early August at Saratoga Race Course.

Maple Leaf Mel, the 8-5 second choice in the field of six, battled in the early stages with 4-5 favorite Key of Life before taking over on the backstretch. She led by a half-length through the opening quarter-mile in :22.26 before shrugging off Key of Life and Afternoon Tea after a half in :45.21.

Rosario gave Maple Leaf Mel her cue in the lane and she opened up, cruising past the eighth pole 3 1/2 lengths in front after 5 furlongs in :56.96.

“She has a lot of speed,” said Rosario, aboard for all of Maple Leaf Mel’s four starts. “Her break was not really super-fast, but she has so much speed. After she got the lead, she looked around a little bit. And I just let her do her thing and hopefully we had something left turning for home.”

Maple Leaf Mel had plenty and won geared down as Topsy made a sustained run past the others to finish a clear second, 3 1/2 lengths clear of L Street Lady. Afternoon Tea, Key of Life and Bound by Destiny completed the field.

Bred by Joe Fafone, foaled at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham and out of the winning City Place mare City Gift, Maple Leaf Mel originally sold for $18,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale. She’s the sixth foal out of City Gift, who is also the dam of the stakes-placed eight-time New York-bred winner Eddie’s Gift.

City Gift sold in foal to Brody’s Cause for $4,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. She delivered a colt by that sire in March 2021 in Ontario.

Maple Leaf Mel won both her starts at 2 last summer at Saratoga, taking a 6-furlong maiden then adding the Seeking the Ante Stakes on Saratoga Showcase Day 16 days later. She went to the sidelines with shin issues and didn’t return until the East View Stakes against fellow New York-breds March 24 at Aqueduct. She won that race by 7 3/4 lengths, before returning to Englehart’s wintertime base at Palm Meadows in South Florida to prep for the Miss Preakness.

Red Knight joins rare company with Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes victory Saturday at Belmont Park. Janet Garaguso/NYRA Photo.

Red Knight put his name in the history books in January when he joined the likes of Affirmed Success, Evening Attire and Kona Gold with a graded stakes victory at age 9. He took things to another level Saturday at Belmont Park when he joined an even smaller group of Grade 1-winning 9-year-olds with a victory in the $600,000 Man o’ War Stakes.

Trinity Farm’s homebred son of Pure Prize, who also became the 86th New York-bred Grade 1 winner, joined legends John Henry, Super Diamond, John’s Call and The Tin Man as 9-year-old Grade 1 winners with his decisive score in the 11-furlong Man o’ War. Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Red Knight won by 1 1/2 lengths over Soldier Rising with the odds-on favorite Warren Point a non-threatening fifth in the field of eight.

“He’s a great gift from above; he really is. It’s amazing,” Trinity Farm’s Tom Egan. “… We’ve been to Colonial Downs with Red, to Kentucky Downs, Keeneland, Gulfstream Park, back to Keeneland. But here, Belmont Park, seems like home to me. And I know Red has raced here 10 times himself so it’s like home to him also. I like New York racing the best. The grass course here is very fair. It’s not a speedball thing and you don’t have to come from 40 lengths out of it. There’s a lot of [good] things about New York racing.”

Red Knight also picked up $330,000 in the Man o’ War to boost his bankroll to $1,717,763 and vault into 15th position on the list of all-time leading New York-bred earners. Red Knight also extended a streak of 14 straight years with at least one New York-bred Grade 1 winner.

“I was very impressed, as always,” winning trainer Mike Maker said. “He’s just a hard-knocking horse who loves his job.”

Second by a diminishing head in his last start in the Grade 2 Elhorn Stakes April 22 at Keeneland, Red Knight went off as the 5-1 second choice behind European import Warren Point in the Man o’ War. Ortiz, who rode Red Knight to victory in the Grade 3 William L. McKnight two starts back at Gulfstream Park, allowed the chestnut gelding to settle at the back of the field as former Eclipse Award winner Channel Maker set the pace in :23.54, :49.18 and 1:15.06 over the firm inner turf course.

Channel Maker, also attempting to become a Grade 1 winner at age 9, still led past the mile split in 1:38.69 while coming under pressure from Strong Tide, Warren Point and Howe Street. Warren Point and jockey Frankie Dettori, the 3-5 favorites who broke a step slow, made a wide run around the far turn to get into contention. Ortiz followed that move, first on the backstretch and then on the far turn before angling around the field in the lane.

“I let him be happy and find his stride and then after that, he just take me,” Ortiz said. “He started taking me from the five-eighths pole to the quarter-pole waiting for the time to go and when I asked him he responded really well.”

Red Knight rolled past Warren Point and Strong Tide at the sixteenth pole and opened up to win going away. Soldier Rising, the 7-1 third choice, rallied late for the place spot, a head in front of Strong Tide. How Street, Warren Point, Channel Maker, Verstappen and Value Engineering completed the field. Red Knight won in 2:13.74.

