New York-Breds at the Races: August 1 to 5

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1 New York-Breds at the Races: August 1 to 5 By Bill Heller Eye-Catching Rally Carries Jonrah to Turf Allowance Win at Saratoga Monday Far back early, Lianna Stables four-year-old gelding Jonrah made a spectacular, wide sweep around the far turn into contention, took the lead late and then held off favored Sneaky Kitten to win a mile-and-a-sixteenth $79,000 New York-bred grass allowance race by a length at Saratoga Race Course Monday afternoon. Sent off at 6-1 odds under Jose Lezcano, Jonrah overcame the outside post in the field of 11 for his third straight finish in the money, all on turf. He broke his maiden by two lengths, then was a fast-closing third in his previous two starts. Trained by Diane Frisco, Jonrah, a son of Bob and John out of Rah Rah by Rahy, bred by James Iselin, has found a home on grass, posting two wins and a third in four starts. He is one-for-seven on dirt. Alarmed Ndangerous, making his first start in nearly a year for trainer Linda Rice, led for the length of the backstretch, shadowed by Mia Poppy. As those two continued to battle on the front end, Jonrah began passing horses quickly around the final turn. Right behind him was Sneaky Kitten under Joel Rosario. Jonrah made the front and held off Sneaky Kitten for the victory in a quick 1: Akindale Farm s four-year-old gelding Greeley Pack made his turf debut a winning one, getting up late to take a 5 ½-furlong $70,000 New York-bred maiden special weight by three-quarters of a length over Slimshady in a final time of 1: Hoboken Joe, the 7-5 favorite, finished third. Greeley Pack had finished in the money in five of seven dirt starts for trainer Kathleen Feron, and went off the 9-5 second choice under Jose Ortiz. Longshot Sayaprayerforme took an early lead, getting a quarter in :21.70 and a half in :45.15, with Acigarisjustacigar and Hoboken Joe not far behind. Greeley Pack moved up from fifth into third around the far turn and continued to advance through the stretch, taking the late lead and holding off Slimshady and Hoboken Joe. Greeley Pack is a son of Greeley s Galaxy out of Three Pack by Stacked Pack, and was bred by John Becker. Drawing Away Stable and trainer David Jacobson didn t have to wait long to cover the $15,000 they spent claiming the seven-year-old New York bred gelding Pure Attitude off a frontrunning second by a neck in a mile-and-a-sixteenth conditional $15,000 claimer at Belmont Park June 6 th.

2 Jacobson, who s been winning with a phenomenal 27 percent of his horses making their first start off a claim, cut Pure Attitude back in distance and replaced jockey Luis Saez with Javier Castellano for Monday s first race, a six-furlong $40,000 conditional $20,000 claimer. While six furlongs is the most common distance for most horses, Pure Attitude was only making his second start at that distance, having finished out of the money in his lone try. He also hadn t hit the board in two previous starts at Saratoga, and he was only one-for-16 over the last two years. Regardless, Pure Attitude went off at odds of 9-2. The 2-1 favorite was Winning Touch with John Velazquez aboard. Crown the Chief set the pace, closely followed by Winning Touch on his outside. Pure Attitude settled in fifth, well off a fast opening quarter in : Winning Touch went after Crown the Chief heading into the far turn as Pure Attitude made a dazzling wide rush to draw even with Winning Touch at the head of the stretch through a :45.85 half. The two battled the length of the stretch with Pure Attitude, who was on the outside of Winning Touch, edging away late to win by a neck in 1: Pure Attitude s victory was his ninth in 51 starts with six seconds, five thirds and earnings now topping $300,000. The son of Aptitude out of Quietly Elegant by Quiet American was bred by Dr. Paul Michael Giacopelli and Raymond Chan. Funny Money Wins an Allowance Race while Funny Cide Visits Saratoga About the only real connection between Whisper Hill Farm s four-year-old gray filly Funny Money and Sackatoga Stables' 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Funny Cide is that they re both New York-breds and they were both at Saratoga Race Course Sunday afternoon. Funny Cide, long retired and living at the Kentucky Horse Park, was there for a visit. Funny Money was racing, and her dynamic rally around the far turn got her home first in a mile-and-asixteenth $77,000 New York-bred grass maiden special weight. In doing so, she gave trainer Chad Brown and jockey Joel Rosario one of their three victories on Sunday. Funny Money, a daughter of Dehere out of Seattle Moon by Seattle Dancer, bred by Michaelyn Gamble, Bill Allen and Adam Staple, had won one of her three previous turf tries and went off at odds of 4-1. Rosario, who continues to lead the Saratoga jockey standings, did a good job getting Funny Money over to the rail from the five post early, and she settled in seventh in the field of 11. Moonlit Sonnet, the 5-2 favorite from the rail, led most of the way under Alex Solis. On the lengthy run down the backside, Rosario got Funny Money off the rail and, heading into the far turn, she made a dazzling rush on the outside to quickly move into second. Funny Money

