Highcliff Farm In the News

2004 Highcliff Breeding & Racing News
(Courtesy of NY-breds.com)

Track Photo Credits:
Saratoga, Belmont, Aqueduct- Adam Coglianese ; Finger Lakes-Tom Cooley

(12/31) Factual Contender wins last NYRA race of 2004
Flying Zee Stable's FACTUAL CONTENDER put the finishing touches on the 2004 New York racing season with an off the pace victory against state-bred fillies and mares. The NW-1X condition allowance was run at six-furlongs over Aqueduct's winterized inner-track, listed "fast", and had a field of 8-horses go to the post.
Dasl Cammy and Graceful Pro dueled through an opening half-mile in 46.3-seconds before Dasl Cammy opened up a clear lead turning for home. But the early pace took its toll through the stretch as Evening Edition and Factual Contender began to gain on the leader, who couldn't sustain her lead giving way inside the sixteenth-pole as Factual Contender bested Evening Edition by a half-length crossing the wire. Final time was 1:12.1 seconds.
Bred by Carl Lizza (Flying Zee Stable), who qualifies for a $5,160 breeder's award, Factual Contender is a three-year-old dark bay filly by Thunder Puddles, and is the second foal to race out of the Triocala mare, Factuallychallenge. Factual Contender has now banked $73,342 in 10-lifetime starts. The sire, Thunder Puddles, was a multiple Grade 2-winner and multiple Grade-1 stakes-placed winner of over $791,000 and has stood at Mr. Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York since 1989. Thunder Puddles is the sire of Thunder Rumble, winner of the 1992 running of the Grade 1 - Travers Stakes and 1992 running of the Grade 2 - Jim Dandy Stakes, retiring with earnings exceeding $1-million.

(12/29) Inevitably True with game performance breaks maiden
Chevalier Stable's homebred, INEVITABLY TRUE, making his third career start gamely defeated a field of state-bred two-year-olds at Aqueduct Racetrack. Sent off as the even-money favorite in the 12-horse field, the gray gelding was ridden for the first time by journeyman jockey Mike Luzzi for trainer Bruce Levine and broke from the six-post. The six-furlong race was run over the winterized inner-track, listed "fast."
Macklenin and Inevitably True hooked up early and battled head-to-head past the half-mile pole reached in 46.3 seconds and continued to duel to the top of the stretch. Retribution put in a menacing run coming off the turn but couldn't match strides with Inevitably True who drew clear in deep stretch to win by three-quarters of a length. Retribution held for second and Poker Joe finished third. Final time was 1:12.1 seconds.
Bred by Edward Shapoff (Chevalier Stable), who qualified for a $4,920 breeder's award, Inevitably True is by Expensive Decision, and is out of the Forever Silver mare, Forever True, who has now produced three-winners from her first three foals. Owned by Mr. Shapoff, Expensive Decision won four graded stakes races including the 1989 running of the Gr. 2 - Saranac Stakes and retired with earnings of $485,419 in 32-starts. Expensive Decision originally stood at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York prior to moving to State University of New York at Cobleskill and is part of their Equine studies program.
Mr. Shapoff, also, qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,722, and Inevitably True raised her earnings to $41,000.

(11/28) Summerland shines in the slop - gets 2nd win in 3 starts
Having missed by a neck while placing second in Aqueduct's $125,000 New York Stallion Great White Way Stakes three weeks earlier, Michael T. Martin's homebred SUMMERLAND showed marked improvement in Aqueduct's sixth race on Sunday, winning the $43,000 restricted N1X allowance for two-year-olds going six furlongs by 6 1/2 lengths. The bay colt went off as the 1.15-to-1 favorite among six starters with jockey Shaun Bridgmohan on board for the third time in three career starts, breaking from the inside post and quickly gaining a length lead with an opening quarter-mile in 22.70 over the sloppy track. Although 3.10-to-1 third choice Cool Days was only a half-length behind following a half-mile in 46.85, Summerland looked unconcerned racing around the turn with his ears pricked, and by mid-stretch he was 5 1/2 lengths in front while setting a five-eighths fraction of 58.64. The Martin homebred continued pulling away from Cool Days -- who placed second -- through the final furlong, reaching the finish in what was easily his fastest six-furlong time thus far in three outings at that distance -- 1:10.88.
Summerland's second victory in three starts increased his earnings by $25,800 to $75,400 and also qualified his owner-breeder, Martin of Madison Avenue in New York City, for an additional $5,160 breeder award. Trained by Richard Violette Jr., the rapidly-improving juvenile had won his debut by three lengths at Belmont on October 10 and had led most of the way four weeks later in the Great White Way, only to be caught in the final strides. Following that effort, trainer Richard Violette Jr. had given the colt moderate half-mile workouts at Aqueduct on November 19 and 24.
Summerland is among seven winners at Belmont or Aqueduct sired from the first crop of New York stallion Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), who stands at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson. As a result of Summerland's victory, the owner of Western Expression, Lizza's Flying Zee Stables, qualified for a $1,806 stallion award. Western Expression's other debut winners include New York-breds Winning Expression, a colt who also has placed second in Belmont's open Flash (Grade 3) and Tremont Stakes, and Square Dancing, a filly who won at Belmont going a mile on turf. The 2005 fee for Western Expression, who missed by only a head from being a Grade 1 winner at seven furlongs (in Aqueduct's 2000 Carter Handicap) even though some of his juvenile progeny seem to thrive as the distances stretch out, has been announced as $10,000, live foal.
Summerland is the first offspring produced from owner-breeder Martin's New York-bred mare, stakes winner Laken ($209,655), whom he had purchased privately from W. Alec Martusewicz -- also the breeder and owner of Laken's multiple stakes-winning dam, New York-bred Anniron ($539,476). Laken is by Martin's own Highcliff Farm-based stallion Scarlet Ibis (Cormorant - Fifties Galore, by Cornish Prince), who was the New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) Champion Juvenile Male of 1988 while racing for Martin. Laken's dam, NYTB 1986 Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Anniron, by Iron Constitution, won 11 New York stakes for owner-breeder Martusewicz from 1986 through 1988 and scored 10 of her 18 career victories in routes and eight in sprints. A Hypo-Mating check of Summerland's pedigree reveals that like New York-bred Eclipse Champion Funny Cide, he is distantly inbred (5 x 5) to Ribot, and he also is inbred 5 x 5 to Bold Ruler, while sire Western Expression is inbred 3 x 4 to Raise a Native.

(11/26) Dr. Quirk breaks maiden at Big A.
Michael T. Martin's homebred, DR. QUIRK, making his fifth-career start and second at the one-mile distance, broke his maiden against a field of state-bred two-year-olds, today, at Aqueduct Racetrack. The one-turn affair had a field of 10-colts and geldings go to the starting gate located at the top of the chute on the main track, which was listed "good". The trainer/jockey combo of Rick Violette and jockey Shaun Bridgmohan have been clicking at 50% in the last two weeks and chalked up another victory with Dr. Quirk.
Wonforjodi and Airtogroundcontrol battled head-to-head in the run onto the main track from the chute with Dr. Quirk rating just off the leaders in third-position. Brigmohan moved Dr. Quirk up to take command nearing the half-mile pole reached in 46.1 seconds and raced past the three-quarters in 1:12 seconds flat while under a hand ride. Roused midway through the stretch, Dr. Quirk drew clear of Wonforjodi and held off the even-money favorite Liquid Romance's late challenge by three-quarters of a length. Final time was 1:38.2 seconds.
Bred by Michael T. Martin, who qualifies for a $5,040 breeder's award, the dark bay gelding is by Tomorrows Cat, and the first foal out of the Distinctive Pro mare, Katina K, who finished second in her only start as a two-year-old and broke her maiden as a three-year-old in her only other start. Katina K is a half-sister to stakes-placed allowance winners Father Shea (Talc) and Distinguida (Thirty Six Red). Dr. Quirk is the 72nd winner by Tomorrows Cat, who is completing a "break out" season as a stallion. With three-crops to race,
Tomorrows Cat has 5-stakes winners, which includes West Virginia, winner of the Times Square Division of the New York Stallion Stakes and Albany Stakes; and So Sweet a Cat, winner of the Statue of Liberty Division of the New York Stallion Stakes and New York Oaks. Tomorrows Cat has progeny earnings of over $3-million in 2004 placing him 5th on the active New York-based stallion standings, which are updated weekly courtesy of Blood-Horse Publications. Tomorrows Cat is a Questroyal Stallions managed syndication and stands at Metropolitan Stud in Pine Plains, New York.

(11/26) Show Ready takes Big A allowance nightcap
SHOW READY, claimed for $18,000 on September 30th and making her second start for new connections, went gate-to-wire against NW-1X state-bred condition allowance, today, at Aqueduct Racetrack. The final race on the card was run over the main track, listed "fast", at six-furlongs and had a field of 11-fillies and mares go to the starting gate. Trainer Scott Lake named journeyman jockey Mike Luzzi to ride the three-year-old chestnut filly, who was making her 16th ^÷ career start and second for new owners - Evan Gewirtz, Mitchell Klafter and Douglas Kiviat.
Breaking from the one-post, Show Ready was hustled to the lead and after a blistering opening quarter in 21.4 seconds backed off the second quarter to 23.2 seconds arriving at the half-mile pole in 45.1 seconds. Maidez, who moved into second, and Previous Selection bumped repeatedly at the top of the stretch compromising their chances as Show Ready slipped away. Under a heavy drive, Show Ready held off a late charge by Factual Contender by a length with Evening Edition, who was last down the backstretch, finishing a close-up third. Final time was 1:11 seconds flat.
Bred by Carl Lizza, Jr., who qualifies for a $5,160 breeder's award, Show Ready was consigned by Ocala Stud Farms to the 2003 OBS June two-year-olds in-training sales and was purchased by Pink N Blue Stables for $13,000. With today's winner's purse of $25,800, Show Ready boosts her lifetime earnings just above the century mark to $100,011. The late Prosper Fager, whose connections qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,806, stood at Carl Lizza, Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York, which is managed by Lynwood and Suzie O'Cain.

(11/25) Taking the Redeye flies home in Thanksgiving Day opener
Flying Zee Stable's homebred, TAKING THE REDEYE, easily defeated a field of state-bred allowance horses in today's first race on the Thanksgiving Day holiday opener at Aqueduct Racetrack. The NW-1X condition allowance had a field of 9-horses go to the starting gate with Taking the Redeye being the 9-5 bettor's choice. Trainer Philip Serpe named journeyman jockey Stuart Elliott to ride the three-year-old bay gelding, who broke through the starting gate prior to the start of the race.
Taking the Redeye streaked out of the gate at the break and led the field into the first turn of the 9-furlong race, which was run over a "sloppy" main track. Never threatened throughout the run down the backstretch and around the last turn, Taking the Redeye arrived at the top of the stretch with a 3-length lead over Bailie's Band, which he increased to 8-3/4-lengths under the wire. Caroller closed to finish second and Bailie's Band held for third-money. Final time was 1:52.2 seconds.
Carl Lizza, Jr. of Flying Zee Stable, who is currently the meet's leading owner, qualified for a $5,280 breeder's award. Taking the Redeye is by Scarlet Ibis, and is out of the stakes winning Well Decorated mare, Ribboned, who earned $85,150. The winner's purse of $26,400 elevates the filly's earnings to $56,790 in 7-starts.
The sire, Scarlet Ibis, winner of 5 out of 6 starts as a two-year-old including four stakes victories stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York and has lifetime progeny earnings of over $8-million. A check of the Hypo-Mating feature on the homepage of the nybreds.com website reveals that Taking the Redeye is linebred 4 X 4 to Bold Ruler.

(11/24) Lord Langfuhr wins second-consecutive open allowance
New York-bred LORD LANGFUHR, once again, defeated a field of open allowance company horses today at Aqueduct Racetrack. Originally scheduled to be run at 8-1/2-furlongs over the turf, persistent rainfall forced the race to the main track, which was listed "sloppy", and run around one-turn at a mile. After a host of late scratches, only six-horses went to the post. Trainer James Jerkens stayed with journeyman jockey Jorge Chavez to ride the four-year-old bay colt, who was making his 19th career start. The stretch running specialist has now had Chavez on board for eight outings, which has resulted in four visits to the winner's circle..
Overpass took command early and led the field onto the main track from the chute as White Buck and Region of Merit rated in second and third, respectively. The late running Lord Langfuhr was taken back soon after the break and trailed the field in the early going before eventually moving into fourth-position around the last turn. After a half-mile in 46.3 seconds, Overpass continued to lead the field to the top of the stretch as Lord Langfuhr angled off the rail to the middle of the track. While under a strong drive, the New York-bred charged to the front, drawing clear to win by 1-3/4-lengths over Region of Merit with Overpass holding onto third-position. Final time was 1:35.4 seconds.
Campaigned by Howard Whitbred and Christine Brennan, Lord Langfuhr boosted his earnings by $27,000 to $214,468 while improving his record to 6 - 5 - 2 in 19 starts, and he also qualified his owners for an additional $2,700 open owner's award and Whitbred for a breeder award worth another $2,700. Sired by Grade 1 winner Langfuhr, Lord Langfuhr is the second offspring bred from Palace Lady by co-owner Whitbred, of ATOKA Chase Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, being a full brother to NYRA dirt and turf winner Lord Burleigh ($120,516), who also raced for Whitbred and Brennan prior to being claimed. Dam Palace Lady, a Belmont first-out-winning His Majesty mare likewise bred in New York by Whitbred, is a half-sister to two stakes winners that Whitbred bred in New York -- Grade 2 winner Dr. Kiernan ($298,266) and Majesty's Time ($240,790) -- and to the winning New York-bred dam of stakes winner Waupaca. Lord Langfuhr's dosage profile of 3-5-18-0-2 seems to be a significant indicator of the colt's strong stretch-running ability.

(11/21) Sideways Glance looks strong in the stretch in 2 3/4-length MSW win
Two promising young sons of New York stallions hooked up in Aqueduct's second race on Sunday for New York-bred maiden two-year-olds going seven furlongs, and at the finish it appeared that while A Very Young Jet might be quicker, Flying Zee Stable's homebred SIDEWAYS GLANCE was stronger in the stretch. The former, favored at 1.75-to-1 and now second-placed in his last three consecutive starts, broke next-to-last in the nine-horse field but quickly sprinted to the front on the inside, gaining a two-length lead with a 22.70 opening quarter-mile split and setting a 46.29 half-mile fraction over the muddy track. Sideways Glance, the 7.30-to-1 fourth choice, broke sharply under jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr., who was race-riding him for the first time, and was fourth after the opening quarter before launching a three wide move at A Very Young Jet on the turn. The Flying Zee Stable homebred advanced to within a half-length of his front-running rival after a half-mile, and the two entered the stretch almost dead even, both switching leads right on cue and driving down the stretch to set a 1:11.52 six-furlong fraction, with Sideways Glance leading by a head. In the final furlong, Arroyo's mount pulled away to a 2 3/4-length victory, looking as though he was ready to try two turns. A Very Young Jet placed 4 1/2 lengths ahead of his closest pursuer. All nine juvenile starters in the $41,000 restricted maiden special contest were either conceived in New York and/or were sons of current New York-based stallions.
Trained for his NYRA outings by Frank Martin Sr., who had given the chestnut gelding an easy five-furlong Belmont workout on November 16 following a rough fourth-place effort in the open Finger Lakes Juvenile Stakes on October 23, Sideways Glance boosted his earnings by $24,600 to $32,458 in six starts. The victory also qualified the gelding's owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, for breeder ($4,920) and stallion ($1,722) awards totaling $6,642, since Flying Zee Stable also owns Sideways Glance's New York-based sire, Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light). Sideways Glance, whose only previous top-three finish had been a second-place effort in an open maiden special at Finger Lakes on October 3 when he had hit the rail and his jockey had lost an iron, is the seventh New York-bred two-year-old NYRA winner sired from Western Expression's first crop. Other winners by Western Expression include Winning Expression, who placed second in Belmont's open Flash (Grade 3) and Tremont Stakes, and Summerland, who missed by a neck while placing second in Aqueduct's $125,000 New York Stallion Great White Way Stakes on November 7. Although Western Expression, who stands at Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson and had a 2004 fee of $10,000, live foal, missed by a head from being a Grade 1 winner at seven furlongs (in Aqueduct's 2000 Carter Handicap), even his most precocious progeny hint at being routers.
Sideways Glance is the fifth offspring and fifth New York-bred winner that Flying Zee Stables has bred from former juvenile winner Heavenly Glance, who is by Citidancer (by Dixieland Band) and out of a winning Ack Ack mare whose New York-bred dam, Platinum Poster ($175,890), won Aqueduct's 1986 Ticonderoga Handicap. A Hypo-Mating check of Sideways Glance's pedigree reveals distant inbreeding (4 x 5) to Tamerett, who produced Grade/Group 1 winners Tentam and Known Fact and is the maternal granddam (second dam) of New York-based stallion A. P Jet, sire of the runner-up to Sideways Glance, A Very Young Jet.

(11/19) Peter's Puddles remains undefeated in thriller at Big A.
In what could turn out to be the last turf race of the season at NYRA tracks, 8-state-bred horses had a legitimate chance to win in the last fifty yards, but it was Peter Vangelatos' undefeated homebred, PETER'S PUDDLES, who emerged victorious. The state-bred race for NW-2X condition allowance horses was run at 9-furlongs over the Aqueduct turf course, listed "good", and had a field of 10-horses go to the post. Trainer H. James Bond named the country's leading money winning jockey John Velazquez to ride the three-year-old chestnut colt, who broke from the 8-post position.
True Crimson broke fastest of all and led the field into and around the first turn with Unbridled Drive rating in second position. Buff Naked and Peter's Puddles tracked the leaders in third and fourth, respectively, to the three-quarters reached in 1:15-seconds flat. As the field hit the top of the stretch it was still True Crimson leading the way but he had a host of horses advancing to contest the outcome, stretching eight-wide inside the sixteenth-pole, heads apart and digging down for all their worth as the wire drew near. Winning the thriller by a nose was Peter's Puddles over Lukelynn and Gryffindor in 1:51.4 seconds.
The $27,600 winner's purse qualifies Vangelatos for a $5,520 breeder's award, and boosts Peter's Puddles' lifetime earnings to $79,200 in three-career starts. By Thunder Puddles, Peter's Puddles is out of Ionika, a 100% producer, by Steinlen (GB). The sire of multiple graded stakes winner Thunder Rumble, winner of the 1992 Travers Stakes (Gr.1), Thunder Puddles has 2004 progeny earnings of over $400,000 and stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York. His connections qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,932 for today's score.

