Aqueduct
The New York Racing Association will card one additional day of live racing to be held Wednesday, November 12 as part of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack, the track announced Tuesday. Following the cancellation of live racing on both Thursday, Oct. 30 and Friday, Oct. 31, NYRA, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) requested and received formal approval from the New York State Gaming Commission to conduct live racing November 12 at Aqueduct. NYRA will add additional races to cards throughout...
2nd-BAQ, $85k, Msw, 2yo, 1m, post time: 12:02 p.m. ET Just shy of two years ago, Chad Brown sent out a seven-figure yearling purchase for a partnership including Coolmore and partners to win his debut smartly over the Aqueduct one-turn mile. That colt is none other than 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Sierra Leone (Gun Runner). Whether first-time starter HADRIAN'S WALL (Curlin) can turn back the clock remains to be determined, but the first chapter of that particular story is set to be told just after noon Sunday on...
1st-Belmont The Big A, $85,000, Msw, 10-26, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10.57, ft, 4 lengths. WITH A KISS (f, 2, Gun Runner--Cathryn Sophia {GISW, $1,229,720}, by Street Boss), who bet down to 67 cents on the dollar for her debut here, kept tabs on fellow 'Insight' runner & pacesetter Imperatrice (City of Light) up the backstretch. As the pair sped away entering the far turn, With a Kiss pulled alongside and entering the lane the race was on. The chalk passed her stablemate inside the final furlong and graduate by four...
A 5 1/2-length gate-to-wire maiden winner on debut at Aqueduct going six furlongs Sept. 27, Letmecounttheways had no trouble making the jump into stakes company Saturday, taking the Maid of the Mist Stakes in little more than a canter under Joel Rosario to become the sixth stakes winner for her freshman sire (by Uncle Mo). Clearly comfortable on the lead and stretching out to the one-turn mile Saturday, the 2-5 favorite sought it out from the widest gate and assumed command right from the opening jumps with little pressure from...
Bravaro (Upstart) was sent off the 3-5 chalk on the back of a strong-figure debut victory going six furlongs over this surface Sept. 28 and was deftly manuevered across the heels of four of his five rivals nearing the entrance to the final furlong of Saturday's $200,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes, leveling off beautifully beneath Dylan Davis to earn his first black-type victory in handy fashion. Not the quickest away from the inside gate in this field of six and a bit awkward through the early exchanges, the bay colt gradually...
5. SKELLIG MICHAEL, GP, 10/18, 7 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-82 (g, 3, by Battalion Runner--Miss Monk, by Blame) O-Saint Celestine Thoroughbred Management. B-St Elias Stables (Fla). T-Victor Barboza Jr. J-Ernesto Jaramillo. The 4-5 pacesetter looked beaten at the quarter pole, but responded when set down by Jaramillo and kicked away to a five-length victory. The gelding is another bargain from Vinnie Viola's blue-collar stallion Battalion Runner: originally bought for $1,200 as a yearling, then pinhooked for $17k as a June 2-year-old. 4. CONFESSIONAL, KEE, 10/16, 7 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer...
Whisper Hill Farm homebred JUST ALOOF (f, 2, Justify--Aloof {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) came running late down the center of the Aqueduct turf course to take her debut Thursday. The 8-1 shot, who spent much of the race in a mid-pack fifth, had to fan out wide with a quarter-mile left but rallied to get by race favorite and stablemate Market Hours (Practical Joke) in the final yards for the win. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O/B-Whisper Hill Farm; T-Chad Brown.
4th-Belmont The Big A, $85,360, Alw, 10-16, (NW1$X), 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:10.46, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. WITH THE ANGELS (f, 3, Omaha Beach--Sister Margaret, by Pulpit), unraced since November 2024, returned a winner in her 3-year-old debut Thursday at Aqueduct. A perfect four-for-four as a juvenile, she was named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' off an 11 1/2-length debut win before racking up three straight stakes wins all against fellow New York-breds. Facing open company for the first time Thursday and racing with the addition of Lasix, the...
Sunday's live racing at Aqueduct has been called off ahead of a coastal storm due to impact the area, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) said Saturday. The day's featured race, the Carle Place Stakes, will be brought back one week later, Oct. 19 with entries to be taken Wednesday, Oct. 15. The National Weather Service has placed New York City and surrounding areas under a wind advisory beginning Sunday at noon, with current NWS forecasts calling for sustained winds of 25-35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph....
Newstead Stables LLC's Laurelin (Ire) (Zarak {Fr}) looks to take her career mark to a perfect six wins from as many starts when she faces a maximum of eight fellow sophomore fillies in Saturday's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, the year's most prestigious race for the division. Graham Motion sent out Film Maker (Dynaformer) to take the 2003 QE II and Laurelin figures a strong chance to double that tally. An €160,000 purchase out of the 2023 Goffs Orby Sale, the chestnut has built on a two-for-two...
Miguel Clement sent out a pair of runners to earn automatic berths in Breeders' Cup races with wins at Aqueduct this past weekend and the trainer expects both to make the trip to Del Mar, but other conditioners were taking a wait-and-see approach before committing their Aqueduct stakes winners to championship weekend. The Clement-trained Bottas (Vekoma) took his record to two-for-two with a win in the GII Pilgrim Stakes Friday. That victory earned him a spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. "Bottas was very impressive in just his...
The final round of preps for the Breeders' Cup took place this weekend and there was no shortage of stories or races. There were 26 graded stakes run from Friday through Sunday and nine of them were Grade I's. As always, this weekend helped to clear up the Breeders' Cup picture. Here's a look at what happened: GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile: You had three races, the GI Champagne, the GI Breeders' Futurity and the GI American Pharoah and each race featured a potential superstar in Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), Desert...