3 went by Moonlit Sonnet readily, opened a clear lead, and then held off fast-finishing Satin Sheeks by a half-length in a final time of 1: Miz Owell rallied to be third. Our Blue Streaks Stable and trainer Larry Rivelli s five-year-old New York-bred gelding Bug Juice hadn t been seen in New York since Feb. 20, 2012, when he finished a distant seventh in the Hollie Hughes Stakes at Aqueduct. Bug Juice had since raced at Presque Isle, Hawthorne, Oaklawn Park and Arlington Park, winning at least one race at all four tracks, before he returned to state-bred company Sunday at Saratoga, where he had won his only start. Sent off at 5-1 odds from the outside post in a field of 10 under Rosario in a seven-furlong $74,000 New York-bred allowance/optional $25,000 claimer, Bug Juice scored wire-to-wire by a neck over Bake Shop, who ran a remarkable race after breaking slowly from the starting gate. Bug Juice couldn t have gotten out of the starting gate any faster, opening a three-length lead in a matter of a few seconds. He posted fractions of :23.28, :46.26 and 1:10.42 as Zivo rallied on his inside and Bake Shop closed on the outside. Bug Juice held both of them off, completing the seven furlongs in 1:23.16 for his 10 th career victory in 23 starts with one second and five thirds, for earnings of more than $480,000. Bug Juice is a son of Mingun out of Twilight Empress by Twilight Agenda who was bred by Milfer Farm. Bruce Levine trained him in New York before he joined Rivelli s stable in In Sunday s finale, John Behrendt and Charles Marquis homebred three-year-old gray gelding Face the Race rallied late under Rosario to win a mile-and-a-sixteenth $75,000 New York-bred maiden special weight on the grass by a length and a quarter. A photo revealed that Sunnysider had edged out Campogiovanni and Polaris Dream for second. Face the Race was making his fourth grass start from the rail for trainer Michael Matz, and was sent off at 7-2 odds in an evenly bet race. Hengroen, a 31-1 longshot, led most of the way before being passed by Sunnysider and Eleven Bravo. Face the Race then appeared on the scene and powered to the wire, winning in 1: Face the Race is a son of Exchange Rate out of Nice Kitty Kitty by Forest Wildcat. William Bloom was a co-breeder with Behrendt and Marquis. Gimme Credit is Still Finding the Winner s Circle at the Age of Ten Trainer/owner Danny Gargan s amazing 10-year-old gelding Gimme Credit pushed his career earnings over the $700,000 mark with a stirring rally to capture a mile-and-a-sixteenth $77,000 New York-bred grass allowance/optional $20,000 claimer at Saratoga Saturday afternoon by a neck in 1:43.34.

4 Jose Lezcano rode Gimme Credit to his 15 th career victory in 73 starts, with eight seconds and 11 thirds. The son of Artax out of Shagadellic by Devil s Bag, bred by Berkshire Stud and Oak Cliff Stable, improved his record at Saratoga to four-for-10 with two seconds. Seal Team Four and Tycoon Cat set the early pace, while Lezcano got Gimme Credit away in mid-pack in the field of 12. Gimme Credit moved his way forward, but was still fifth in mid-stretch before he really kicked in, passing everyone to beat three-year-old Sunlover, four-year-old Hidden View and five-yearold Tycoon Cat. In a 5 ½-furlong $72,000 New York-bred grass allowance for fillies and mares Saturday, Hanley Stables four-year-old filly Wild Grace overcame the outside post in a field of 11 and a furious rally by White Crane to score by a nose in 1: It was the second consecutive victory for the daughter of Forest Wildcat out of Gracious Living by Pleasant Colony, who was bred by Hidden Lake Farm and Grove Bloodstock and is trained by Chad Brown. Jockey Javier Castellano contributed a fine ride, getting Wild Grace away quickly. She and Talmadge Hill hooked up on the front end and battled head-to-head through a testing first quarter in : Racing on the outside, Wild Grace got a neck ahead of Talmadge Hill but couldn t shake free through a half in : When Wild Grace finally put that challenger away, she held a brief, clear lead until White Crane came charging at her on the outside under Cornelio Velasquez. Wild Grace held her off until the wire, when the two fillies finished simultaneously. It was a nose-bob finish, and Wild Grace won the bob. She is now two-for-two on turf with a second and a third from three dirt starts. Earlier Saturday, Brian and Kerry Novak s Kate Is a Ten, a 12-1 longshot from post 10, won a mile-and-a-sixteenth $75,000 New York-bred maiden special weight on the turf for fillies and mares thanks to a fine ride by Luis Saez, who is having quite a successful first meet at Saratoga, especially on grass. The Novaks had claimed Kate Is a Ten for $20,000 when she finished third in a race at Belmont Park on June 21. They moved her up to a maiden special weight at Saratoga and allowed Saez to retain the mount for new trainer Phil Serpe. Saez got Kate Is a Ten, a three-year-old daughter of Tenpins out of Crypto Kate by Tabasco Cat, bred by Rojan Farms, away third as Left Uppercut battled Carole Lee on the front end. When they began to tire, Jose Lezcano rallied Done Smoking up the inside, while Saez moved up Kate Is a Ten on the outside. In deep stretch, there were four horses across the track. Kate Is a Ten was the strongest of the quartet, and won by three-quarters of a length in 1: Eddy s Time closed late to edge Done Smoking by a nose for second. Kate Is a Ten now has a win and a third from three turf starts.