(11/7) Kevin's Decision sets stakes record in New York Stallion Perfect Arc
A maiden four-year-old filly just 53 days earlier, Flying Zee Stable's homebred KEVIN'S DECISION slipped through along the rail to score a 2 1/4-length stakes record-setting victory in Aqueduct's $100,000 New York Stallion Perfect Arc Stakes on turf for daughters of registered New York stallions on Sunday. The chestnut filly had the services of jockey Edgar Prado, who had ridden her once at Belmont in 2003, and went off relatively overlooked as the 9.90-to-1 fourth choice among nine wagering interests and 10 starters, all fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, in the two-turn turf mile event. Breaking from the inside post, Kevin's Decision raced close behind 17.20-to-1 fifth choice pacesetter Ma Femme in fourth and then third place through three quarters while being kept in hand near the rail. On the second turn, she quickly got through to gain a two-length mid-stretch advantage over second-place Expect Nothing, the 6.70-to-1 third choice, even though she was late switching leads in the upper stretch, and in the final furlong she managed to extend her margin further. The final time for Kevin's Decision, 1:37.04 over a drying-out "good" grass course, broke the Perfect Arc's three-year-old turf stakes record held by multiple stakes winner Wake Up Kiss (who had been ridden in that contest by Prado) by .08 of a second (about a neck).
Fifty-three days earlier at Belmont, Kevin's Decision had broken her maiden by 4 1/4 lengths going a mile and a sixteenth on grass under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, who for the Perfect Arc was on board second-place finisher Expect Nothing. A month later and 23 days prior to the Perfect Arc, she had placed second under Bridgmohan going a mile and an eighth on Belmont turf in a restricted N1X allowance, after which trainer Carlos Martin had given her a solid half-mile workout on Belmont's training track on October 25.
Martin had nothing but praise for Prado's ride on Kevin's Decision: "Edgar (Prado) rode a great race. He saved all the ground. She was doing good. She ran big the other day (October 15) going a mile and an eighth, and I thought she would be tough coming back at a mile. I thought it was a good opportunity to take a shot," explained Martin, who had sent out the winner of the inaugural Perfect Arc Stakes (run on Aqueduct's main track), Ruby Friday, in 2000.
Prado, who rode three winners on Aqueduct's Sunday card -- two of them New York-breds -- acknowledged that the race had unfolded perfectly: "We had a beautiful trip. It really made a difference in the race, because the horses all looked so even on paper. I sat her right behind the speed, and when it was time to go, she just took off. I hit her a couple of times, and I could tell she had plenty left."
The first stakes outing for Kevin's Decision boosted her earnings by $60,000 into six figures at $134,714, improving her record to 2 - 5 - 3 in 17 starts and also qualifying her owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, for the maximum $10,000 breeder award. Lizza owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson in partnership with Joseph Bartone, and Kevin's Decision was conceived, foaled, and raised at that facility, where her New York-based sire, Expensive Decision (Explosive Bid - Third Wife, by Hydrologist), had stood. The Perfect Arc victory by Kevin's Decision qualified Edward Shapoff of Chevalier Stable in Pelham, who had owned Expensive Decision at the time of the filly's conception, for a $4,200 stallion award. Grade 2 winner Expensive Decision, who ran a world record turf mile (1:32 2/5) while winning Belmont's graded Kelso Handicap and also equaled Belmont's mile and a sixteenth grass record, currently stands at State University of New York (SUNY) Cobleskill as the property of that college's Thoroughbred Management Program. The 2004 stud fee for the stallion, whose lifetime progeny earnings have gone well over $3-million as a result of the Perfect Arc victory by Kevin's Decision, was $1,000, live foal. Expensive Decision's other winning daughters include stakes winners Long Distance and Expensive Verdict.
Kevin's Decision is the fifth New York-bred winner, fourth filly winner, and first turf winner produced from Fairy Queen, a winning Tom Rolfe mare who is a half-sister to Puerto Rican champion Don Serafin ($140,521). Fairy Queen's previous winners -- all New York-breds and all bred by Flying Zee Stables -- include six-figure-earners Comply With Di ($140,053) and Glorious Gift ($130,660). Lizza had purchased Fairy Queen for $45,000 at Keeneland's 1989 September yearling sale in Lexington, Kentucky. A Hypo-Mating check of the pedigree of Kevin's Decision reveals that she is inbred 4 x 4 to the famed Meadow Stud's foundation broodmare, Iberia, whose offspring included Hall of Fame champion Riva Ridge plus other stakes winners Hydrologist (broodmare sire of Expensive Decision) and Potomac. The dosage profile of Kevin's Decision is an unusually long-winded 1-2-7-0-6.

(11/7) Pa Pa Da dons blinkers to win New York Stallion Cormorant Stakes
Wearing blinkers for the first time, John and Theresa Behrendt's homebred PA PA DA scored his second consecutive one-mile turf victory in 15 days and first stakes tally in Aqueduct's $100,000 New York Stallion Cormorant Stakes on Sunday for three-year-olds and up sired by registered New York stallions. The three-year-old gelding had jockey Jose Espinoza on board for the first time in competition and went off in the two-turn grass event as the 4.50-to-1 fourth choice among eight wagering interests and nine starters. He raced in hand while improving his position through each quarter-mile split from fourth to third to second, making a quick three wide move going into the second turn that advanced him to within a half-length of frontrunner Confident Cat, the 3.30-to-1 second choice, at the quarter pole. By mid-stretch, Pa Pa Da had a half-length lead over Confident Cat, and in the final furlong he held off Thanasi, who was half of an entry that was the 3.35-to-1 third choice and loomed on the outside after having been in contention throughout the contest. Threatening on his other side from next to the rail was 7.50-to-1 fifth choice Unnerving, but Espinoza's mount dug in to reach the wire a half-length ahead of Thanasi and a length in front of Unnerving in the time of 1:37.65 over the drying-out "good" Aqueduct turf course.
Since breaking his maiden (also going a mile on turf) in his second start as a two-year-old at Belmont in September of 2003, Pa Pa Da had not won again until capturing a restricted N1X allowance at Belmont on October 23, but he had placed in three stakes. As a juvenile, he had finished second to future Grade 1 winner Friends Lake in Belmont's main track Sleepy Hollow Stakes and third in Aqueduct's six-furlong New York Stallion Great White Way Stakes -- also on dirt. Introduced to turf at Gulfstream Park last winter, the New York-bred had placed third in the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes going a mile and an eighth on grass -- finishing only two lengths behind future multiple Grade 1 turf winner Kitten's Joy. After Pa Pa Da had finished fourth in a restricted N1X allowance turf mile at Belmont in early June, trainer David Donk had given him some time off. Ten days after his October 23 win and four days prior to the Cormorant, Donk had sharpened Pa Pa Da's speed with a quick half-mile workout (48 1/5) over Belmont's training track. The bay gelding's first stakes victory increased his earnings by $60,000 to $188,390 and improved his record to 3 - 4 - 3 in 14 starts while also qualifying his breeder and co-owner, John Behrendt of New York City, for additional breeder (the maximum $10,000) and stallion ($4,200) awards totaling $14,200.
Trainer Donk implied that the gelding's potential is significant: "He's better than what he's been running. I think the blinkers helped him today. He settled very nicely early. I don't know if he is still waiting on them a little bit when he got to the lead; we'll see what Jose (Espinoza) says. But regardless, he got the job done."
Espinoza agreed that the blinkers helped: "He took a nice position, and he was traveling very comfortably. Coming to the quarter-pole, I asked him for run, and he came home great."
Previous NewYork-bred winners raced by the Behrendts include Pa Pa Da's graded-winning sire, Incurable Optimist, who as a 1998 juvenile won graded grass stakes at Belmont and Hollywood Park -- by 4 1/2 and nine lengths -- to earn three New York Thoroughbred Breeders' championship honors, including Horse of the Year. Incurable Optimist entered stud for the 2000 season as the property of the Behrendts at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson and was purchased by Argentine interests to stand in that country shortly after the conclusion of his first breeding season. Pa Pa Da is the fifth winner produced from Sligo River, who is by Mac Diarmida and whose stakes-winning half-sister, A Dream Above ($159,841), is the dam of millionaire graded winner Nite Dreamer ($1,149,841).

(11/6) Lethimthinkhesboss has final say in maiden special opener
With more earnings and more placed efforts than any of the other 10 starters in Aqueduct's Saturday opener for New York-bred maidens, three-year-olds and up, Flying Zee Stable's homebred LETHIMTHINKHESBOSS went off as the 1.55-to-1 favorite and justified his backers with a hard-fought stretch-bumping victory. The three-year-old gelding was race-ridden for the first time in the two-turn mile and an eighth contest by jockey Javier Castellano, who rated him in sixth place through the first half-mile while 2.85-to-1 second choice Rises the Phoenix set the pace. Entering the second turn, 8.50-to-1 fifth choice Cardinal Rule made a three wide move to engage the new leader, 8.40-to-1 fourth choice Metallic Moon, and pushed his head in front of that rival near the three-eighths pole. At about the same time, Lethimthinkhesboss launched his four wide rally that advanced him to even terms with Cardinal Rule near mid-stretch, and he gained a short final furlong advantage while bumping with his inside rival and then appeared to lose the lead before regaining it for a neck victory. For jockey Castellano, it was the first of three winning rides on Aqueduct's Saturday card.
Victory in the $42,000 contest generated $25,200 in purse money, boosting Lethimthinkhesboss's earnings to $72,350 while improving his record to 1 - 3 - 4 in 11 starts, and it also qualified his owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, for an additional $2,520 breeder award. Lizza also owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson in partnership with Joseph Bartone, which is where Lethimthinkhesboss was foaled. Trained by Philip Serpe, the bay gelding had come off a 51-day layoff to place a closing second -- missing victory by only a neck -- in a mile and an eighth contest over yielding Belmont turf just 15 days earlier on October 22. He has finished no worse than fourth in all of his outings -- from seven furlongs to a mile and an eighth -- following an eighth-place stretch-altering debut as a two-year-old at Saratoga in August of 2003.
Sired by the Mr. Prospector stallion Demidoff, Lethimthinkhesboss is the first offspring produced from eight-time route winner Dictator Lady ($115,930), who is by Slew City Slew (by Seattle Slew) and is a full sister to stakes-placed winner Please Mr. Postman and a half-sister to stakes-placed winner My Pal Dad ($159,365). Flying Zee Stables apparently acquired Dictator Lady privately after her racing career was over following her five-year-old season in 1999.

(11/6) Lord Langfuhr goes last to 1st in open allowance
Reunited with jockey Jorge Chavez and dropped back to a one-turn mile, Howard Whitbred's and Christine Brennan's New York homebred LORD LANGFUHR rallied from last on the outside at the top of the stretch to win Aqueduct's seventh race on Saturday, a $48,000 open N1X allowance, by 2 1/2 lengths. The four-year-old colt went off as the 5.40-to-1 third choice among eight starters, three-year-olds and up, and trailed the field through three-quarters of a mile, which 85.75-to-1 seventh choice Cutting Points covered on the front end in 1:10.68. As the tightly-packed group of runners rounded the turn into a 22-mph west/southwesterly wind that was angling across the stretch, Lord Langfuhr went widest of all and entered the lane near the middle of the track from his last-place position. Within one furlong, the New York-bred overtook every one of his rivals except for briefly-leading Belichick, the 11.60-to-1 sixth choice whose rider had lost his whip in the stretch, and in the final furlong he drew off to a 2 1/2-length margin at the finish, winning in 1:35.92. Second choice Notorious Rogue (4.90-to-1), who had been next-to-last for most of the race but did not have the strong closing kick of Lord Langfuhr, nosed out odds-on favorite Alocadito (.85-to-1) for second place money.
Campaigned by Howard Whitbred and Christine Brennan, Lord Langfuhr boosted his earnings by $28,800 to $187,468 while improving his record to 5 - 5 - 2 in 18 starts, and he also qualified his owners for an additional $2,880 open race owner award and Whitbred for a breeder award worth another $2,880. The big bay colt's trainer is James Jerkens, who had given him an easy half-mile workout on Belmont's training track just three days earlier -- following Lord Langfuhr's solid second-place effort going a one-turn mile and an eighth at Belmont in an open N1X allowance three weeks prior to Saturday's win. Lord Langfuhr was the second winner sent out on Aqueduct's Saturday card by Jerkens. The stretch runner has had Chavez on board for seven outings and three victories, beginning with a 4 1/4-length tally in a restricted N2X allowance mile at Belmont on May 7 and including an open claiming win going a mile and an eighth in Saratoga mud on August 29.
Sired by Grade 1 winner Langfuhr, Lord Langfuhr is the second offspring bred from Palace Lady by co-owner Whitbred, of ATOKA Chase Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, being a full brother to NYRA dirt and turf winner Lord Burleigh ($120,516), who also raced for Whitbred and Brennan prior to being claimed. Dam Palace Lady, a Belmont first-out-winning His Majesty mare likewise bred in New York by Whitbred, is a half-sister to two stakes winners that Whitbred bred in New York -- Grade 2 winner Dr. Kiernan ($298,266) and Majesty's Time ($240,790) -- and to the winning New York-bred dam of stakes winner Waupaca. Lord Langfuhr's dosage profile of 3-5-18-0-2 seems to be a significant indicator of the colt's strong stretch-running ability.

(11/4) Excellent Charisma plus away to 3 1/2-length maiden win
An increase in distance from six furlongs to a one-turn mile and the addition of blinkers apparently made the difference for Flying Zee Stable's EXCELLENT CHARISMA in Aqueduct's fourth race on Thursday for New York-bred maiden fillies, as she pulled away through the stretch to a 3 1/2-length victory. The three-year-old filly went off as the 3.45-to-1 third choice among eight starters in the $42,000 restricted maiden special race, which was open to older competitors but contested exclusively by three-year-old fillies, with jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. on board for the first time in a race. Bumped at the start by 27.50-to-1 sixth choice Its Always Now on her inside, she raced in hand in fifth place down the backstretch through the light rain while 39.50-to-1 seventh choice Alicia's Song set the pace and took the lead from that early frontrunner on the turn. At the quarter pole, Excellent Charisma had a 2 1/2-length margin over a new challenger, 7.90-to-1 fourth choice Anat, who closed to within a length and a half of the winner at mid-stretch before Arroyo hand-rode his mount to an advantage that more than doubled at the wire.
Trained by Carlos Martin, Excellent Charisma increased her earnings by $25,200 to $41,600 in six starts for the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, who with Joseph Bartone also owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where the contest's runner-up, Anat, was conceived and foaled. The bay filly had been purchased by Flying Zee Stable for $67,000 at Fasig-Tipton's 2002 Saratoga preferred New York-bred yearling sales and had placed third in her first three starts -- at Aqueduct in the fall of 2003 and again at Saratoga in August following a nine-month-plus layoff. All of Excellent Charisma's outings prior to Thursday had been at six furlongs, including fourth-place and fifth-place efforts at Belmont on October 2 and October 21, respectively.
Excellent Charisma had been consigned to the Saratoga preferred yearling sale through agent Jeffrey T. Minton Bloodstock LLC by the Ivy League Farm in Ithaca of her breeder, Dr. Patricia Staskowski Purdy, who qualified for a $2,520 breeder award as a result of the filly's Thursday victory. Sired by 1999 Eclipse Horse of the Year Charismatic, the filly is the second offspring and second New York-bred winner bred by Dr. Purdy from three-time winner Expect Excellence, who is by Pentelicus and is a half-sister to stakes winners Cache and Carry ($191,857), Unembellished ($134,477), and Clever Thing ($115,151). Dr. Purdy, selected by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders as 2002 Breeder of the Year, had purchased Expect Excellence for $21,000 as a four-year-old not-bred broodmare prospect at Keeneland's 1999 January mixed sale in Lexington, Kentucky.

(11/4) Go See Michelle leads all the way in 12 1/2-lengh maiden win
With no other early speed in Aqueduct's sixth race on Thursday for New York-bred maiden fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, going a one-turn mile through the rain, Patricia Escalera's four-year-old GO SEE MICHELLE benefited from the logical strategy of immediately getting the lead and never looking back. Race-ridden for the second consecutive time by "bug" jockey Oscar Gomez, whose apprentice allowance is five pounds, and favored at 1.45-to-1 among seven starters in the $42,000 restricted maiden special contest, the gray/roan filly stumbled coming out of the sixth post but quickly opened up a daylight-margin advantage. She set fractions of 22.92 and 46.49 to gain a 3 1/2-length gap on her competition after a half-mile and extended it to 12 1/2 lengths at the finish, hugging the rail and pulling away despite staying on her left lead through the stretch while looking slightly leg weary. She was among four gray/roan winners -- two of them New York-breds -- on Aqueduct's gray, rainy, and overcast Thursday afternoon card.
Go See Michelle's first top-three finish in five starts and second effort at a mile since debuting at that distance on June 30 at Belmont earned her $25,200 in purse money to put her career bankroll at $27,672 while under the care of trainer Victor Cuadra. She had been bumped at or soon after the starts in three previous six-furlong outings at Belmont in July, September, and on October 21 -- just two weeks prior to her maiden victory -- when she had finished fourth after racing three wide.
Bred by Manuel Camacho, who qualified for a $5,040 breeder award, Go See Michelle is by now-deceased Kings Fiction, who had stood at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson as the property of Elisabeth Jerkens' Hardwicke Stables, Ltd., which qualified for a $1,764 stallion award. Go See Michelle is the first starter and first winner produced from New York-bred five-time winner and two-turn specialist Lego My Lady, who is by the late New York-based sire, Legatee.