“I was hoping he would move a little earlier than usual,” Ortiz said. “He’s a big horse and has a huge stride and it was in my mind I wanted to let him go a little earlier, but I was stuck there. By the five-eighths pole, Frankie’s horse started to pick it up a little bit, so I tried to follow him and my horse was doing it easy so I don’t get in his way. By the quarter pole, he was already in stride. I just bided my time and tipped him out and he did the rest.”

Red Knight and his connections soak in another graded stakes victory Saturday at Belmont Park. NYRA Photo.

The Man o’ War victory came in Red Knight’s second try in a Grade 1. He finished 11th in his only other attempt at the top level, in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland Race Course.

Egan joked in January, after Red Knight won the McKnight on the Pegasus World Cup undercard, that perhaps the ask was too big in the Breeders’ Cup.

“He doesn’t need that and I don’t either,” Egan said.

Egan and his late wife Jaye bred Red Knight in the name of their Trinity Farm out of the late Skip Away mare Isabel Away. They bought Isabel Away for $60,000 at the 2003 Keeneland September yearling sale and raced her in their yellow and royal blue colors to a 1-4-1 record in 11 starts and $71,149 in earnings.

Foaled at Keane Stud in Amenia, Red Knight is one of five winners produced Isabel Away. She also produced multiple stakes winner and $654,981-earner Macagone, $252,002-earner Birchwood Road, Jaye Jaye and Rossellini. Each of the winners were bred in New York by Trinity Farm.

Unraced at 2, Red Knight improved to 12-9-1 from 34 starts. He added the Man o’ War to prior stakes wins in the 2018 H. Allen Jerkens at Gulfstream, 2019 Point of Entry at Belmont, 2020 Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland, 2022 Colonial Cup at Colonial Downs, 2022 Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes at Kentucky Downs and the McKnight. He’s also placed in eight stakes during his career.

The Grade 1 Manhattan on the Belmont Stakes Day undercard June 10 could be next for Red Knight, although Maker wasn’t ready to fully commit.

“It’s too early to say,” Maker said. “We wheeled him back a little quicker than we would have liked to today, but it paid off. Having said that, if he tells us he wants to run then we’ll be there.”

Egan left the decision to his trainer, who took over the gelding’s training at the start of the 2022 season and has won four times from seven starts.

“Whatever Mike says,” Egan said. “The Manhattan is obviously a great race. The thing about having a 9-year-old is that he does he need to go to a farm for two to three weeks just to clear his head.”

Bank Sting, winner of last year’s Dancin Renee at Belmont Park and four other stakes, heads into retirement after collecting two more NY-bred championships in 2022. Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo.

Hidden Brook Farm’s and Joe and Anne McMahon’s multiple stakes winner Bank Sting, recently crowned with two more New York-bred championships, has been retired.

The 6-year-old daughter of leading New York sire Central Banker out of the Precise End mare Bee in a Bonnet won eight of 15 starts with three seconds and a third and earned $664,050. She won five stakes, including the 2022 Heavenly Prize Invitational against open, and placed in the Grade 3 Go for Wand last season.

“Bank Sting is currently being turned out at Hidden Brook Farm in Kentucky,” said Hidden Brook Racing Manager Dan Hall. “She’s remarkably sound and is enjoying retirement.  With the breeding season this far along, we’ll weigh all of our options and possibly point her to one of the November sales as a maiden broodmare prospect then.”

Bank Sting was bred, foaled and raised by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs. She was honored Monday as 2022’s champion New York-bred older dirt female and female sprinter honors, awards she also won in 2021.

“Our partnership is honored that Bank Sting has been recognized twice as champion older mare and sprinter by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders,” said Joe McMahon.

The McMahons originally offered Bank Sting at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern fall yearling sale. When she did not meet her reserve they kept her to race and brought on Hidden Brook as a partner.

“She was a really fun filly,” McMahon said last month. “She really tried, and every time we sent her out to the racetrack she always had a real good shot. She was honest, tough, not without her quirks, but really consistent. Just a real game filly. We’re happy to have her. … She was always tough, quirky in some ways and unfortunately she was plagued by quarter cracks. We didn’t get to run her as much as we would have liked to. … She had those issues but as far as soundness of limb she was made out of hickory.”

Bank Sting is the fifth foal out of the stakes-placed New York-bred mare Bee in a Bonnet. Bank Sting is also a half-sister to three other winners – including the stakes-placed Liberty Island and her full 5-year-old sister Lot of Honey. Bee in a Bonnet is also the dam of the unraced 3-year-old Central Banker filly Busy Banker, who sold for $7,000 at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale, and 2-year-old unnamed gelding by the late Laoban who sold for $100,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.

The McMahons welcomed another full sister to Bank Sting to the New York-bred ranks this past winner and the 21-year-old Bee in a Bonnet was bred back to Central Banker.