5 There were 12 races celebrating Saratoga Race Course s actual 150 th birthday Saturday, and in the finale, Lezcano got Sunny Meadow Farm s four-year-old New York-bred gelding Trainingforsuccess his first victory in 19 career starts, capturing a one-mile $41,000 maiden $25,000 claimer on grass by a length and a half over favored St. Sincere in 1: Trainingforsuccess was the 4-1 second choice. Trainingforsuccess is a son of Sharp Humor out of Splashing Fancy by Bucksplasher, bred by Irish Hill Century Farm and trained by Mitch Friedman. Previously, Trainingforsuccess had one second and three thirds in 14 grass starts. Changes Work: Bird House Rolls to an Easy Allowance Score Trainer Gary Gullo made a few changes with Team Power Play Racing s four-year-old New York-bred filly Bird House. He switched her from turf to dirt, added blinkers for the first time, shortened her up, and dropped her in company. By racing with a $14,000 claiming tag, Bird House dropped from a non-winners-of-three state-bred allowance to a non-winners-of-two. The changes worked. Bird House aired at Saratoga Friday afternoon, capturing a 5 ½-furlong $72,000 New York-bred allowance/optional claimer by 4 ¼ lengths under Irad Ortiz, Jr. in a final time of 1: Favored Fiftyfour Forever finished second in the field of seven and Sweet Maxine was third. Bird House, a daughter of Limehouse out of Little Bertie by Devil His Due, bred by Briggs/Cromartie and Allen Hallett, had won two of her eight previous dirt races with one second and one third. She went off at 7-1 odds and laid off the early pace set by Fiftyfour Forever and Sweet Maxine, who sped through a quarter in : Notesfromabroad was also up on the pace, so Rosie Napravnik snatched Fiftyfour Forever back to third. Bird House had moved up to fourth and was momentarily behind a wall of three horses in front of her at the head of the stretch: Sweet Maxine on the inside, Fiftyfour Forever two-wide and a tiring Notesfromabroad three-wide. Ortiz decisively split Sweet Maxine and Fiftyfour Forever with Bird House, and the filly never looked back. ZRJ Stable s two-year-old first-time starter Sol the Freud went virtually wire-to-wire, taking his debut in a 5 ½-furlong $70,000 New York-bred maiden race Friday by 3 ¼ lengths under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, giving trainer David Cannizzo his first victory at the meet in five starts. Sol the Freud, a colt by Freud out of Frankly Fran by D Accord, bred by Tony Grey and Tass Thoroughbreds, was a $90,000 purchase earlier this year at the March Ocala Two-Year-Olds-in- Training Sale. He went off the 5-1 third choice from the five post in a field of seven.