(10/31) Soft Expression expresses love of distance in maiden win
Stretched out an extra quarter-mile to a full one-turn mile for her second start and put on Lasix medication, Marbet Farm's homebred SOFT EXPRESSION romped by 4 3/4 lengths under jockey Jorge Chavez in Aqueduct's $42,000 Sunday Halloween opener for New York-bred maiden two-year-old fillies. Seventeen days earlier, Chavez had taken her up in her Belmont debut to avoid fallen rivals, resulting in an unplaced finish, but trainer Edward Plesa Jr. had maintained her fitness with an easy mile workout at Belmont and sent her off as the 8-to-1 fourth choice among seven starters. From the end of the opening half-mile to mid-stretch, the contest looked like a match-up between the top two choices, odds-on What's Your Point (.55-to-1) and 3.85-to-1 pacesetter Champagne Ending, with Soft Expression pursuing in fourth place and dropping over to the rail on the turn. She reached the upper stretch with only the two front-end contenders ahead of her but looked destined to finish third before a late switch to her right lead as Chavez angled her out from the rail, after which Soft Expression seemed to kick in, taking command and pulling clear. Champagne Ending and What's Your Point placed second and third, respectively.
Campaigned by the Marbet Farm of Richard Horigan but bred by Elizabeth Tesiero of Marbet Farm in Amsterdam, Soft Expression picked up $25,200 in purse money for her maiden victory, establishing her earnings in two starts at $25,472, and she also qualified breeder Tesiero for a $5,040 breeder award. The dark bay filly is the sixth New York-bred two-year-old winner at Belmont or Aqueduct sired from the first crop of New York-based Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), whose owner, Carl Lizza Jr.'s Flying Zee Stable of Wharton, New Jersey, qualified for a $1,764 stallion award. Other winners by Western Expression, who stands at Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, include Winning Expression, who also has placed second in Belmont's open Flash (Grade 3) and Tremont Stakes, plus other mile winners Square Dancing (on turf at Belmont) and Everythings Groovy (at Aqueduct, October 28). Although Western Expression, who stood the 2004 season for a fee of $10,000, live foal, missed by only a head from being a Grade 1 winner at seven furlongs (in Aqueduct's 2000 Carter Handicap), even his most precocious progeny seem to thrive as the distances stretch out.
Soft Expression is the second multiple winner bred in New York by Tesiero from Soft Turquoise, a route-winning daughter of the Grade/Group 1 turf winning Mr. Prospector stallion, Procida. Soft Turquoise, who is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Accomodator ($217,707 through 2003), stakes-placed winner Yen for Gold ($176,267 and dam of two stakes-placed winners), and to the granddam of stakes winner Field Cat ($309,833), had been purchased at a Saratoga two-year-olds in training sale for $25,000 in 1993. A Hypo-Mating check of Soft Expression's pedigree reveals that she is inbred 3 x 3 to Mr. Prospector and 4 x 4 x 5 to Mr. Prospector's sire, Raise a Native.

(10/28) Everythings Groovy pulls away by 3 in maiden mile opener
Stretched out to a one-turn mile and put on Lasix medication, Flying Zee Stable's homebred juvenile, EVERYTHINGS GROOVY, pulled away to win by three lengths in his second start, thoroughly dominating Aqueduct's Thursday $42,000 opener for New York-bred maiden two-year-olds. With Cornelio Velasquez race-riding him for the first time, the dark bay colt went off as the 3.05-to-1 second choice among nine starters, racing near the back of the tightly-packed field (less that four lengths separated first from ninth after the opening quarter) going down the backstretch. Setting the pace was 3.10-to-1 third choice Dr. Quirk, but Everythings Groovy rallied three wide into the stretch and wrested command from that frontrunner before reaching mid-stretch although he continued running on his left lead and looked like he wanted to drift in through the upper stretch. In the final furlong, Velasquez's mount doubled his margin over Dr. Quirk, who placed a clear second, even while continuing to stay on his left lead. Favored Frankie Peppers (2.55-to-1), who had stalked Dr. Quirk in second place through most of the race, finished third.
Bred and owned by the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, Everythings Groovy earned $25,200 to put his total bankroll in two starts at $25,318, and he also qualified Flying Zee Stable for a total of $6,804 in breeder ($5,040) and stallion ($1,764) awards. The colt had finished seventh in his October 10 Belmont debut going seven furlongs, and 13 days later trainer Carlos Martin had given him a fairly solid five-furlong workout at Belmont. Everythings Groovy is the fifth NYRA two-year-old winner from the first crop of Flying Zee Stables' New York-based Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), who stands at Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where his fee was $10,000, live foal, in 2004. Western Expression's other runners include Belmont debut winners Winning Expression, who also has placed second in Belmont's open Flash (Grade 3) and Tremont Stakes; Square Dancing, a filly who won going a mile on turf; and three-length Belmont winner Summerland, plus four-length Belmont winner (in his second start) Western Galaxy.
Everythings Groovy is the fifth offspring and fifth New York-bred winner produced from Flying Zee Stables' New York homebred broodmare, Groovy's Fairest, by Groovy, being a half-brother to six-time route winner Apt Contender ($135,245) and to 2004 Philadelphia Park allowance winner Fair Prospect (four wins in 2004). Dam Groovy's Fairest is a half-sister to two six-figure-earning New York-breds, and her dam, the turf-winning Tom Rolfe mare Fairy Queen, had been purchased by Lizza as a yearling for $45,000 at Keeneland's 1989 September sale in Lexington, Kentucky. A Hypo-Mating check of Everythings Groovy's pedigree reveals that he is distantly inbred to stamina sires Buckpasser (4 x 4) and Ribot (4 x 5) as well as to Kentucky Derby-Preakness winner Majestic Prince (4 x 5) and that Western Expression is inbred 3 x 4 to Raise a Native.

(10/23) Spite the Devil captures thrilling Empire Classic by Rab Hagin
Coming from last to first, Hardwicke Stable's homebred SPITE THE DEVIL overcame a slew of difficulties to push his head in front of 2.15-to-1 favorite West Virginia in Belmont's $250,000 Empire Classic Handicap for New York-bred three-year-olds and up Saturday, winning under equal top weight among 14 starters. The four-year-old gelding stumbled at the start and then bumped with Traffic Chief on his outside after the break, and following an opening half-mile in a testing 45.71 set by 47.50-to-1 11th choice Mr. Determined, he trailed everyone in the field of 14 starters and 13 wagering interests. Jockey Javier Castellano, who had ridden Spite the Devil four times during 2002 and 2003 and had won with him once, hustled the late-running graded winner through the backstretch run of the one-turn mile and an eighth event, but they still trailed 10 rivals with only three furlongs to go. As Everydayissaturday, the 17.70-to-1 eighth choice as half of an entry, forged ahead at mid-stretch, Spite the Devil and West Virginia rallied five wide and four wide, respectively, and charged down the stretch near the middle of the track, with the favorite slightly more than a half-length in front. In the final furlong, the two hooked up for an all-out battle to the wire, with Spite the Devil -- one of three starters in the Empire Classic carrying 119 pounds to three-year-old West Virginia's 117 -- prevailing in a hard-fought duel as the 15-to-1 sixth choice.
Castellano expressed gratitude at again riding the gelding that he had guided to an allowance win and two restricted stakes-placings during Spite the Devil's juvenile season: "I don't ride for (Jerkens) a lot, but I'm glad they gave me the opportunity, and I am happy that everything worked out. The pace was so fast in the beginning. I had the opportunity to put him outside. I asked him, and he took off."
Spite the Devil's Hall of Fame trainer, H. Allen Jerkens, thought the race had materialized well despite the early traffic problems: "He likes to come from off of a fast pace, so it set up very nicely for him. We got lucky, and he got a great ride. It's very nice for us, because my wife owns the horse. This should help pay for some of the mare's bills."
Bred by Elisabeth Jerkens, who races in the name of Hardwicke Stable and also qualified for an additional $10,000 (maximum) breeder award, Spite the Devil picked up $150,000 for his third stakes victory, boosting his earnings to $599,661 and improving his record to 6 - 5 - 6 in 30 starts. As a three-year-old, he had charged up on the outside to capture Aqueduct's Grade 3 Withers Stakes shortly before Funny Cide's Kentucky Derby victory, and on July 25 he had used similar tactics to win Belmont's $108,100 Evan Shipman Handicap for New York-breds going a mile and a sixteenth. The dark bay gelding also has placed in eight other stakes, including two Grade 2 events at Saratoga as a juvenile. In preparation for the Empire Classic, trainer Jerkens had given Spite the Devil three October workouts at Belmont -- the last two at seven furlongs -- following the gelding's fourth-place finish in Belmont's seven-furlong General Douglas MacArthur Handicap for New York-breds on September 10. The Empire Classic was Spite the Devil's first victory at a mile and an eighth.
Sired by five-time Grade 1 winner Devil His Due, whom Allen Jerkens also trained, Spite the Devil is the first offspring produced from Samantha D, a Cryptoclearance mare who won at a two-turn mile and 70 yards at Philadelphia Park as a three-year-old. Samantha D's stakes-winning dam is Mid-Atlantic five-furlong turf specialist Cuca's Lady ($350,460), and one of her winning half-sisters is the dam of 2002 stakes winner Scootin' Girl ($144,745 through 2003). Prior to breaking her maiden, Samantha D was claimed by Elisabeth Jerkens' Hardwicke Stable for $10,000 at Delaware Park as a three-year-old in June of 1998. Spite the Devil was foaled and raised at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson.

(10/22) Illegal wires field of 8 in Finger Lakes feature
Mark Jordan's ILLEGAL with leading rider John Davila JR. in the saddle made every pole a winning one in today's $19,600 featured eighth race by almost five lengths. Trained by leading conditioner Chris Englehart, that was Illegal's first tally on the year. Oakwood Stable's H. M. S. Majestic was sent off as the 8 to 5 favorite with Illegal going off the third choice at $3.25 to 1. Trained by Stephen Ubbink, H. M. S. Majestic ran a solid second to House Key in the 6 furlong $50,000 Ontario County Stakes back on June 20. The Ubbink trained runner's recent effort was a fifth place against state-bred allowance rivals where he was again sent off the 8 to 5 favorite. Eight foes went to post which had never won a state-bred race other than. All were set to go six furlongs and shooting for the winner's share of $11,760. Illegal broke sharply and quickly disposed of his field. Illegal got the first quarter in 22.26 with a commanding 5 length lead over Jane M. Freed's Modred. Illegal widened on the turn and reached the quarter pole with a serious seven and one-half length lead over favorite H. M. S. Majestic and Arthur Huberfeld's Doc's Option. Meanwhile in the back of the pack Jose A. Cabrera's Tomorrow No More was making a solid run on the turn but had fifteen lengths to make up. Illegal got to the eighth pole with a six length cushion over Doc's Option and went on in a hand ride to score by four and three-quarter lengths over Doc's Option. Rallying for the show was Tomorrow No More. Illegal covered the six furlong test in 1:11.67 over a muddy track. Illegal had been away since running here on August 22 against $10,000 claimers where he showed some good early speed but faded to finish eighth. Illegal earned $11,760 for that impressive tally and now has a bankroll of $59,703. The Englehart trainee now has record of 4 wins and 1 second out of only 18 starts. Bred by Juliana Garofalo, the 4 year old gelded son of Key Contender out of Irish Weekend by Mehmet qualified for $2,352 in breeders' awards.

(10/22) South Wing wires allowance field at Belmont Park
SOUTH WING, owned by the partnership of Howard T. Whitbred and Christine Brennan, led at every call to defeat a field of state-bred fillies and mares, today, at Belmont Park. The NW-2X condition allowance race was run at 8-1/2-furlongs over the main track, listed "fast" and had a field of 7-horses go to the post. Journeyman jockey Norberto Arroyo, Jr. was aboard the three-year-old dark bay filly, who went to the starting gate as the even-money favorite, and broke from the outside post-position.
South Wing was hustled to the front and led the field onto the main track from the chute as the field raced down the backstretch as Dixie Can Can and Watrals Lady Hanne, tracked in second and third, respectively. South Wing arrived at the three-quarter pole in 1:12 seconds flat opening a clear lead as the field straightened for home. Dixie Can Can and Bundle of Roses, in the middle of the track, began to gain on South Wing inside the sixteenth-pole and was all-out under a vigorous ride by Arroyo, prevailing by æ-length crossing the wire. Dixie Can Can finished second and Bundle of Roses was a close-up third. Final time was 1:44.2 seconds.
The victory was worth $27,600 in purse money and also qualified South Wing's breeder and co-owner, Whitbred of ATOKA Chase Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, for a $5,520 breeder award. South Wing is by deceased New York stallion Dixie Brass, sire of 33 stakes winners and owned during both his racing and stud career by Michael Watral, a 40-year fire-fighting veteran and operator of an excavating business in Central Islip, Long Island, who qualified for a $1,932 stallion award.
South Wing is the third offspring and third winner produced from New York-bred Palace Lady, a Belmont debut-winning daughter of His Majesty that Whitbred also bred, and is a half-sister to five-time winner (four of them in 2003) Lord Burleigh ($108,336) in addition to Lord Langfuhr. Dam Palace Lady is a half-sister to two New York-bred stakes winners bred by Whitbred -- Grade 2 winner Dr. Kiernan ($298,266) and Majesty's Time ($240,790) -- as well as to the winning New York-bred dam of 2003 stakes winner Waupaca ($141,565 through 2003). Trained by James Jerkens, the stakes-placed and multiple allowance winner has now banked $133,407 in only 7-races.

(10/22) Legendary Squire breaks maiden in Belmont Park nightcap
So MADCAPT Stable's LEGENDARY SQUIRE, making his second-career start and first over the turf, broke his maiden with a strong late move through the stretch. The state-bred maiden affair was run at nine-furlongs over Belmont Park's inner turf course, listed "yielding," and had a field of 10-horses load into the starting gate. Two of trainer Todd Pletcher's New York-breds made up the late daily double at Belmont.
Longshots Of All Time (40-1) and Slow Signal (75-1) dueled for the lead, as Legendary Squire rated in third-position under the guidance of the meet's leading jockey John Velazquez. The longshots continued to the three-quarter pole, reached in 1:13.2, before Velazquez moved Legendary Squire between horses to take the lead. While under a strong drive, the three-year-old chestnut colt, raced to the wire, holding off a late charge from Lethimthinkhesboss by a head. Final time was1: 51.3 seconds.
So MADCAPT Stable is a racing partnership, managed by Michael Cascio, and has had success campaigning New York-breds, which includes stakes winning fillies Maddie May and Capeside Lady, who both won the $100,000 Maid of the Mist Stakes run on New York Showcase Day. Bred by Martin Scheinman, who qualified for a $2,520 breeder's award, the promising colt is by Tale of the Cat, and out of the multiple turf winning allowance mare A Shaky Queen, by Wavering Monarch. A Shaky Queen raced 50-times over the turf, with a remarkable record of 12 - 8 - 3, and earned $231,191. So MADCAPT Stable purchased the colt out of the 2003 April OBS two-year-old in-training sales for $30,000.

(10/21) Factual Contender takes Belmont Park nightcap
Flying Zee Stable's FACTUAL CONTENDER broke her maiden against state-bred fillies and mares in a six-furlong race run over the main track at Belmont Park. The final race on the Thursday race card had a field of 9-horses go to the starting gate, with Rather Bee Good the race time favorite at 7-5-odds. Trainer Frank Martin named journeyman jockey Pablo Fragoso to ride the three year-old dark bay filly, who was making her sixth-career start and second under Fragoso.
Randamm was hustled to the front with Factual Contender rating in second while down on the rail and Go See Michelle sitting third on the outside. As the field neared the half-mile pole, reached in a snappy 46 seconds flat, Fragoso sent Factual Contender up to take command and once straightened for home began to lengthen her lead with every powerful stride winning by 7-lengths under the wire. Randamm finished second and Eye Stopper closed to be third. Final time was 1:11.3 seconds.
Bred by Carl Lizza, Jr. (Flying Zee Stables), who qualified for a $4,920 breeder's award, Factual Contender is by Thunder Puddles, and is out of the Triocala mare, Factuallychallenge. Thunder Puddles, sire of the 1992 Travers Stakes - Gr. 1 winner Thunder Rumble stands at Carl Lizza and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York and his connections qualified for a $1,722 stallion owner's award.

(10/14) Peter's Puddles remains undefeated
Peter Vangelatos' homebred, PETER'S PUDDLES, won his second consecutive race defeating a field of state-bred allowance horses at Belmont Park. Peter's Puddles broke his maiden at Saratoga Race Course on September 4th over the turf and trainer H. James Bond kept the three-year-old chestnut colt sharp with a series of four-furlong "breezes." A full field of 12-horses raced over Belmont's inner-turf course, listed "firm", at 10-furlongs with trainer Bond naming leading jockey John Velazquez to ride the talented colt who went to the post as the odds-on 3-5-favorite along with entry mate and full brother, Hristoforos, who finished sixth and is trained by Gary Sciacca.
Timopocus was hustled out of the gate from the outside post-position and took command as the field entered the backstretch. Hunter's Tale and Peter's Puddles tracked in second and third, respectively, as Timopocus reached the half-mile pole in 49.4 seconds. Hunter's Tale raced to the top in the middle of the far turn with Peter's Puddles in close pursuit and once the field straightened for home, Velazquez sent Peter's Puddles up to grab the lead with Shhh Please mounting his run along the rail but it was a determined Peter's Puddles who prevailed by a 1 3/4-length crossing the finish line. Shhh Please finished a head in front of a fast closing Nick the Nudge for second money. Final time was 2:40 seconds flat.
Bred by Vangelatos, who qualifies for a $5,280 breeder's award, Peter's Puddles is by Thunder Puddles, and is out of Ionika, a 100% producer, by Steinlen (GB). The sire of multiple graded stakes winner Thunder Rumble, winner of the 1992 Travers Stakes (Gr.1), Thunder Puddles has 2004 progeny earnings of over $400,000 and stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York. His connections qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,848 for today's score.

(10/10) Western Galaxy: cantankerous at gate - 4 lengths clear at wire in MSW
So cantankerous at the gate that jockey John Velazquez dismounted, Joseph Parisi's homebred WESTERN GALAXY finally was blindfolded and led into his 10th post position starting stall for Belmont's fifth race on Sunday for New York-bred maiden two-year-olds, but once the race was under way, he looked like a professional. The wagering public had correctly assessed that the $41,000 seven-furlong contest would be between Western Galaxy, who went off as the 2.25-to-1 second choice among 12 starters, and 1.50-to-1 favorite Inevitably True, and while both raced close to the early pace, neither went immediately to the front. Western Galaxy was the first to make a serious bid, rallying three wide on the turn to gain a 3 1/2-length lead at mid-stretch and then running his final furlong in an impressive 11.36 seconds to win by four lengths over second-place-finishing Inevitably True. For Velazquez, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2002 Jockey of the Year, it was the second of four winning rides on Belmont's Sunday card -- two aboard New York-breds and one in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap.
Third while favored in his six-furlong Belmont debut 22 days earlier, Western Galaxy increased his earnings by $24,600 to $28,700 in two starts for his owner-breeder, Parisi, who also qualified for an additional $4,920 breeder award. Trainer Dominick Schettino had given the muscular dark bay colt a solid five-furlong workout from the gate at Belmont eight days prior to Sunday's victorious effort -- and will probably give him a few more workouts from the gate before the colt's next start. Western Galaxy is the fourth juvenile winner at Belmont -- and the second on Sunday's card -- from the first crop of New York stallion Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), who stands at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson. As a result of Western Galaxy's victory, the owner of Western Expression, Lizza's Flying Zee Stables, qualified for yet another $1,722 stallion award (totaling $3,444 for those two victories in one day). Western Expression's other Belmont winners are New York-bred debut winners Winning Expression, who also has placed second in Belmont's open Flash (Grade 3) and Tremont Stakes; Square Dancing, a filly who won going a mile on turf on September 24; and Summerland, who won Sunday's second race by three lengths. Western Expression's 2004 fee was $10,000, live foal.
Western Galaxy is the third winner produced from New York-bred multiple allowance winner Galaxy Spirit, who is by Galaxy Guide (by Buckfinder) and had raced for Marie and Joseph Parisi, winning six-furlong Aqueduct and Saratoga sprints before winning by 6 1/2 lengths going a mile and a sixteenth at Belmont. Western Galaxy's maternal granddam (second dam), Golden Spirit, by Plugged Nickle, was a multiple stakes-placed winner as a two-year-old. A Hypo-Mating check of Western Galaxy's pedigree reveals that he is inbred 4 x 4 x 5 to Buckpasser, to whom his dam, Galaxy Spirit, is inbred 3 x 4.

