New York Thunder
On a day that was supposed to be a celebration of the Grade I Travers S., a pall was cast over Saturday's card at Saratoga when two horses broke down on the card and had to be euthanized. Including racing and training, they were the seventh and eighth equine deaths during racing at the meeting. Four horses have died during training. One Saturday fatality was on the turf, the other on the dirt. Both horses were ridden by Tyler Gaffalione. Travers Day continued a very difficult stretch for horse racing,...
It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages--on dirt and on turf--topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats. Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Unbeaten and hardly challenged so far through four starts, New York Thunder (Nyquist) will not be an unknown Saturday in his second visit this summer to Saratoga Race Course. New York Thunder made a grand entry on the big stage at the Spa on July 28 with a resounding victory in the GII Amsterdam S. Sent off at 11-2 in his first race on dirt, he rolled to a 7 1/2-length score under jockey Tyler Gaffalione. Though he was eased up in the stretch when the...
Undefeated in three career starts, but facing a steep trifecta of challenges to scale--trying dirt, graded company, and the tough New York circuit for the first time--New York Thunder (c, 3, Nyquist--Start Over, by Midshipman) set sizzling fractions on the front end of Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S. Friday and held sway to win by 7 1/2 lengths while eased up late despite spending most of the stretch on his wrong lead. His 1:07.77 six-furlong split was faster than the 1:07.92 track record set in 2019 by Imperial Hint (Imperialism) in...
New York Thunder (Nyquist) declared victory in his first stakes attempt for AMO Racing at Woodbine on Saturday. Perfect in his only two career starts towards the end of his juvenile year, the bay colt was a debut winner Nov. 27 at Gulfstream by 6 1/2 lengths sprinting over the Tapeta. He then switched to turf against optional claimers in Hallandale and drove clear by 1 3/4 length. After working out in Kentucky for nearly two months, the Jorge Delgado trainee shipped to Canada and was well-regarded at the windows...