6 The 3-5 favorite was another firster, Groupthink, a $220,000 yearling purchase in 2012 trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Javier Castellano. Howaboutwe, a 34-1 first-time starter breaking from the seven post, and Sol the Freud broke sharpest, with Howaboutwe the quicker of the two for just a few strides. Velazquez let Sol the Freud roll and he quickly took the lead. Groupthink, who had broken sixth, had passed five horses while wide around the turn and confronted Sol the Freud at the top of the stretch. Velazquez had a lot of horse left and Sol the Freud quickly opened a clear lead, one he increased as he roared to the wire. The last 30 days, he really turned around, said Cannizzo, whose brother Jeffrey is the Executive Director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. He was a little immature at first. Cannizzo, who had worked for Dale Romans, Bruce Levine and Scott Lake before taking his own trainer s license, has a stable of 18 horses at the Oklahoma Training Track and Belmont Park. At least one of those 18 has a bright future. He s really going the right way, Cannizzo said. Junior Alvarado skillfully weaved through traffic to rally Winter Park Partners three-year-old filly Scribbling Sarah to a half-length victory over Stock Fund in a 5 ½-furlong $70,000 New York-bred maiden special weight Friday for fillies and mares. Scribbling Sarah, a daughter of Freud out of Plinking by Talkin Man, bred by Anthony Grey, had posted two thirds and a fourth in her first three starts for trainer Thomas Morley. Scribbling Sarah, who went off at odds of 7-2, was ninth in the 10-horse field early as Courageous Karen and Stock Fund battled on the lead. Courageous Karen, sent off at 6-1 odds under David Cohen, opened a clear lead in early stretch before Stock Fund, the 5-2 favorite, rallied. Meanwhile, Scribbling Sarah had advanced to fourth in mid-stretch and she kept coming to the wire, winning in 1: Stock Fund edged Courageous Karen by a neck for second, and Rosalie s Pleasure, who had been fractious before the race, finished fourth, just another head behind. Incredible Saginaw Does It Again in the $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes Drawing Away Stable and trainer David Jacobson s seven-year-old gelding Saginaw, a living, breathing win machine, extended his winning streak to five with a powerful 1 ¾-length victory over Mine Over Matter in the 10 th running of the 6 ½-furlong $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes for NY-breds at rainy Saratoga Race Course Thursday afternoon. Jockey Junior Alvarado rode Saginaw to his 21 st career victory in 40 starts in a final time of 1:16.47 over a muddy track as the 5-2 second choice in a field of just four. There is nothing left to say, Jacobson said after Saginaw had won the Morrissey for the second straight year. Anyone who doubted him before, there s no such thing with Saginaw anymore,

7 Bill Parcell s Saratoga Snacks, the 4-5 favorite who had beaten Saginaw in a stakes route at Aqueduct in December, finished third in the field of four after an uncharacteristic poor ride by Saratoga s leading jockey Joel Rosario. Parcells, who led the New York Giants to the first two of their four Super Bowls, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. B Shanny, the 9-2 longshot in the quartet, flaunted his usual early speed from the outside post under Irad Ortiz, Jr. Rosario got Saratoga Snacks away second as Alvarado allowed Saginaw to settle comfortably in third through a fast first quarter in : As the field continued down the backstretch, Rosario sent Saratoga Snacks up the inside of B Shanny, but there was barely enough room. As B Shanny raced to the half in :45.05, Rosario had to snatch Saratoga Snacks back, allowing B Shanny a clear lead. Alvarado reacted immediately, moving Saginaw into second on B Shanny s outside, and he was poised to pounce on the front-runner coming out of the far turn. Saginaw asserted himself and took the lead in mid-stretch as Rosario, who had guided Saratoga Snacks to the outside, shot him back on the inside of B Shanny to get around him. By then, Mine Over Matter had made his rally and edged Saratoga Snacks by a nose for second. Saginaw improved his record this year to five-for-five and his record the last two years to 15 wins, one second and one third in 19 starts. His career numbers are 21 wins, six seconds and three thirds in 40 starts, with earnings of just under $975,000. Not bad for a horse Drawing Away Stable and Jacobson claimed for $30,000 on March 8 th, Saginaw is a son of Peruvian out of Devilzene by Devil s Bag who was bred by Ted Taylor. Earlier Thursday, Susanne and James Hooper and Thomas Albrecht s homebred three-year-old gelding One More Chief, who d been a hard-fought third in his debut, gamely held off favored Native Singer by a length, capturing a seven-furlong $70,000 New York-bred maiden race in a final time of 1: One More Chief, the 5-2 second choice under David Cohen, broke sharply from the two post, as did Native Singer, the even-money favorite under Javier Castellano breaking from post five. They hooked up immediately, with Native Singer gaining a slight margin while racing on One More Chief s outside. Native Singer stretched his lead to a half-length at one point, but coming out of the far turn One More Chief surged ahead, gradually increasing his lead all the way to the wire. One More Chief is a son of Chief Seattle out of No More Flags by Personal Flag, and is trained by Michael Shevy.

8 In a one-mile $52,000 optional $35,000 claimer over a good grass course Thursday, Alex and JEM Stable and Racing s seven-year-old New York-bred gelding Gamblin Fever dead-heated with Torment. Abel Lezcano rallied Gamblin Fever to the tie with Torment, who was ridden by Jose Ortiz. The two horses went off at odds of 6-1 and 9-2, respectively, in the field of just five. The two favorites, Vindication Now and Kingsford Drive, dueled for most of the race, then paid the price for their battle. Torment rallied past them in deep stretch as did Gamblin Fever on Torment s outside. They crossed the finish line in tandem. Gamblin Fever is a son of Roaring Fever out of Luscious Linda Sue by Gulch, bred by Fiddlers Green Stable and trained by Richard Metivier. The victory was Gamblin Fever s fourth in 45 grass starts, with seven seconds and four thirds.