(10/9) Bird Key wires seven
Ron Cabrijan's BIRD KEY dismissed at 10 to 1 and shooting for her third straight, took the lead for the outset and never looked back to score by just over three lengths in today's $20,400 featured seventh race. Trained by leading conditioner Chris Englehart and ridden to victory by John Davila, Bird Key started her string of wins against wide-open $10,000 claimers on September 21. She battled through the one mile and seventy yard test to score by a half length against the $10,000 rivals and returned at the $12,000 level in her next to wire a field of seven by three. Today's tally was Bird Keys fifth of year. Seven state-bred fillies and mares which had never won two state-bred races other than went to the post going one mile and seventy yards. Barry Ostrager's S'more Smoke was sent off as the 8 to 5 choice and all were shooting for the $12,240 winner's share. Bird Key broke well and quickly assumed the lead with favorite S'more Smoke tracking along the three path. Bird Key got the opening quarter in a moderate 24.05 and a length lead over S'more Smoke with Charlton Baker's Chicago's Girl two back along the fence. S'more Smoke moved to challenge some nearing the half mile marker with Bird Key tripping the timer in 47.51 and nobody in any hurry. Bird Key without any pressure from Davila, shook loose on the final bend and reached the quarter pole with a commanding lead in 1:12.24 and S'more Smoke still chasing in second. Bird Key responded to pressure from Davila and they opened five lengths with only an eighth of a mile to go with Brians Move and Watrals Strike Go beginning to gain some ground. Bird Key went on to post a three and one-quarter length tally while Brians move outran Watrals Strike Go for the place by a neck. Bird Key stopped the timer for the one mile and seventy yard distance in 1:44.09 over a fast track. Bred by Michael T. Martin Racing Stable, the four year old daughter of Key Contender out of Scarlatta by Scarlet Ibis qualified for $2,449 in breeders awards and now has earnings exceeding $113,000.

(9/29) Buff Naked scores first main track win in N1X allowance
Tri Noble Stable's homebred BUFF NAKED had not raced on dirt since a fourth-place effort in Belmont slop while still a maiden in May, but five starts later when Belmont's seventh race on Wednesday for New York-bred allowance runners came off the turf, he stayed in and still won. Five runners not on the also-eligible list for the $43,120 restricted N1X allowance contest scratched out, but Buff Naked -- the only three-year-old facing four four-year-olds which all had more than twice as many starts as he had -- was odds-on (.90-to-1) for the one-turn mile and an eighth contest. Race-ridden for the fourth consecutive time by Edgar Prado, Buff Naked broke from the inside post and never yielded his rail position, eventually wresting the lead from early front-runner Shoalihs Tale -- the 3.70-to-1 second choice -- in the second quarter-mile. With three-eighths of a mile left to run, Shoalihs Tale was at Buff Naked's throatlatch, but that four-year-old faded over the next furlong, and 8.40-to-1 fifth choice Hunter's Tale angled outside and came on to issue a new challenge, getting to within a half-length of Buff Naked at mid-stretch. In the final furlong, Prado continued to confidently ride his well-favored mount, who reached the finish with a three-quarter-length margin over Hunter's Tale. It was the first of two consecutive winning rides for Prado.
Bred and raced by the Tri Noble Stable of Joseph Bartone of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina and Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, Buff Naked increased his earnings by $26,400 to $79,820 for his victory in the contest that originally had a total purse of $44,000 ($880 reverted). He also improved his record to 2 - 3 - 0 in eight starts while qualifying Tri Noble Stable for an additional $2,640 breeder award. Buff Naked, who had finished first or second in his latest four previous outings at Belmont and Saratoga, with his most recent effort having been five weeks prior to Wednesday's race, is trained by Philip Serpe, who had given the bay gelding an easy six-furlong Belmont workout a week earlier.
Owner-breeders Bartone and Lizza also own Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where Buff Naked was foaled. Sired by 1992 Preakness winner Pine Bluff, Buff Naked is the first offspring produced from Demi Buff, who is by Triocala (by Tri Jet) and is a sister or half-sister to four New York-bred winners, including Lord Ibis ($120,093). Demi Buff's dam -- Buff Naked's maternal granddam or second dam -- is Black Beaver, a multiple route-winning daughter of Vebatim and a half-sister to Horse of the Year Charismatic ($2,038,064), Grade 1 winner Millennium Wind ($769,920), and Grade 2 winner Tossofthecoin ($808,159).

(9/26) Inter Galactic comes out of nowhere to land allowance win on a lawn
Stretched to a turn-and-a-half mile and a sixteenth in her second effort on turf, Dr. Zacarias and Elizabeth Aragon's homebred INTER GALACTIC came from dead last among 10 to win Belmont's fourth race on Sunday for New York-bred allowance fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, scoring by a neck. The three-year-old filly was race-ridden for the third consecutive time by newly-turned journeyman jockey Jose Lezcano, who previously had piloted her as an apprentice with a five-pound allowance, going off as the 8.80-to-1 sixth choice among nine wagering interests and 10 starters in the $44,000 restricted N1X allowance contest. In the second quarter-mile, Inter Galactic dropped from next-to-last to last while 2.60-to-1 favorite Urbane Hustle took command, but she rallied five wide approaching the stretch and advanced to third at the eighth pole in the middle of the course, getting within a half-length of new leader Cat's Roar. In the final furlong, the smaller gray/roan filly utilized quicker strides to overtake her larger multiple stakes-placed rival on the rail, who was carrying two pounds less weight under the race's conditions and was the 4.30-to-1 third choice, edging that chestnut three-year-old with a winning time of 1:42.86.
Inter Galactic's first victory on turf increased her earnings by $26,400 to $65,430 while improving her record to 2 - 1 - 1 in six starts, and it also qualified her breeder and co-owner, Dr. Aragon of West Hempstead, for a $5,280 breeder award. Trained by Victor Cuadra, who had given her a moderate half-mile Aqueduct workout on September 19 following her third-place grass debut going a two-turn mile on soft Saratoga turf on August 16, the quick-striding filly had broken her maiden in a one-turn off-the-turf Belmont main track mile on July 25.
The sire of Inter Galactic, New York-bred graded winner Incurable Optimist, raced for John and Theresa Behrendt of New York City and stood at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson before going to Argentina, and the filly's victory qualified the Behrendts for a $1,848 stallion award. Incurable Optimist also has sired 2004 New York Derby winner Don Corleone. Inter Galactic is the third named offspring and third New York-bred winner produced from Princess Nova, by Morning Bob, being a half-sister to stakes-placed four-time winning router Galactic ($233,473 through 2003) and to multiple winning router My Girl Natalie ($140,407 through 2003), but she is Princess Nova's first turf-winning offspring. Princess Nova is a half-sister to multiple graded turf winner Cuzzin Jeb ($259,470).

(9/24) Square Dancing dances from 10th to 1st in 2YO debut
One of four first-time starters among 12 fillies in Belmont's fourth race on Friday for New York-bred maiden juvenile fillies going a virtual one-turn mile on turf was Flying Zee Stable's homebred SQUARE DANCING, who broke from the outside post position and went from 10th to first by a length. Ridden by jockey Edgar Prado and sent off the 2.70-to-1 second choice among 11 wagering interests in the $42,000 restricted maiden special contest, the distinctively-colored gray/roan broke toward the back and advanced from 10th after the opening quarter-mile to seventh after a half-mile and sixth after three-quarters. She rallied four wide on the turn, but at the top of the stretch still looked out of contention until switching to her right lead near the eighth-mile pole, after which she moved between rivals to reach the wire in the impressive winning time (for a two-year-old filly) of 1:37.41. Tenth choice T V Fan (87.50-to-1) got second-place money by a neck over mid-stretch leader Sue Me, the 16.30-to-1 seventh choice who looked confused on the turn in her first start on turf, switching leads about four times before turning for home. For jockey Prado, it was the first of two winning rides aboard a filly or mare on Belmont's Friday card.
Owned and bred by the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, Square Dancing earned $25,200 and also qualified her owner-breeder for an additional $6,804 in breeder ($5,040) and stallion ($1,764) awards, since Flying Zee Stables owns her sire, New York stallion Western Expression. Square Dancing races under the care of trainer Patrick Biancone, who had given the eye-catching New York-bred eight moderate workouts at Saratoga -- only one of them on turf -- starting in mid-June in preparation for the relatively late-foaled (May 10, 2002) filly's winning debut.
Square Dancing, who was foaled and raised at Highcliff Farm in Delanson that Lizza owns in partnership with Joseph Bartone, is the first turf winner from the first crop of Grade 1-placed winner Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), who stands at Highcliff Farm. Western Expression, a leading freshman sire whose 2004 fee was $10,000, live foal, also has sired New York-bred Belmont open maiden special winner Winning Expression, who has placed second in Belmont's Grade 3 Flash and open Tremont Stakes. Square Dancing is the third starter and third New York-bred winner that Flying Zee Stables has bred from Dancing Approval, who is by With Approval (by Caro) and was an open Aqueduct allowance winner going a mile and an eighth on a muddy track but never won on turf. Square Dancing's three-year-old half-sister, Flying Zee Stables' homebred Dance All Night, had broken her maiden by 3 3/4 lengths going six furlongs at Aqueduct in March. Dam Dancing Approval is a half-sister to the winning dam of two stakes-placed winners, and her dam is stakes winner Dancing Tricia ($115,011). A Hypo-Mating check of Square Dancing's pedigree reveals that she is inbred 4 x 4 to Buckpasser and that Western Expression is inbred 3 x 4 to Raise a Native.

(9/15) Kevin's Decision breaks turf maiden decisively
In her second career turf outing, Flying Zee Stables' homebred KEVIN'S DECISION romped like a stakes filly in Belmont's fourth race on Wednesday, a $42,000 restricted maiden special for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, setting all fractions at a mile and a sixteenth and winning by 4 1/4 lengths. Although she was the leading money earner going into the turn-and-a-half contest and had placed a solid second in her only previous turf effort, Kevin's Decision was the 4.10-to-1 second choice among 10 starters -- considerably less well-regarded than odds-on (.95-to-1) favorite Round the Horn. Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, who has been on board Kevin's Decision for her last five consecutive starts, sent the four-year-old filly immediately to the front, where she set remarkably even fractions of 24.07, 48.29, 1:12.40, and 1:36.27 while staying at least two lengths ahead of all rivals following the opening quarter-mile. Round the Horn, a big bay filly who was making only her third start, rallied three wide to get up to second at mid-stretch, but Kevin's Decision clearly had something left coming out of the turn and pulled away in the final furlong to reach the finish in 1:42.40.
The first victory for Kevin's Decision increased her earnings by $25,200 to $65,914 while improving her record to 1 - 4 - 3 in 15 starts, and it also qualified her owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, for an additional $5,040 breeder award. The quick-striding smallish filly races under the care of trainer Carlos Martin, who had given her three moderate workouts -- one on Saratoga's turf training course -- following her latest previous outing, which had been an unplaced effort over Saratoga's main track on August 12. Kevin's Decision had placed second in her only previous turf outing going a two-turn mile at Saratoga in 2003, when she had set most of the pace. Wednesday's winning effort marked the chestnut filly's third start of the late summer of 2004 following a layoff of more than nine months.
The owner-breeder of Kevin's Decision, Lizza, owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson in partnership with Joseph Bartone, and Kevin's Decision was conceived, foaled, and raised at that facility, where her New York-based sire, Expensive Decision (Explosive Bid - Third Wife, by Hydrologist), had stood. The victory by Kevin's Decision qualified Edward Shapoff of Chevalier Stable in Pelham, who had owned Expensive Decision at the time of the filly's conception, for a $1,764 stallion award. Grade 2 winner Expensive Decision, who ran a world record turf mile (1:32 2/5) while winning Belmont's graded Kelso Handicap and also equaled Belmont's mile and a sixteenth grass record, currently stands at State University of New York (SUNY) Cobleskill as the property of that college's Thoroughbred Management Program. The 2004 stud fee for the stallion, whose lifetime progeny earnings have gone over $2.9-million as a result of Wednesday's victory by Kevin's Decision, was $1,000, live foal.
Kevin's Decision is the fifth New York-bred winner, fourth filly winner, and first turf winner produced from Fairy Queen, a winning Tom Rolfe mare who is a half-sister to Puerto Rican champion Don Serafin ($140,521). Fairy Queen's previous winners -- all New York-breds and all bred by Flying Zee Stables -- include six-figure-earners Comply With Di ($140,053) and Glorious Gift ($130,660). Owner-breeder Lizza had purchased Fairy Queen for $45,000 at Keeneland's 1989 September yearling sale in Lexington, Kentucky. A Hypo-Mating check of the pedigree of Kevin's Decision reveals that she is inbred 4 x 4 to the famed Meadow Stud's foundation broodmare, Iberia, whose offspring included Hall of Fame champion Riva Ridge plus other stakes winners Hydrologist (broodmare sire of Expensive Decision) and Potomac. The dosage profile of Kevin's Decision is an unusually long-winded 1-2-7-0-6.

(9/12) Ericka's Lass - By NY Stallion Limit Out - Wins Assiniboia Oaks by 2 3/4
Empire Stable's multiple stakes-winning Ericka's Lass scored her first victory at beyond six furlongs on Sunday, September 12 when she captured the mile and a sixteenth Assiniboia Oaks by 2 3/4 lengths over odds-on favorite Victory Thrill (.85-to-1), becoming the first six-figure-earner sired by New York-based stallion LIMIT OUT. The three-year-old filly has never been unplaced in nine starts, which includes victories in Assiniboia's Debutante Stakes last year as a juvenile and in Stampede Park's Mount Royal Handicap this past May and Assiniboia's Chantilly Stakes in June. She also had placed third this year in stakes at a mile and at 6 1/2 furlongs over a sloppy track, and her latest victory boosted her earnings into six figures at $114,050 while improving her record to 5 - 2 - 2 in nine starts.
Race-ridden for the third consecutive time by jockey Vince Guerra and sent off by trainer Emile Corbel as the 1.70-to-1 second choice among five three-year-old fillies in the Assiniboia Oaks, Ericka's Lass set all the fractions, reaching mid-stretch with a three-length margin and then holding off Victory Thrill's threat. For jockey Guerra, it was the first of two winning rides on the card. Ericka's Lass was bred by Casey Seaman and is the second winner produced from Miss Malcolm F., who is a winning daughter of Corporate Report and a half-sister to stakes winner Steprock. Sire Limit Out (Northern Flagship - Lucky Delight, by Miswaki), a Grade 2-winning Belmont miler who set a Grade 3 seven furlong record at Aqueduct, has sired 10 winners from 13 starters (77 percent) to date. In addition to Ericka's Lass, those 10 winners also include 2004 Keeneland first-out juvenile winner Limitless Lady, who is among three two-year-old starters of 2004 -- all winners -- representing Limit Out's second crop. A Hypo-Mating check of the pedigree of Ericka's Lass reveals that Limit Out is inbred 3 x 4 to Raise a Native and that Limit Out's sire, Northern Flagship, is inbred 4 x 4 to Raise a Native's sire, Native Dancer. Limit Out stands as the property of a partnership at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where his 2004 fee was $2,500, live foal.

(9/11) Heaven's Thunder drew clear late to win allowance test
Flying Zee Stable's HEAVEN'S THUNDER dismissed at odds of 10.30 to 1 drew clear late to score by four lengths in today's $19,600 allowance conditioned test. Trained by Oscar Barrera Jr., that was Heaven's Thunder's second straight tally with Castillo aboard. Her last victory was against never won three $10,000 claimers were she again responded readily in the late stages to get clear nearing the line. Prior to those two scores, she'd been running with conditioned allowance rivals were she never showed her true early speed that she displayed here last year. In her first two starts last year the Oscar Barrera trained speedster rattled off two in wire-to-wire fashion. In today's race contested at three-quarters of a mile, Langpap's Stable's Because Youre Mine was sent off as the 9 to 5 choice in a field of eight state-breds which had never won a race other than. Emily Schoeneman's Ava Marisa who bobbled at the start and Heaven's Thunder rushed out to contest the lead while getting the first quarter in 22.89 with Amaretto was forcing the issue along the fence. The duo of Heaven's Thunder and Ava Marisa stopped the timer at the quarter pole in 46.32 with a two and one-half lead cushion. Meanwhile, Because Youre Mine was making a bit of run on the turn while in a striking position, but jockey Badamo angled her out to the five path into the lane bothering Sicuro Farm's Juscauz and then could never get his mount to fire. Heaven's Thunder responded to a couple of taps on the shoulder from Castillo and they took off to score by four lengths over the late rallying Doubtful Diva. Ava Marisa lasted for third. Heaven's Thunder covered the six furlong distance in 1:11.81 under bright sunny skies and over a fast racing strip. Bred by Flying Zee Stable's, the daughter of Prosper Fager out of Heavenly Glance by Citidancer earned $11,760 for her impressive score today. Flying Zee Stable's qualified for $2,352 in breeders awards. Out of only eight career tries, Heaven's Thunder now has four wins to her credit and a bankroll of $29,482.

(9/1) Peter's Puddles wins at first asking
Peter Vangelatos' homebred, PETER'S PUDDLES, making his career debut, defeated a full field 12-state-bred maiden horses, three-year-olds and upward, today, at Saratoga Race Course. The nine-furlong race was run over the Mellon turf course, listed "good". Trainer H. James Bond had the three-year-old chestnut colt sharp as a tack for his maiden effort and named Edgar Prado to ride.
Jockey Julio Pezua sent Dave to the lead soon after the break followed on the outside by Takeh while Cannonball Red and Derby for Darby keeping in close contact through an opening half-mile reached in 48-seconds flat. Dave and Takeh continued to battle around the far turn and to the top of the stretch as Peter's Puddles and Loyal Royal moved into contention on the far outside. Once straightened for home, Peter's Puddles took the fight to Dave and showing grit and determination took the lead in the late stages to win by three-quarters of a length over a fast-closing Loyal Royal. Dave held for third-money. Final time was 1:50.2 seconds.
Bred by Vangelatos, who qualifies for a $5,040 breeder award, Peter's Puddles is by Thunder Puddles, out of Ionika, by Steinlen (GB). Winless in 11-starts, Ionika is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Gandria (Green Dancer), who won $665,504 in a 23-race career. The sire, Thunder Puddles, stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York and his connections qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,764.

(8/29) Buck Mountain comes around foes for turf win
Carried about as wide as possible on both turns, Dr. Gerardus Jameson's homebred BUCK MOUNTAIN still managed to capture Saratoga's seventh race on Sunday, a $46,000 restricted N2X allowance for fillies and mares going a mile on turf, winning in her second start off a layoff of almost 41 weeks. The five-year-old mare has picked up a multitude of checks, but Sunday's victory marked her first tally in almost a year and a half and her first win on turf.
With jockey Javier Castellano on board for the second time in her career, Buck Mountain broke towards the back from the ninth post position as the 12.60-to-1 fifth choice among 10 starters, five of them three-year-old fillies, including odds-on (.80-to-1) two-time 2004 turf winner Bellanique. On her immediate inside, the gate-fidgety E. Ticket (the 6.20-to-1 third choice), who actually had broken through the gate prior to the start, charged forward to engage with 24.70-to-1 seventh choice Stand On Top in an early duel for the lead and the rail. One of the effects of this front-end battle was that Buck Mountain was carried four wide around the first turn, but she still improved her position from fifth after the opening quarter-mile to third behind a head-and-head E. Ticket and Stand On Top at the half-way marker. On the second turn, Castellano's mount rallied three wide and reached the quarter pole with her head in front of E. Ticket, as that three-year-old filly began tiring from her earlier front-running efforts over the "good" turf course.Ý By mid-stretch, Buck Mountain was ahead by 2 1/2 lengths, and in the final furlong 4.90-to-1 second choice Gebb's Dixie and Bellanique both closed ground but never loomed a serious threat. At about the sixteenth pole, Buck Mountain switched to her left lead in response to Castellano's right-handed urging, but she finished under a hand ride with a length and three-quarters advantage over fellow five-year-old Gebb's Dixie and Bellanique, as the older mare nosed out the three-year-old filly for second-place money. It was the second winning ride of the day for Castellano, who had piloted New York-bred Commentator to a seven-length score in Saratoga's Sunday opener and had ridden Buck Mountain once previously in a fourth-place effort going a mile on turf at Saratoga in 2003.
The victory boosted Buck Mountain's purse earnings by $27,600 to $145,360 while improving her record to 3 - 3 - 6 in 16 starts (five on turf), and it also qualified the mare's owner-breeder, Dr. Jameson of Niskayuna, for an additional $5,520 breeder award. Trained by Kenneth Streicher, who had given her a 48 3/5 half-mile workout 11 days earlier following a fifth-place effort at 6 1/2 furlongs on Saratoga's main track August 5, Buck Mountain had scored her 2003 wins at Aqueduct going a two-turn mile and seven furlongs in the slop.
Buck Mountain is by the late New York-based stallion Prosper Fager and was conceived at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, and her victory qualified that stallion's owner, The Billings Partnership of Robert and Michele Billings of Naples, Florida, for a $1,932 stallion award. The bay mare is the first offspring produced from New York-bred winner Terminal Buck, who also was bred by Dr. Jameson and is by former New York stallion Stacked Pack. She is inbred 3 x 5 to Raise a Native and 4 x 4 to Nashua -- the sire and broodmare sire, respectively, of Buck Mountain's paternal grandsire, Mr. Prospector.

(8/19) Mumbles rolls in Spa allowance
Chevalier Stable's MUMBLES easily defeat a field of NW-1X condition allowance horses today at Saratoga Race Course. Ridden for the first time by the meet's leading jockey John Velazquez, the three-year-old bay gelding went to the post as the odds-on 4-5-favorite in the 8-horse field. Trained by Bruce Levine, Mumbles had finished second in his last two-outings, which were spaced out by a month. The race was run at seven-furlongs over the main track, which was listed "fast". Chevalier Stable is managed by Joanne Shapoff.
Take Me Out John, away from the races since early May of this year, went to the front challenged on the outside by the first part of the Patrick Kelly entry How Long. After a half-mile in 45.4 seconds, Mumbles moved three-wide around the far turn and wrested the lead at the top of the stretch, continuing to increase his lead to five-lengths crossing the wire. Texas Pro finished second and the second part of the Kelly entry Platinum Case finished third. Final time was 1:24.1 seconds.
Bred by Ronald Rolfe, who qualifies for a $5,160 breeder's award, Mumbles is by Expensive Decision, and is out of Belle of Silver, by Forever Silver. Both Expensive Decision and Forever Silver had previously stood at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York. Owned by a syndicate, who qualifies for a $1,806, Expensive Decision now stands at Cobleskill College in Cobleskill, New York. The winner's purse of $25,800 boosts Mumbles' earnings to $96,328 with a Lifetime Record: 13-2-3-3.

(8/15) Golden Commander captures West Point with slick tactical move
Improving in leaps and bounds following a promising but erratic three-year-old season, Flying Zee Stable's four-year-old homebred GOLDEN COMMANDER slipped through along the rail behind the 3.30-to-1 second choice to score his first stakes victory in Saratoga's $114,700 West Point Handicap on turf for New York-bred three-year-olds and up. Ridden by Javier Castellano, under whom he had won an Aqueduct restricted N2X turf allowance by 3 1/4 lengths in April going a mile and a sixteenth, the dark bay gelding was half of an entry that was the 4-to-1 second choice among 11 wagering interests and 12 starters. He broke from the inside post and through the first half-mile of the mile and an eighth event was in eighth place while next to the rail, where Castellano was forced to check him once when they were going down the backstretch. Leading the way was the only three-year-old in the event, 56-to-1 tenth choice Gates Avenue, who began tiring on the second turn while 3.30-to-1 second choice Irish Colonial darted through along the inside to gain command entering the stretch. Following close behind that Belmont turf stakes winner was Golden Commander, who angled outside in the upper stretch while top-weighted Irish Colonial seemed to flounder somewhat over the "good" turf, staying on his left lead and losing momentum in mid-stretch. Golden Commander ran his final furlong in under 11 1/2 seconds, driving past Irish Colonial on the outside to win by a half-length over 2.60-to-1 favorite Foreverness, who closed along the rail to edge out Irish Colonial by a head for second place. Golden Commander's winning time over the still-slightly-wet grass course was 1:48.85. It was the second ride and second win aboard Golden Commander for jockey Castellano, who piloted two winners on Saratoga's Sunday card.
Castellano acknowledged that the trip in the West Point had been ideal: "He broke slow from the gate. I'm glad we were fortunate to get the trip we did. I took my chances on going to the inside because I wanted to save ground as much as I could. I had enough horse to move with Irish Colonial, who I thought was the horse that I had to beat in the race. When the rail opened, I had to hit him a couple of times, but he kicked in, and we got through. It was a good race for him."
Trainer Philip Serpe, who had given Golden Commander four Saratoga workouts -- three on grass and including "bullet" drills on both dirt and turf -- following a second-place effort on soft Belmont turf 58 days earlier against open N2X competition, indicated that the gelding is "...at his best right now.
"He struggled with this kind of turf," Serpe pointed out. "I was confident with all my fingers crossed. He's gelded now (gelded over the winter.) Javier (Castellano) did an excellent job with him. He's a hard horse to ride...takes very strong handling. You can't let him take the trip for you."
Golden Commander's first stakes tally increased his earnings by $68,820 to $195,770 while improving his record to 4 - 3 - 2 in 15 starts for the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, which also qualified for an additional $6,882 breeder award. Two outings and 12 weeks earlier, the four-year-old had gained his first black-type credentials with a third-place finish behind now Grade 2 winner Quantum Merit and Foreverness in Belmont's $114,300 Kingston Handicap on turf. The West Point victor was the second winner of the day at Saratoga for Flying Zee Stable, which in the Spa's fifth race on Sunday had a juvenile filly capture a maiden special contest under its colors. Flying Zee Stable also bred the winner of the faster division of the 1987 West Point, Wanderkin. The 1982 West Point winner, syndicated Thunder Puddles, stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where Golden Commander was foaled and which Lizza owns in partnership with Joseph Bartone. Golden Commander is from the first full crop of 1997 Grade 1 Travers Stakes and Super Derby winner Deputy Commander. He is the sixth New York-bred winner produced from Calder allowance winner Golden Sweetheart, by Strike Gold, being a half-brother to stakes winner Noble Sweetheart, stakes-placed Blondie Logic (dam of New York-bred multiple stakes-placed winner Sunday Driver), and to seven-time winner Golden Contender ($256,405) -- all bred by Flying Zee Stable. Dam Golden Sweetheart, a four-time winner who also scored on Aqueduct's inner track in addition to her Calder victories, is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner and dirt-and-turf record-setter Double No ($337,042).

(8/11) Daysman romps in state-bred allowance
Merrylegs Farm's DAYSMAN, making her 9th -career start and second at Saratoga Race Course, rolled through the stretch to defeat a state-bred field of NW-1X condition allowance fillies and mares. The nine-furlong race run over the main track, listed "fast", and Daysman's trainer, John Hertler, has now saddled 9-horses at the meet winning with three of them for a respectable win-average of 33-percent. Merrylegs Farm, located in Old Westbury, New York is owned by Paula Cohn-Hallman, daughter of the late Seymour Cohn, who bred the three-year-old bay filly.
Daysman was hustled out of the 6-post position and won the race into the first turn but Pumpkin's Glow, with apprentice jockey Zarella Ore, who qualifies for a 7lb weight allowance, ran by to lead through an opening half-mile in 48.3 seconds. Daysman, with Fernando Jara aboard, was sent up to challenge nearing the three-quarter pole and easily blew by Pumpkin's Glow to take command and while under a drive raced to the wire to win by 5-going away lengths. Anabeltaylor finished second and Bundle of Roses won a head-bob for third money. Final time was a slow 1:54 seconds flat.
The estate of Seymour Cohn qualifies for a $5,280 breeder award and as owner of the sire, Daygata, qualifies for a $1,848 stallion owner's award. Daysman is the second foal out of the 3X winning Daring Groom mare, We Are Daring. Daygata stands at Carl Lizza, Jr. and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York. With today's winner's purse of $26,400, Daysman raises her lifetime earnings to $83,275. When checking the Hypo-Mating feature, linked below, it reveals that Daysman crosses 4X3 to classic sire Blushing Groom and 4X4 to classic sire Mr. Prospector.

(7/30) Bellanique captures Spa finale on turf
Flying Zee Stable's homebred, BELLANIQUE, making her sixth-career race, defeated state-bred fillies and mares in a NW-1X condition allowance race run at Saratoga Race Course. Trained by Philip Serpe and ridden by journeyman jockey Edgar Prado, the three year-old bay filly had broken her maiden over the turf at Belmont Park on May 12th and then ran a game second in her first allowance attempt, a month later. The race was over the Mellon Turf Course, listed as "yielding," at 8-1/2 furlongs and had a field of 10 horses go to the gate with Bellanique the race-time favorite at 6-5 odds.
Red Snoony and Angel in Harlem battled in the early going, getting a half-mile in a 48-seconds flat with Bellanique tracking in mid-pack. As the field turned for home, a host of horses were in with a shot but it was a revved-up Bellanique who powered to the front, opening up by three-lengths past the eighth-pole on her way to a 2-length victory over Nurse Culkin with Miss Baba finishing third. Final time was 1:12.4 seconds.
Bred by Carl Lizza, Jr. (Flying Zee Stable), who qualified for a breeder's award of $2,640, Bellanique is the first foal out of the Hawkster mare, French Manicure, who hit the board (1-2-3) in 4 out of her 8-races over the turf. Mr. Lizza, a longtime supporter of the New York Breeding and Racing Program, is co-owner of Highcliff Farm along with Joseph Bartone. Highcliff Farm is located in Delanson, New York, and is managed by Dr. Lynwood and Suzie O'Cain. With the winner's purse of $26,400, the talented filly has now has earned $72,300.

(7/30) Bellanique captures Spa finale on turf
Flying Zee Stable's homebred, BELLANIQUE, making her sixth-career race, defeated state-bred fillies and mares in a NW-1X condition allowance race run at Saratoga Race Course. Trained by Philip Serpe and ridden by journeyman jockey Edgar Prado, the three year-old bay filly had broken her maiden over the turf at Belmont Park on May 12th and then ran a game second in her first allowance attempt, a month later. The race was over the Mellon Turf Course, listed as "yielding," at 8-1/2 furlongs and had a field of 10 horses go to the gate with Bellanique the race-time favorite at 6-5 odds.
Red Snoony and Angel in Harlem battled in the early going, getting a half-mile in a 48-seconds flat with Bellanique tracking in mid-pack. As the field turned for home, a host of horses were in with a shot but it was a revved-up Bellanique who powered to the front, opening up by three-lengths past the eighth-pole on her way to a 2-length victory over Nurse Culkin with Miss Baba finishing third. Final time was 1:12.4 seconds.
Bred by Carl Lizza, Jr. (Flying Zee Stable), who qualified for a breeder's award of $2,640, Bellanique is the first foal out of the Hawkster mare, French Manicure, who hit the board (1-2-3) in 4 out of her 8-races over the turf. Mr. Lizza, a longtime supporter of the New York Breeding and Racing Program, is co-owner of Highcliff Farm along with Joseph Bartone. Highcliff Farm is located in Delanson, New York, and is managed by Dr. Lynwood and Suzie O'Cain. With the winner's purse of $26,400, the talented filly has now has earned $72,300.

(7/25) Spite the Devil captures Evan Shipman - Prado rides 4 NY-bred winners
In a closely contested Evan Shipman Handicap that had all six starters finishing within less than four lengths of each other, Hardwicke Stable's homebred SPITE THE DEVIL edged 2002 Evan Shipman winner Sherpa Guide by a half-length, giving jockey Edgar Prado his fourth winning ride on Sunday aboard New York-breds. Belmont's $108,100 event for New York-bred three-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile and a sixteenth also gave Spite the Devil and Prado their second consecutive tally together in July, coming 17 days after the two had paired up for the first time to take a restricted Belmont starter allowance.
Sent off by Hall of Fame Trainer H. Allen Jerkens as the 2.90-to-1 third choice, Spite the Devil broke on top from the outside post but trailed the tightly packed field on the outside through an opening quarter-mile in 23.19 set by 2.25-to-1 second choice Rogue Agent. With 29.20-to-1 last choice Mr. Determined and 1.70-to-1 favorite Gander both pressing the pace on the inside, Rogue Agent accelerated his second quarter to 22.58 for a half-mile fraction in 45.77, at which point Spite the Devil was in fourth place while racing four wide around the turn. By mid-stretch, Prado's mount had his head in front of Rogue Agent -- who had clocked a 1:09.82 six-furlong fraction -- and was at the throatlatch of Mr. Determined, and in the final furlong he edged ahead and withstood the outside charge of 4.90-to-1 fourth choice Sherpa Guide, winning in 1:41.89. Mr. Determined finished third in an effort worthy of his name, followed by Rogue Agent, then top-weighted (123 pounds) Grade 2 winner Gander (whose earnings climbed to $1,824,011, and 25.75-to-1 last choice Manhattan Express, who finished only 3 3/4 lengths behind Spite the Devil.
"Edgar (Prado) loves this horse, and he rides him very well," pointed out winning owner-breeder Elisabeth Jerkens, the wife of trainer H. Allen Jerkens who races the four-year-old gelding in the name of her Hardwicke Stable. "Prado fits this horse perfectly. In the last race (the starter allowance win at Belmont on July 8), they got into trouble, and they still won. Today, they had a nice trip outside -- just behind the speed. Allen (Jerkens) often does good with horses as they get older, because he gets to know them better. This horse stays very fit because he's always in our barn. He never leaves the racetrack. He'll go up to Saratoga, and Allen will find something for him."
Jockey Prado, who has now ridden the last two winners of the Evan Shipman, confirmed the observations that owner-breeder Jerkens had of the contest, and he also implied that Spite the Devil might have had something left in the tank at the finish: "We had a good trip outside. I had a lot of horse at the top of the stretch, but the two inside horses (Mr. Determine and Rogue Agent) were stubborn. I had to get into him, and he finally went by. I think he just did enough to win."
Spite the Devil's two Belmont victories in July marked his first wins since capturing Aqueduct's Grade 3 Withers Stakes at a mile about an hour before New York-bred Funny Cide would win the 2003 Kentucky Derby on a day that would forever alter public perception of New York-breds. In addition to his stakes tallies, he has placed in eight other black-type events, including Saratoga's Grade 2 Sanford and Saratoga Special and Aqueduct's Grade 3 Gotham, and his Evan Shipman score boosted his earnings by $64,860 to $443,909 while improving his record to 5 - 5 - 6 in 27 starts. Spite the Devil's Sunday stakes victory on the closing day of Belmont's 2004 spring-summer meet also qualified owner-breeder Elisabeth Jerkens of Bellrose for an additional $6,486 breeder award. Spite the Devil is the second Evan Shipman winner trained by H. Allen Jerkens, who sent out Patsyprospect to win the 1995 running of that event, which is named for the late racing columnist of The Morning Telegraph -- East Coast predecessor of the Daily Racing Form.
Sired by five-time Grade 1 winner Devil His Due, whom Allen Jerkens also trained, Spite the Devil is the first offspring produced from Samantha D, a Cryptoclearance mare who won at a two-turn mile and 70 yards at Philadelphia Park as a three-year-old. Samantha D's stakes-winning dam is Mid-Atlantic five-furlong turf specialist Cuca's Lady ($350,460), and one of her winning half-sisters is the dam of 2002 stakes winner Scootin' Girl ($144,745 through 2003). Prior to breaking her maiden, Samantha D was claimed by Elisabeth Jerkens' Hardwicke Stable for $10,000 at Delaware Park as a three-year-old in June of 1998. Spite the Devil was foaled and raised at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson.

(7/18) Theconfidenceman wins convincingly in turf mile
Trainer Leo O'Brien obviously persuaded son-in-law John Velazquez to again ride the colt that had won first out under Velazquez last year -- and whose New York-bred sire Velazquez had piloted to graded victories in 1998 -- and the result was a two-length tally in Belmont's seventh race on Sunday by THECONFIDENCEMAN. Owned by the Literary Lion Farm of Helen Brann of Bridgewater, Connecticut in partnership with Suzann Bobley and Our Boys Farm, Theconfidenceman went off as the 3.20-to-1 favorite among 12 starters in the $44,000 restricted N1X allowance for three-year-olds and up going a virtual one-turn mile on turf. He broke dead last from the inside post and had nine rivals ahead of him after the opening quarter-mile, and at the half-way point his position had improved only marginally to eighth place while 3.75-to-1 second choice Speedjama seized the lead on the outside. Swinging wide as he approached the stretch, Theconfidenceman launched a startlingly fast move that advanced him past seven rivals within a span of less than a quarter-mile, utilizing his exceptionally quick stride turnover to catch Speedjama inside the final furlong and win going away in the time of 1:35.78. Speedjama, who had picked up the pace on the backstretch to set fractions of 47.71 and 1:11.74, continued on to place a clear second.
Theconfidenceman's first victory since winning his debut as a juvenile on Belmont's main track going 5 1/2 furlongs under Velazquez almost exactly a year earlier (July 19) boosted his earnings by $26,400 to $58,320 while improving his record to 2 - 0 - 1 in eight starts. Velazquez, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 2002 Jockey of the Year, had ridden the colt once more during 2003 -- in an unplaced effort in the mud in Belmont's $109,500 Bertram F. Bongard Stakes -- and in three starts on turf in 2004 Theconfidenceman had failed to hit the board. Those three efforts, which had followed a layoff of almost six months, came against open Aqueduct allowance company on April 29, against restricted N2X allowance foes (above his condition level) at Belmont on May 22, and against high-priced open claimers (racing with a $75,000 tag) at Belmont on July 1. O'Brien, a three-time NYTB Trainer of the Year, next gave Theconfidenceman an easy half-mile workout on Belmont's main track on July 12 and named Velazquez to ride the colt once again -- and with winning results.
Bred by Richard and Jeanette Powers of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who qualified for a $5,280 breeder award, Theconfidenceman is from the first crop of 1998 New York-Bred Horse of the Year and Champion Turf and Two-Year-Old Male Incurable Optimist, sire also of Saturday's $164,000 New York Derby winner, Don Corleone ($137,130). Incurable Optimist raced for John and Theresa Behrendt of New York City and stood as the Behrendts' property for the 2000 season at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson before subsequently going to Argentina -- but Theconfidenceman's victory still qualified the Behrendts for a $1,848 stallion award. In a two-month span in 1998, Incurable Optimist -- a son of deceased record-setting New York stallion Cure the Blues -- won open turf stakes at Meadowlands, Belmont, and Hollywood Park under Velazquez, including Belmont's Grade 3 Pilgrim by 4 1/2 lengths and Hollywood's Grade 3 Generous by nine lengths.
Theconfidenceman is the first offspring produced from The Midnightrobber, who raced for co-breeder Jeanette Powers, winning nine races from ages two through seven, including five open allowance six-furlong sprints at Suffolk and Rockingham Park. The Midnightrobber is by Talinum, a Grade 1-winning son of Alydar, and she is a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Chervy ($107,827). Trainer O'Brien is renowned for perceiving that impressive New York-bred juvenile winners going sprint distances on dirt sometimes become stars (Fourstardave, Fourstars Allstar, etc.) stretching out to longer distances on turf.

(7/8) Spite the Devil is off the "schneid"
Winless since his victory in last year's Grade 3 - Withers Stakes, held on the first Saturday in May at Aqueduct Racetrack, SPITE THE DEVIL returned to the winner's circle, today, at beautiful Belmont Park. A small field of 6-state-bred horses went to the post in the one-turn mile event, run over the main track, in a Starter Allowance condition race. Trainer H. Allen Jerkens named Edgar Prado to ride the four year-old dark bay gelding, who broke from the rail position.
Serenity's Smile took the field onto the main track from the chute and led past the half-mile pole in 47.2 seconds. Tracking closely behind were Beyond Chance and Beau Tie with Spite the Devil getting an ideal trip along the rail. As the field turned for home, the ideal trip almost backfired on Prado as he desperately looked for running room in the tightly bunched field and after checking briefly angled Spite the Devil out to the middle of the track losing valuable momentum on Beau Tie, who had opened up a three-length lead. Once straightened, Spite the Devil began to gain ground with every powerful stride and ran by Beau Tie in the shadow of the wire to win by one-widening length. Manhattan Express made his patented late move to be third. Final time was 1:36.2 seconds.
Owned and bred by Elisabeth Jerkens' Hardwicke Stable, who qualified for a $2,520 breeder's award, Spite the Devil is by Devil His Due, whom Allen Jerkens also trained and was probably best going a mile and a quarter. Spite the Devil is the first offspring produced from Samantha D, a Cryptoclearance mare who won at a two-turn mile and 70 yards at Philadelphia Park as a three-year-old. Samantha D's stakes-winning dam is Mid-Atlantic five-furlong turf specialist Cuca's Lady ($350,460), and one of her winning half-sisters is the dam of 2002 stakes winner Scootin' Girl ($124,165). Prior to breaking her maiden, Samantha D was claimed by Elisabeth Jerkens' Hardwicke Stable for $10,000 at Delaware Park as a three-year-old in June of 1998. Spite the Devil, was born and raised at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York.

(7/2) My Girl Natalie captures Belmont Park allowance
Dr. Zacarias and Elizabeth Aragon's homebred, MY GIRL NATALIE, closed strongly through the stretch to capture a NW-2X state-bred allowance for fillies and mares, today, at beautiful Belmont Park. Trainer Carlos Martin named apprentice jockey Jose Lezcano, who qualifies for a 5lb weight allowance, to ride the five year-old gray mare. Raced at 8-1/2-furlongs over the main track, listed "fast", a field of 7-state-breds went to the post with Nevaeh going to the post as the 6-5-favorite.
Leedle Dee led the field onto the main track off the chute tracked on the outside by Nevaeh. Ridden by Javier Castellano, Leedle Dee got away with soft-fractions of 48.3 seconds to the half and coasted past the three-quarters in 1:13.4. The easy fractions bode well for the front running Leedle Dee as she spurted away from Nevaeh at the top of the stretch, and seemed to be the winner, however My Girl Natalie unleashed a furious stretch run coming from next to last at the top of the stretch to blow by Leedle Dee in the final few yards, winning by a half-length. Final time was 1:45.2 seconds.
The Zacarias' qualified for a $5,520 breeder's award for today's score. My Girl Natalie is by the late Prosper Fager, who stood at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York. The connections of Prosper Fager qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,932. My Girl Natalie is out of the Morning Bob mare, Princess Nova, and is a half-sister to the stakes-placed allowance winner Galactic (Tank's Number), who earned $233,473 in 49-career starts. Drawing closer to her older siblings race and earnings figures, My Girl Natalie has now earned $195,607 in 42-lifetime starts.

(6/26) Gold Joy takes open Tremont as NY-breds run 1-2
Belmont's historic Tremont Stakes on Saturday for two-year-olds, which in previous renewals has been won by such luminaries as Man o' War, Buckpasser, and Alydar, was billed beforehand as a "two-horse race", which is just what it became -- a contest between New York-breds GOLD JOY and Winning Expression. The odds-on (.65-to-1) choice among the four starters in the $99,900 event at 5 1/2 furlongs was unbeaten (two-for-two) Primal Storm, who in Belmont's Grade 3 Flash 22 days earlier had won by seven lengths over Winning Expression and by 10 3/4 over Gold Joy (New York-breds ran two-three). Primal Storm also had crowded his competition before drawing off in that five-furlong contest, and for the Tremont he again was out in front early, but Western Expression was only a half-length back, pushing the pace-setter through fractions of 22.47 and 45.71 over the muddy track. Gold Joy, under jockey Michael Luzzi for the fourth time in four starts, trailed the early third-place runner, 1.65-to-1 second choice June the Tiger, by 4 1/2 lengths after three furlongs, but Winning Expression overtook Primal Storm and set a 58.35 five-eighths fraction despite staying on his left lead. Gold Joy appeared to be unintimidated by the big margin his rivals held coming out of the turn, as Luzzi sent the chestnut colt wide to blow by his competition in the stretch, catching Winning Expression inside the final furlong and winning by a length and a half in 1:04.89. Winning Expression placed three lengths ahead of Primal Storm, who finished seven lengths in front of June the Tiger.
Gold Joy races for Kenneth Taylor in partnership with John Salzman Sr., who had purchased the colt as a yearling for only $6,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2003 September yearling sale in Timonium, Maryland. The New York-bred's trainer is Timothy Salzman, who after the third-place Flash finish had given him a half-mile "bullet" workout of 48 4/5 at Timonium on June 19. Gold Joy's first stakes victory boosted his purse earnings by $62,940 into six figures at $106,433 while improving his record to 2 - 1 - 1 in four starts, and it also qualified owners Taylor and Salzman for an additional $6,294 open race owner award.
"We figured on a speed duel," revealed winning trainer Salzman. "He (Gold Joy) was up there close, and I kept telling Kenny (Taylor) that he was close enough to be alright because he's got that kick through the lane. The farther he goes, the better he's going to be. We're going to have six stalls at Saratoga, so we plan on running in the Sanford (Grade 2, $150,000 guaranteed, at six furlongs, Thursday, July 29)."
Winning jockey Luzzi confirmed trainer Salzman's observations: "He ran good last time (in the Flash) -- he ran by the winner galloping out. Today, he broke almost too good, and I almost had to take him back. He winds up and he runs."
Jockey Shane Sellers on favored Primal Storm revealed he had sensed defeat when he could not shake off the first New York-bred challenger, Winning Expression, under Edgar Prado: "I pretty much knew I was beat on the turn when Edgar put the pressure on and we couldn't get away."
Bred by Chasemedaly Farm, which qualified for a $6,294 breeder award, Gold Joy is by middle distance turf specialist Joyeux Danseur, a Grade 1-winning son of Nureyev who did not win until he was a four-year-old and did not win a stakes until he was five. The colt is the third New York-bred winner produced from New York-bred Lizzie Worthington, a juvenile-winning daughter of Gold Seam (by Mr. Prospector) out of New York-bred Warfie ($418,490). Warfie as a three-year-old in 1989 had set a track record while beating older fillies and mares in Belmont's Grade 2 Long Island Handicap. Chasemedaly Farm/Stable, of which the managing partner, Karen Millard, is the assistant farm manager at John Hettinger's Akindale Farm in Pawling, consigned Gold Joy to the Midlantic sale, where co-owner Salzman had purchased him. With a dosage profile of 8-1-16-1-6, Gold Joy has a pedigree that hints he can run all day.
Also qualifying for a total of $9,906.66 in open race owner ($4,215.60), breeder ($4,215.60), and stallion ($1,475.46) awards -- in addition to $21,078 in purse money -- was Winning Expression's owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey. Lizza owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson in partnership with Joseph Bartone, which is where Flying Zee Stable stands Winning Expression's sire, Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light). The total amount that Gold Joy and Winning Expression qualified for in owner, breeder, and stallion awards as a result of their one-two finish in the Tremont was $22,494.66.
Gold Joy is the 16th New York-bred winner of an open (to horses bred anywhere) stakes in 2004, with a total of 17 open stakes this year having been captured by runners bred in the Empire State. Through the first six months of 2003, 13 New York-breds had won 14 open stakes events.

(6/17) NY-Bred Royal Mast ($53.00!) Cruises to MSW Victory in Monmouth Debut
One of two New York-bred winners at Monmouth on Thursday, June 17 -- along with feature winner Celtic Sky ($323,477) -- was Ocean View Stables' first-time-starter ROYAL MAST, who led throughout in a six-furlong maiden special for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, as the 25.50-to-1 eighth choice among 11 starters. Ridden in her debut by Felix Ortiz, the four-year-old filly broke third-to-last but advanced to the front to gain a narrow advantage over 11-to-1 sixth choice Fleeting Feline on her inside and 3.40-to-1 second choice First Comes Love on her outside following a speedy opening quarter-mile in 21.70. She put one of those rivals -- First Comes Love -- away after a half-mile in 44.67, and within another furlong Fleeting Feline also fell out of the hunt, as Royal Mast reached mid-stretch with a two-length lead over 2.30-to-1 favorite Remarqable Tale off a five-furlong fraction of 57.52. At the finish, the New York-bred had a length and a half margin over second-place finisher and 4-to-1 third choice Summer Rainbow while winning in the time of 1:10.80, as Remarqable Tale came in third. As a four-year-old, Royal Mast was the co-topweight in the race under 122 pounds, and her debut effort in the $37,000 contest was worth $22,200 in first-place purse money.
Trained by Russell Cash, who had purchased the dark bay filly for $8,500 as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2001 December mixed sale in Timonium, Maryland, Royal Mast had trained up to her surprising debut with five workouts at Monmouth beginning on May 21 and spaced four-to-five days apart. Among those works was a half-mile "bullet" drill of 47 2/5 (fastest of 90) on May 30. Even with her impressive drills, Monmouth horseplayers somehow favored seven other starters ahead of her, including three other fillies that also were making their first starts. By Roy, a Chilean champion-siring son of Fappiano, Royal Mast is the fourth New York-bred winner that the late Christian Brown has bred from his New York homebred multiple stakes winner, Windswept Wings ($197,592), who is by Pas Seul and is a sister to multiple stakes-placed winner Skin's Fan ($113,434). Royal Mast was foaled at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson.

(6/4) NY-breds Winning Expression and Gold Joy place 2nd and 3rd in G3 Flash - stewards' inquiry lets result stand
Flying Zee Stables' New York homebred Winning Expression placed second in Belmont's Grade 3 Flash Stakes for two-year-olds on Friday, surviving a backstretch bumping and crowding that required him to be taken up sharply by jockey Edgar Prado and also prompted a stewards' inquiry that allowed the result to stand. It was the dark bay colt's second start and earned him his first black-type stakes credentials in addition to $21,260 in purse money plus qualified his owner-breeder for a total of $9,992.20 in open race owner ($4,252), breeder ($4,252), and stallion ($1,488.20) awards. Winning Expression's trainer is Philip Serpe, and Prado was race-riding him for the first time in the five-furlong $104,300 stakes, which was won by odds-on (.80-to-1) favorite Primal Storm. New York-bred Gold Joy placed third among the five starters.
Winning Expression, sent off the 5.40-to-1 fourth choice in the Flash (Gold Joy was 21.40-to-1), which starts closer to the turn than any other five-furlong event in North America, was bumped shortly after the break on his outside by 3.15-to-1 second choice Departing Now. He then had to be taken up sharply when Primal Storm darted in towards the rail from the outside while setting an opening quarter-mile split of 22-flat, but he recovered from those mishaps to rally three wide and continued on under a hand ride to place a clear second. Having won by five lengths against open maiden special company in his debut at Belmont on May 6, Winning Expression boosted his earnings to $47,060 for owner-breeder Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey. In addition to being the owner and breeder of Winning Expression, Flying Zee Stables also owns the colt's Grade 1-placed sire, Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), and stands him at Highcliff Farm in Delanson that Lizza owns in partnership with Joseph Bartone. Winning Expression is from the first crop of Western Expression, who missed winning Aqueduct's Grade 1 Carter Handicap by a head and is a half-brother to Grade 2-winning millionaire King Cugat ($1,293,782). The colt is the first offspring produced from Miss Winning Sweep, an End Sweep mare that won at two and three.
Gold Joy, who races for Kenneth Taylor and trainer Timothy Salzman, broke last from the outside post and trailed his four rivals by several lengths until the final furlong, where he quickly overtook Departing Now and 4.40-to-1 third choice Dubleo to place third and also gain black-type stakes credentials. Ridden by Michael Luzzi, Gold Joy increased his earnings by $10,693 to $43,493 with a record of 1 - 1 - 1 in three starts -- all in open NYRA company -- while qualifying his owners for an additional $1,069.30 open race owner award and his breeder, Chasemedaly Farm, for a $1,069.30 breeder award. Gold Joy was purchased for $6,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2003 September yearling sale in Timonium, Maryland.

(6/3) Seaguarius gives Flying Zee Stable second turf score on card
SEAQUARIUS victory in the last race provided Carl Lizza of Flying Zee Stable with his second photo-op in the Belmont Park winner's circle on today's race card. Unnerving broke his maiden over the turf in an earlier race and Seaquarius defeated NW-1X state-bred allowance horses, three year-olds and upward, in a race run over the Widener turf course, listed "good", at a mile. A field of 9-horses went to the gate for Belmont's finale with Pa Pa Da bet down to the prohibitive 3-5 odds.
Seaquarius broke well but was taken in hand by jockey Javier Castellano and settled into seventh in the run down the backstretch as a head-strong Sea the Truth led the field through a quick first quarter in 22.4 seconds. House Key took over the lead soon after the quarter, reaching the half-mile pole in 46.4 seconds as Seaquarius began to move on the far outside. As the field rounded the far turn, Seaquarius glided up to the leaders while four-wide and once straightened for home put a head in front of Pa Pa Da. Seaquarius was put to a drive at the top of the stretch and held off a late charge from Unbuckle by a length under the wire, with Sicilian Boy up for third-money. Final time was 1:35.4 seconds.
Trained by Carlos Martin, Seaquarius earned $26,400 for his second victory in ten starts, bringing his total bankroll to $65,086 and also qualifying his owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. for a $2,640 breeder award. Sired by Kentucky Derby-Travers-Champagne winner Sea Hero ($2,929,869), who now stands in Turkey, Seaquarius is the first winner produced from New York-bred Keri Island, who is by deceased New York stallion Roman Reasoning and also was a Flying Zee Stable homebred. Flying Zee Stable proprietor Lizza, who owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson in partnership with Joseph Bartone, also bred graded New York-bred winner Ruby Rubles ($475,546) out of a winning half-sister to dam Keri Island, whose own dam is three-time winner Reality Island, by In Reality. Ruby Rubles won Aqueduct's Grade 3 Bed o' Roses Handicap by 2 1/4 lengths and restricted Broadway Handicap by 6 1/2 lengths in a stakes record 1:22.22 for seven furlongs, both in April, 2000.

(6/4) NY-breds Winning Expression and Gold Joy place 2nd and 3rd in G3 Flash - stewards' inquiry lets result stand
Flying Zee Stables' New York homebred Winning Expression placed second in Belmont's Grade 3 Flash Stakes for two-year-olds on Friday, surviving a backstretch bumping and crowding that required him to be taken up sharply by jockey Edgar Prado and also prompted a stewards' inquiry that allowed the result to stand. It was the dark bay colt's second start and earned him his first black-type stakes credentials in addition to $21,260 in purse money plus qualified his owner-breeder for a total of $9,992.20 in open race owner ($4,252), breeder ($4,252), and stallion ($1,488.20) awards. Winning Expression's trainer is Philip Serpe, and Prado was race-riding him for the first time in the five-furlong $104,300 stakes, which was won by odds-on (.80-to-1) favorite Primal Storm. New York-bred Gold Joy placed third among the five starters.
Winning Expression, sent off the 5.40-to-1 fourth choice in the Flash (Gold Joy was 21.40-to-1), which starts closer to the turn than any other five-furlong event in North America, was bumped shortly after the break on his outside by 3.15-to-1 second choice Departing Now. He then had to be taken up sharply when Primal Storm darted in towards the rail from the outside while setting an opening quarter-mile split of 22-flat, but he recovered from those mishaps to rally three wide and continued on under a hand ride to place a clear second. Having won by five lengths against open maiden special company in his debut at Belmont on May 6, Winning Expression boosted his earnings to $47,060 for owner-breeder Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey. In addition to being the owner and breeder of Winning Expression, Flying Zee Stables also owns the colt's Grade 1-placed sire, Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), and stands him at Highcliff Farm in Delanson that Lizza owns in partnership with Joseph Bartone. Winning Expression is from the first crop of Western Expression, who missed winning Aqueduct's Grade 1 Carter Handicap by a head and is a half-brother to Grade 2-winning millionaire King Cugat ($1,293,782). The colt is the first offspring produced from Miss Winning Sweep, an End Sweep mare that won at two and three.
Gold Joy, who races for Kenneth Taylor and trainer Timothy Salzman, broke last from the outside post and trailed his four rivals by several lengths until the final furlong, where he quickly overtook Departing Now and 4.40-to-1 third choice Dubleo to place third and also gain black-type stakes credentials. Ridden by Michael Luzzi, Gold Joy increased his earnings by $10,693 to $43,493 with a record of 1 - 1 - 1 in three starts -- all in open NYRA company -- while qualifying his owners for an additional $1,069.30 open race owner award and his breeder, Chasemedaly Farm, for a $1,069.30 breeder award. Gold Joy was purchased for $6,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2003 September yearling sale in Timonium, Maryland.

(6/3) Seaguarius gives Flying Zee Stable second turf score on card
SEAQUARIUS victory in the last race provided Carl Lizza of Flying Zee Stable with his second photo-op in the Belmont Park winner's circle on today's race card. Unnerving broke his maiden over the turf in an earlier race and Seaquarius defeated NW-1X state-bred allowance horses, three year-olds and upward, in a race run over the Widener turf course, listed "good", at a mile. A field of 9-horses went to the gate for Belmont's finale with Pa Pa Da bet down to the prohibitive 3-5 odds.
Seaquarius broke well but was taken in hand by jockey Javier Castellano and settled into seventh in the run down the backstretch as a head-strong Sea the Truth led the field through a quick first quarter in 22.4 seconds. House Key took over the lead soon after the quarter, reaching the half-mile pole in 46.4 seconds as Seaquarius began to move on the far outside. As the field rounded the far turn, Seaquarius glided up to the leaders while four-wide and once straightened for home put a head in front of Pa Pa Da. Seaquarius was put to a drive at the top of the stretch and held off a late charge from Unbuckle by a length under the wire, with Sicilian Boy up for third-money. Final time was 1:35.4 seconds.
Trained by Carlos Martin, Seaquarius earned $26,400 for his second victory in ten starts, bringing his total bankroll to $65,086 and also qualifying his owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. for a $2,640 breeder award. Sired by Kentucky Derby-Travers-Champagne winner Sea Hero ($2,929,869), who now stands in Turkey, Seaquarius is the first winner produced from New York-bred Keri Island, who is by deceased New York stallion Roman Reasoning and also was a Flying Zee Stable homebred. Flying Zee Stable proprietor Lizza, who owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson in partnership with Joseph Bartone, also bred graded New York-bred winner Ruby Rubles ($475,546) out of a winning half-sister to dam Keri Island, whose own dam is three-time winner Reality Island, by In Reality. Ruby Rubles won Aqueduct's Grade 3 Bed o' Roses Handicap by 2 1/4 lengths and restricted Broadway Handicap by 6 1/2 lengths in a stakes record 1:22.22 for seven furlongs, both in April, 2000.

(5/28) Thunder Rain breaks maiden at Belmont Park under a dazzling ride
Jeffrey Tucker's THUNDER RAIN, ridden by journeyman jockey Jean Luc Samyn, broke his maiden today at Belmont Park. The one-mile one-turn race was moved from the turf to the main track, which was listed as "muddy", and 11-state breds, three year-olds and upward, went to the starting gate. John Morrison trains the three year-old bay gelding who was making his 8th career start and second with Samyn aboard.
Dr. Silver Packet led the field down the backstretch with Prince of Dreams in second and Thunder Rain racing in mid-pack. After a half-mile in 46.1 seconds, Thunder Rain moved into contention and with a bold move midway in the turn ducked to the inside rail to gain command and drove to the wire to win by 4-lengths over Signor William with Royal Cliff Hanger closing to be third. Final time was 1:39.4 seconds.
Bred by Carl Lizza's Flying Zee Stable, who qualified for a $5,040 breeder's award, Thunder Rain is by Thunder Puddles, and is the first named foal out of the Scarlet Ibis mare, Scarlet's Diva. Thunder Puddles, sire of the 1992 Gr. 1 - Travers Stakes winner Thunder Rumble, stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York. Thunder Puddles is a multiple graded stakes winner of $791,695 in an outstanding 25-race career.

(5/6) Winning Expression beats 2-year-old open maidens
Flying Zee's Stable's homebred, WINNING EXPRESSION, became the first winner for New York-based stallion Western Expression, easily defeating a field of open company two year-olds in a five-furlong race run over the main track at beautiful Belmont Park. Entered last week, Winning Expression was fractious at the gate dumping his rider and ran off forcing the colt to be scratched. Trainer Phil Serpe had the colt primed and ready for today's outing, and named Aqueduct's Spring-meet's leading jockey Javier Castellano to ride the dark bay colt in the 7-horse field.
Defy the Odds and Winning Expression were quickest out of the gate and set swift fractions of 22 seconds flat to the quarter pole and hit the half-mile pole together in 46.1, before Winning Expression blew by at the top of the stretch and began to open up daylight on the field while racing greenly. Winning Expression won by 5-lengths and stopped the timer in 59 seconds flat.
Bred by Carl Lizza (Flying Zee Stable), who qualified for a breeder's award of $5,160 and an open owner's award of $5,160; and, as owner of the stallion qualified for a $1,806 stallion owner's award. Winning Expression is the first foal out of the End Sweep mare, Miss Winning Sweep, an allowance winner who hit the board in 4 out of her 5-lifetime races.
Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game), who finished second in the 2000 Carter Handicap - Gr. 1, is a half-brother to the 5X graded stakes winner King Cugat (Kingmambo) who earned over $1.2-million. A foal of 1996, Western Expression stands at Mr. Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York.

(5/2) Previous Selection proves her ability in maiden special
Favored at 1.40-to-1 among 10 starters in Aqueduct's ninth race maiden special nightcap on Sunday for New York-bred fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, Tri-Noble Stable's homebred PREVIOUS SELECTION proved what her two most recent previous starts -- both second-place finishes at Aqueduct -- had suggested: She was ready to win. With jockey Edgar Prado on board for the second consecutive time, the three-year-old filly might have had the worst trip of her career in the six-furlong contest, breaking next-to-last and ducking in at the start before finding herself behind seven rivals following the opening quarter-mile. At the quarter pole, she still trailed five fillies, while 18.50-to-1 seventh choice Mystical Sea set most of the pace through creditable fractions of 22.31, 46.45, and 59.96, but in the final furlong she rallied between runners. Overtaking all of her remaining competition decisively, Previous Selection reached the finish with a two-length margin after switching back to her left lead about 40 yards from the wire.
The victory was worth $24,600 in purse money to the Tri-Noble Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, which also qualified for an additional $4,920 breeder award, increasing Previous Selection's purse earnings to $44,330 off a record of 1 - 2 - 0 in four starts since December. Trained by Carlos Martin, the big-striding filly had finished fifth and fourth in her first two Aqueduct outings, then had made her third start only a week following her second and had almost won, missing by a neck at six furlongs after leading by two lengths at mid-stretch. Martin subsequently had kept her out of competition for 14 weeks, and the dark bay filly came back to place second at Aqueduct on April 16, tiring at six furlongs as the odds-on favorite (.55-to-1) with Prado on board but running noticeably faster than in her January outings. In her two second-place efforts, Previous Selection had set some or most of the pace and never had attempted coming from as far off the pace as she did on Sunday.
Previous Selection was foaled at Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where her sire, Tank's Number (Tank's Prospect - Margaret's Number, by Native Charger) stands for a 2004 live foal fee of $2,000 as the property of Lizza's Flying Zee Stables, which qualified for a $1,722 stallion award. Previous Selection is the 27th winner (of 99 races won) sired by Tank's Number, who won stakes at Saratoga and Monmouth and whose average earnings per runner has consistently stayed close to $45,000. On her dam's side, Previous Selection is the second runner and second New York-bred winner bred by Tri-Noble Stable from Previously, who is a winning daughter of Garthorn and a half-sister to seven winners -- four six-figure-earners -- including stakes-placed Our Main Man ($236,206) and Resiliency and $245,960-earner Cobblers Rock. A Hypo-Mating check of Previous Selection's pedigree reveals that she is distantly inbred (4 x 5) to Raise a Native.

(4/27) NY-Bred Fair Prospect Wins Philly Park Allowance by 3 3/4 Lengths
One of two New York-bred winners at Philadelphia Park on Tuesday, April 27 was Louis Bisso Jr.'s FAIR PROSPECT, who captured an open N1X allowance for eight three-year-old fillies going a mile and a sixteenth by 3 3/4 lengths, scoring her second consecutive big margin April victory at Philly Park. Race-ridden for the second consecutive time by jockey Stewart Elliott, who had been aboard for her 13 1/2-length maiden victory going six furlongs just 10 days earlier (April 17), the chestnut filly went off as the 3.70-to-1 second choice and broke on top from the outside post position. She gained the lead from 44.50-to-1 last choice My Favorite Lady on her inside going down the backstretch and moved clear on the second turn, eventually opening up a four-length mid-stretch advantage which she basically maintained to the wire over 6.30-to-1 fifth choice Blind Canyon, who placed second. Favored I Follow You (1.50-to-1), who was coming off a 4 3/4-length victory at Philadelphia Park on April 10, finished third.
Fair Prospect, who had placed third in an Aqueduct restricted maiden special in January, was the second winner on Tuesday's card to represent owner Bisso, the third winner sent out by trainer Richard Vega -- who also saddled Bisso's other winner -- and the first of two consecutive winners ridden by Elliott. She had been claimed from her previous owner for $10,000 while placing second -- beaten just a neck -- going a two-turn mile at Philadelphia Park on March 7, and her second consecutive victory since changing hands improved her record to 2 - 1 - 1 in 10 starts. A $6,500 purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2003 sale of two-year-olds in training in Ocala, Florida, Fair Prospect is by the late New York-based stallion, Prosper Fager, and is the fourth offspring and fourth winner produced from Groovy's Fairest, by Groovy. She was bred by the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey and foaled at Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, and her three winning New York-bred half-siblings include multiple open allowance winner Apt Contender ($135,245 through 2003).

(4/15) Dalovaly Linda ($46.60) regains lead to score narrow MSW victory
Owner-trainer Joseph Orseno's three-year-old DALOVALY LINDA took command early in Aqueduct's Thursday one-turn mile opener, a $42,000 restricted maiden special for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, and after a long backstretch run into a strong northerly headwind somehow managed to come again in the stretch to win a photo-finish. The chestnut filly had never tried a mile in nine previous starts, but she had been an early pacesetter before fading to eighth in a two-turn maiden special going a mile and 70 yards at Aqueduct on January 30 with apprentice jockey Alan Garcia on board for the first time. Three subsequent outings in six-furlong Aqueduct sprints had resulted in two fifth-place finishes in February and a fourth-place effort on March 31 on a muddy track, but for Thursday's opener Garcia was back in the irons with obvious instructions from Orseno to get the lead and hold on. The result was a late stretch duel that came right down to the wire between two three-year-old fillies -- eighth choice Dalovaly Linda (22.30-to-1) and 8.30-to-1 fourth choice Take the Rate -- carrying equal weight with apprentice jockeys aboard.
In the run out of the mile chute and down the backstretch into an 18-mph headwind that was gusting to 23 mph, Dalovaly Linda was challenged first by 13-to-1 fifth choice Richie's Cat, then by 15.70-to-1 seventh choice Let's Get Personal, and finally by Take the Rate. The latter, who runs with her head high, gained almost a full length advantage on the outside near mid-stretch but appeared to let up over the muddy going, and Dalovaly Linda came again under Garcia, who rides with a five-pound apprentice allowance, regaining the lead in the final strides. The victory increased Orseno's filly's earnings by $25,200 to $31,326 and brought her record to 1 - 1 - 0 in 10 starts. Orseno has had Dalovaly Linda in his stable since last fall, prior to which the New York-bred filly had started twice during the summer at Mountaineer and then once at Thistledown, where she had missed by a nose while placing second at 5 1/2 furlongs in late August.
Sired by now-deceased New York stallion Prosper Fager, Dalovaly Linda's victory qualified her breeders, the Billings Partnership of Robert and Michele Billings of Naples, Florida, for a total of $6,804 in breeder ($5,040) and stallion ($1,764) awards, since they also owned Prosper Fager. Dalovaly Linda, who was conceived and foaled at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, is the first offspring produced from She's Dalovaly, who is by Sky Classic (a champion son of Nijinsky II) and a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Jelly Roll Jazz.

(4/14) Doctor Who wires state-bred maidens at Big A.
Lisa Werner's DOCTOR WHO broke his maiden with a front running gate-to-wire effort over a "muddy" main track at Aqueduct. The six-furlong race had a field of 10-state-breds, three year-olds and upward, go to the starting gate. Trainer Victor Cuadra named apprentice jockey Pedro Cotto, Jr., who qualifies for a 5lb weight allowance, to ride the four year-old chestnut colt.
Breaking sharply, Doctor Who charged up to take the early lead and led the field through fractions of 22.2 and 46.2 seconds to the half-mile pole. As the field turned for home, Doctor Who had a four-length lead and was kept to a drive by Cotto. Miffed began to make up ground on the leader in the late going but fell short by 1-1/4-lengths. Honorable Tam finished third. Final time was 1:12.2.
Bred by Dr. Zacarias Aragon, who qualified for a breeder's award of $4,920, Doctor Who is by the late Prosper Fager, out of Philip, by Thunder Puddles. Prosper Fager was owned by the Billingsley Partnership and stood at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York. Prosper Fager is the sire of multiple graded stakes winner Well Fancied.

(4/8) First Starter for New York Freshman Sire Catienus Wins Keeneland Debut
In her first start, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey's homebred Lisa's Cat, a two-year-old daughter of New York stallion CATIENUS, went head-to-head with even-money favorite Bold Outlook -- a $400,000 Florida sales purchase just two months earlier -- to win a Keeneland maiden special by three-quarters of a length on Thursday, April 8. Victory in the $49,100 contest was worth $31,270, with Lisa's Cat going off as the 4.30-to-1 third choice among eight starters in the 4 1/2-furlong contest, which she covered in the time of 53.77 under jockey Robby Albarado, who rode three winners on Keeneland's Thursday card. There was a five-length gap from Bold Outlook back to the third-place finisher.
Catienus, a stakes-winning son of leading sire Storm Cat out of graded stakes-placed winner and 100 percent producer Diamond City, by Mr. Prospector, stands at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson for a 2004 fee of $3,500, live foal -- to approved mares only. Like his two-year-old first-out winning daughter, Lisa's Cat, Catienus also is the property of the Ramseys, who acquired the stallion after he had come over from England and had shown notable ability on North American main tracks. Under the Ramseys' colors, Catienus made his first North American stakes start in Delaware's Charles Staats Memorial Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth on dirt as a five-year-old and -- although boxed in -- found enough room to get clear and win by a length and a half. He subsequently placed second or third five times, including Saratoga's Grade 1 Whitney Handicap and Grade 2 Saratoga Breeders' Cup (twice) and Belmont's Grade 2 Suburban Handicap, recording six triple-digit Daily Racing Form Beyer figures -- one a 115 -- before retiring for the 2001 breeding season with earnings of $370,430. On turf in England, Catienus broke his maiden by eight lengths as a two-year-old and also won his last two outings as a juvenile despite being a late foal (May 16). In his first start as a three-year-old in England, he beat future English Champion Intikhab at equal weights while winning by a length and three-quarters.
Lisa's Cat also has New York breeding connections on her dam's side. She is the first offspring produced from Hillary Step, who is by Chimes Band and is among five runners, all winners, produced from New York-bred multiple open stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Cadillac Women ($319,270), who finished third in the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. A Hypo-Mating check of the pedigree of Lisa's Cat reveals that she is inbred 3 x 4 to Mr. Prospector and 4 x 4 to Northern Dancer.

(4/3) High Priced ships in to win at 17-1
Michael Dubb's and Mark Doneson's HIGH PRICED shipped up from Philadelphia Park to capture this afternoon's finale at Aqueduct Racetrack, paying $36.20 in the process. The Robert Mosco trained chestnut gelding had beaten $15,000 claimers in his last outing on March 13th. Mosco named apprentice jockey Pedro Cotto, Jr., who qualifies for a 5lb weight allowance, to ride. The seven-furlong race run over the "muddy" main track and had a field of 9-horses go to the starting gate.
Karakorum Appeal went to the front and led the field through an opening quarter in 22.3 seconds. Beep Beep Beep tracked in second position as High Priced rated near the back of the pack. Eyeofthehunter, who broke well and was forwardly placed, pulled up abruptly approaching the quarter-pole. After a half-mile in 46.1 seconds, Karakorum Appeal was still in command as Beep Beep Beep began to falter, however High Priced was full of run and only needed some racing room, which he found along the rail in deep stretch and ran by to win under a hand-ride by 3-lengths. Karakorum Appeal held for second money and Ruby's Pro finished third. Final time was 1:25.3.
Bred by the partnership of John Moirano, Monty Foss and William Nappa, who together qualified for a breeder's award of $5,160, High Priced is by Expensive Decision, and is the first foal out of the Honor Grades mare, Hope Chest, who won 6 of 15-lifetime races and earned $116,420. High Priced, who finished second in the first-running of the $250,000 Cab Calloway - New York Stallion Stakes as a three-year-old, is by Expensive Decision, who qualified his owner for a $1,806 stallion owner's award. Expensive Decision had stood at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York before moving to SUNY Cobleskill in Cobleskill, New York at the end of the 2003 breeding season. The $25,800 winner's purse elevates High Priced earnings to $149,677 with a Lifetime Record: 28-3-7-4.

(4/1) Don Corleone rules along rail for decisive MSW victory
Coming off a second-place effort 10 days earlier at Aqueduct and wearing blinkers for the first time, Carmine Iorio's homebred DON CORLEONE got the lead and the rail in Aqueduct's sixth race on Thursday, a $41,000 restricted maiden special for three-year-olds going six furlongs, winning by 9 1/4 lengths. Ridden for the third time in three starts by Heberto Castillo Jr. and favored at 1.75-to-1 among eight starters, the bay colt set a brisk five-furlong fraction of 58.87 over the sloppy but sealed surface before extending his lead by an additional 2 1/4 lengths through the final furlong.
Trained by Sal Iorio Jr., Don Corleone increased his total earnings by $24,600 to $32,937 in three starts since March 4 while also qualifying his owner-breeder for an additional $4,920 breeder award. The front-running three-year-old who looks like he will thrive at longer distances is from the single New York-conceived crop of 1998 New York-Bred Champion Juvenile Male Incurable Optimist, who was North America's only juvenile to win graded stakes on both coasts in 1998 and now stands in Argentina. A son of deceased record-setting New York sire Cure the Blues, Incurable Optimist stood the 2000 season at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, and his owners at that time, John and Theresa Behrendt of New York City, have accordingly qualified for a $1,722 stallion award. Incurable Optimist's breeders are Dr. Joan Taylor and Dr. William Wilmot of Stepwise Farm in Saratoga Springs.
Don Corleone is the first winner produced from multiple route-running winner Twice Forbidden, who is by the late great champion and New York stallion, Spectacular Bid. Twice Forbidden is a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Fresno Home.

(3/31) Zukinikiki digs in to win N1X nightcap off layoff
In her first start off a 48-day layoff, Four Drake Stable's ZUKINIKIKI came from just off the pace to capture Aqueduct's ninth race nightcap on Wednesday, a $44,000 restricted N1X allowance at a mile and an eighth for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, edging clear by a length. Favored at 2.10-to-1 among the eight starters and ridden for the 12th time in her 12-race career by Michael Luzzi, the four-year-old filly took command from 6.60-to-1 fourth choice Priscilla's Flag in mid-stretch to score her second career victory going nine furlongs on a muddy track. Last August, she had broken her maiden by 4 3/4 lengths at Saratoga under those identical conditions and going two turns.
Campaigned by Dolph Rotfeld's Four Drake Stable, Zukinikiki increased her earnings by $26,400 to $96,896 while improving her record to 2 - 4 - 2 in 12 starts. She had looked ready to win her restricted N1X condition back in February, when she missed by a neck going a mile and a sixteenth at Aqueduct, but trainer Bruce Levine gave her more than six weeks off while keeping her fit with three moderate workouts over Belmont's training track. The nightcap marked the second victory of the day for Levine and jockey Luzzi, who also had teamed up to win Aqueduct's Wednesday opener.
Zukinikiki's breeder is John Hettinger of Akindale Farm in Pawling, who qualified for a $5,280 breeder award, and the dark bay filly's sire is New York-based Key Contender (Fit to Fight - Key Witness, by Key to the Mint), whose syndicate owners qualified for a $1,848 stallion award. Zukinikiki is among 68 winners sired by Grade 1 winner Key Contender, who stands at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where his 2004 fee is $5,000, live foal. Zukinikiki's victory pushed Key Contender's progeny earnings to over $3.7-million.
Zukinikiki is the second offspring and second New York-bred winner produced from Sugar Blues, who is by New York stallion Personal Flag. Sugar Blues is a half-sister to New York-bred multiple stakes winner -- and Grade 1-placed -- Jazzing Around ($448,399) and to New York-bred stakes-placed winner Final Bow, who is the dam of stakes winner Marfa's Finale ($132,654). Sugar Blues also is a half-sister to the dam of stakes winner Fantastic Women ($208,634). A Hypo-Mating check of Zukinikiki's pedigree reveals that she is distantly inbred (4 x 4) to Bold Ruler.

(3/24) Daysman breaks maiden at Aqueduct
Merrylegs Farm's DAYSMAN making his fourth-career start defeated a field of state-bred maiden three-year-old fillies today at Aqueduct Racetrack. The bay filly had been close-up in all of her previously run races and put it all together today to get the job done under apprentice jockey Luis Medina, who qualifies for a 7lb weight allowance. The six-furlong race was run over the main track, listed "fast" and had a field of 8-fillies go to the post.
Annies Prospect and Watrals Bashfull raced as a team through an opening quarter in 22.4 seconds. Daysman moved into contention hooking Annies Prospect at the half-mile pole and battled head-to-head to the eighth-pole before drawing clear, winning by 2-1/2-lengths under the wire. Annies Propect held for second and Watrals Bashfull finished third. Final time was 1:13.3.
Bred by the late Seymour Cohn, whose estate qualified for a $4,920 breeder's award, Daysman is by Daygata, and is the second foal out of the Daring Groom mare, We Are Daring, an allowance winner of $78,751. Owned by Penny Hallman (Merrylegs Farm), Daysman is trained by John Hertler. The sire, Daygata (Dayjur), stands at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York, and qualified Mrs. Hallman for a $1,722 stallion owner award.

(3/4) Dance All Night rallies to break maiden
Carl Lizza's Flying Zee Stable's homebred, DANCE ALL NIGHT, broke her maiden today against state-bred three year-old fillies. The six-furlong race was run over the inner-track at Aqueduct, labeled "fast", and had a field of six-horses loaded into the gate after first time starter, New York Flirt was scratched at the gate by track veterinarian Dr. Celeste Kunz. Trainer Frank Martin named jockey Javier Castellano to ride the chestnut filly making her fourth career start and second of 2004.
Three horses vied for the early lead with Brassy Shirley gaining command nearing the quarter-pole reached in 23 seconds flat. Red Snoony rated in second, followed by race-time favorite Kiss the Lips. Dance All Night broke slowly and raced between horses into contention as the field moved down the backstretch. Saving ground around the last turn, Dance All Night angled off the rail at the top of the stretch and once straightened for home powered past her rivals on her way to a four-length score. Kiss the Lips finished second and Red Snoopy held onto third-position. Final time was 1:11.3.
Mr. Lizza, as breeder, qualified for a $4,920 breeder's award and the Billings Partnership, owners of the late Prosper Fager, qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,722. Prosper Fager at stood at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York, which is owned by Carl Lizza and Joseph Bartone. Dance All Night is out of the With Approval mare, Dancing Approval, who won 5 of her 15-lifetime starts.

(2/15) Golden Contender takes open N1X allowance as NY-breds run 1-2-3-4
A winner or placed in his last seven consecutive starts, Stacey Abramson's and Geoff Dickstein's six-year-old GOLDEN CONTENDER headed a contingent of four New York-breds that crossed the finish in succession in Aqueduct's seventh race on Sunday, a $44,000 open N1X allowance for four-year-olds and up. Sent off the 4.50-to-1 third choice among seven starters in the two-turn mile and an eighth contest with jockey Michael Luzzi on board for the second time in a row, the exceptionally-durable gelding raced close up in third and fourth place while saving ground through three-quarters of a mile. Fourth choice Portlanddate (4.90-to-1) ripped off a 22.75 opening quarter in an effort to steal the race, but by the second turn he was just narrowly ahead of a tightly-packed field that was about to engulf him. As the runners fanned out approaching the stretch, favored New York-bred Elyon (1.90-to-1) gained command in the three path with Golden Contender almost even with him and to his inside. In the final furlong, Golden Contender used his ground-devouring strides to push his head in front at the wire following a contentious stretch duel despite the fact that he was carrying four more pounds than Elyon. New York-bred Big Ruby K, the 6.70-to-1 fifth choice, finished third, followed by New York-bred Mr. V., the 3.45-to-1 second choice. It was the third of four winning rides on the day for Luzzi -- three aboard New York-breds -- and it was notable because Golden Contender had to be restrained on the second turn when he appeared to be hopelessly boxed in.
The victory added $26,400 to Golden Contender's burgeoning bankroll, which now stands at $252,605, and it improved the dark bay gelding's record to 7 - 8 - 8 in 54 starts while also qualifying his owners for a $5,280 open race owner award. The top-four-finishing New York-bred geldings -- Golden Contender, Elyon (now $120,640), Big Ruby K (now $114,200), and Mr. V. (now $127,160) -- picked up 95 percent of the race's total purse and qualified for open race owner, breeder, and stallion awards totaling $18,458 in addition to their purse earnings.
Trained by Bruce Levine, who also teamed up with Luzzi to win the third race on Aqueduct's Sunday card, Golden Contender had been claimed by his current owners for $16,000 while winning at Monmouth last September, and since then he has won twice -- beginning with a $20,000 tag at Aqueduct. His latest victory also qualified the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, who had lost the gelding through the claiming ranks last April for a $16,000 tag, for a $5,280 breeder award. Golden Contender has been claimed five times in the past 10 months -- twice by Levine, who once haltered the New York-bred for his own racing stable.
Foaled at Highcliff Farm in Delanson that Lizza owns with Joseph Bartone, Golden Contender is among 68 winners of 195 races sired by Grade 1 winner and Highcliff-based stallion Key Contender (Fit to Fight - Key Witness, by Key to the Mint), pushing that stallion's progeny earnings to almost $3.7-million. Key Contender, whose syndicate owners qualified for a $1,848 stallion award as a result of Golden Contender's latest victory, had the highest percentage of 2003 winners from starters among New York's millionaire sires last year and also was the state's top sire in 2003 median earnings per runner. Golden Contender is among six New York-bred winners produced from Calder allowance winner Golden Sweetheart, who scored on Aqueduct's inner track and also is the dam of stakes winner Noble Sweetheart ($101,149) and stakes-placed Blondie Logic, whose first offspring is a now-deceased winning stakes-placed daughter of Key Contender, Sunday Driver. Lizza has bred all of the offspring produced from Golden Sweetheart, who is a daughter of Strike Gold and is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner and dirt-and-turf record-setter Double No ($337,042).

(2/12) Forever Flawless in magical mystery tour
What a strange race! Had more subplots than a Clancy novel! First off, My Nina Rose went to her knees soon after the break compromising any chance she had. Then the saddle slipped on Kiss the Lips giving apprentice jockey Alan Garcia all that he could handle, blowing the first and last turns. And race-winner FOREVER FLAWLESS, coming off a second-place finish in a $25,000 maiden claimer, moved from dead-last at the half-mile pole to 12-lengths back at the top of the stretch to 6-lengths back at the eighth pole to a one-length victory. Oh, it wasn't over yet. The inquiry light was lit on the #8 horse, and you guessed it - it was Forever Flawless whom the stewards were reviewing. Seemed he came in on Priscilla's Flag inside the sixteenth-pole but the stewards ruled the interference did not affect the outcome of the race. Belmont Babe, who tried to go wire to wire, finished second a length in front of Priscilla's Flag. Miraculously, Kiss the Lips finished fourth. Run over Aqueduct's inner track at 1-1/16th, a full field of 12-horses went to the post. Final time was 1:48.3.
Owned by Mark Valentine and trained by Sal Iorio, Jr., Forever Flawless was ridden to victory by jockey Joel Sone. Bred by James Corrao, who qualified for a $5,040 breeder's award, the three year-old gray filly is the first foal out of the Tong Po mare, Livy, a half-sister to two stakes-placed horses, Caryl's Money Mill (Lucy Axe) and Irish Folklore (Leprechauns Wish). The sire, Forever Silver, was a multiple graded stakes winner, which includes victories in the Brooklyn Handicap - Gr. 1, Excelsior Handicap - Gr. 2 and Nassau County Handicap - Gr. 2. Forever Silver, a son of Silver Buck, retired with earnings of over $1-million dollars. He began his stud career in 1991 at Carl Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, New York and was owned by a syndicate, who qualified for a $1,764. Forever Silver was moved to Cornell University for the 2003 season and remains at that facility.

(1/30) Deedle E. Dee breaks maiden in Big A. finale
Flying Zee Stable's homebred, DEEDLE E. DEE, sat the perfect trip and easily broke her maiden against state-bred 3-year-old fillies today at Aqueduct Racetrack. The final race on Friday's race card was run at a mile and seventy yards over the winterized inner-track and had a field of 10-horses go to the starting gate. Deedle E. Dee was jockey Javier Castellano's third winner of the day.
Dalovaly Linda was hustled out of the gate to take the lead going into the first turn. Tracking closely on the outside was Richie's Cat with Deedle E. Dee sitting in the catbird's seat racing third. Dalovaly Linda led the field through fractions of 23-4/5ths and 48-3/5ths to the half-mile pole with Richie's Cat still to her outside as Priscilla's Flag began a four-wide move. Deedle E. Dee, saving ground in the early going moved into striking position in the middle of the far turn and once the field straightened for home, powered to the lead and drew off to win by two widening lengths. La Jefa out dueled Priscilla's Flag for place. Final time was 1:46-2/5ths seconds.
In addition to the $25,200 winner's purse, Mr. Carl Lizza (Flying Zee Stable), qualified for a $5,040 breeder's award. Deedle E. Dee is by the late Prosper Fager, out of the Alydeed mare, A Merry Deed, winner of 4 out of 11-races. Prosper Fager stood at Highcliff Farm, which is owned by the partnership of Carl Lizza and Joseph Bartone, through most of his New York State stud career before moving to Meadow Hill Lane Farm in Pine Bush for 2003, however he died unexpectantly prior to the breeding season.

(1/22) Show Ready breaks maiden in Big A. finale
Our Sugar Bear Stable's SHOW READY made her second career start a winning one today beating state-bred three-year-old maiden fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack. The last race on the Thursday afternoon card was run at six-furlongs over the inner-track and had a field of 12 enter the track for the post parade, however B.G.'s Suzy Q unseated apprentice jockey Pedro Cotto, Jr. and ran-off, forcing the stewards to scratch the chestnut filly, who was to make her debut. Trainer Robert Ribaudo named Herberto Castillo, Jr. to ride Show Ready, a three year-old daughter of the late Prosper Fager. Our Sugar Bear Stable is managed by William Terrill, who selected the filly out of the 2003 OBS June two year-old in training sale, paying a modest $13,000. Today's winning purse was worth $24,600.
Away in good order, Show Ready raced to the front and set the pace through fractions 23 and 46-4/5ths seconds to the half-mile pole. Moochie Magnum raced in second-position before fading nearing the half-mile pole as Unaccountably Pink took up the chase, however Show Ready was more than ready, drawing off at the eighth-pole to win by 5-1/2-lengths. Unaccountably Pink held for second and Theonlyword, who broke awkwardly from the one-post, closed to be third. Final time was 1:12 flat.
Bred by Carl Lizza (Flying Zee Stable), who qualified for a breeder's award of $4,920, Show Ready is out of the Gate Dancer mare, Pilfer Proof. The sire, Prosper Fager stood at Highcliff Farm, in Delanson, New York, which is owned by Carl Lizza and Joseph Bartone, before moving to Meadow Hill Lane Farm in Middletown, New York prior to his unfortunate demise. Prosper Fager qualified for a stallion owner's award of $1,722.

(1/3) Taking the Redeye cruises through stretch for 2 1/4-length maiden win
Twenty-four days after a bumpy fifth-place debut going six furlongs at Aqueduct, Flying Zee Stables's homebred TAKING THE REDEYE came from slightly off the pace at a mile and 70 yards to win Aqueduct's sixth race on Saturday, a $42,000 restricted maiden special for just-turned three-year-olds, by 2 1/4 lengths. Race-ridden for the first time by "bug" jockey Pedro Luis Cotto Jr., who has a five-pound apprentice allowance, but moderately regarded as the 10-to-1 fifth choice among nine wagering interests and 10 starters, the dark bay colt broke on top but was taken in hand by Cotto. For most of the contest, he trailed close behind 5.80-to-1 fourth choice pacesetter Bogota Bill and 4.40-to-1 second choice Dylans Destiny, but rallied around those two on the second turn and seized the lead at the top of the stretch with his head tilted slightly to the outside. The remainder of the race was a breeze for Taking the Redeye, who had a 4 1/2-length advantage at mid-stretch and was not menaced in the final furlong, as 29-to-1 sixth choice Nooligan from off the also-eligible list rallied to take second by a nose.
Trained by Philip Serpe, who after the colt's bumpy fifth-place effort on December 10 had put him through honest half-mile and five-furlong workouts over Belmont's training track on December 20 and 26, respectively, Taking the Redeye picked up $25,200 for his victory, putting his earnings in two starts at $26,430. He also qualified his owner-breeder, the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, for a $5,040 breeder award. In partnership with Joseph Bartone, Lizza also co-owns Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where Taking the Redeye was conceived and foaled (May 1, 2001) from the cover of New York-bred champion and New York-based stallion Scarlet Ibis (Cormorant - Fifties Galore, by Cornish Prince). Taking the Redeye is one of two starters, both winners, from the 2001 crop of Scarlet Ibis, whose progeny earnings recently topped $8-million and whose owner, Michael Martin of Madison Avenue in Manhattan, qualified for a $1,764 stallion award as a result of the three-year-old's maiden victory.
Taking the Redeye is the fourth New York-bred winner that Lizza has bred from yet another New York-bred, Ribboned, who won Finger Lakes' 1991 Niagara Stakes by six lengths while racing for Lizza's Tri-Noble Stable, and the colt's winning half-siblings include 13-time winner Won'tubemyneighbor ($119,857). Ribboned, who is by Well Decorated, is a half-sister to Panamanian champion juvenile Mangatruco and to the winning dam of stakes-placed winner Logans Leo ($107,010). A Hypo-Mating check of Taking the Redeye's pedigree indicates a suggestion of route-running ability in his dosage profile (6-3-6-0-1) and moderate inbreeding to both Bold Ruler (4 x 4) and Tudor Minstrel (4 x 5).

 

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