On Belmont Park's Big Apple Showcase Day card featuring six stakes for New York-breds worth $900,000, Empire State stalwart Weekend Hideaway held on to win his second consecutive $200,000 Commentator Stakes by a nose over Diversify.
Big Apple Showcase Day for New York-breds at Belmont Park has solid fields for all six of its stakes races. The $200,000 Commentator Stakes and $125,000 Kingston Stakes have drawn many top older runners.
Lady Sheila Stable's champion sprinter La Verdad delivered her first foal, a dark bay filly by Medaglia d'Oro, Feb. 13 at Vivien Malloy's Edition Farm in Hyde Park, N.Y.
New York-based jockey Jose Ortiz secured the 1,000th victory of his career when he guided Moonlight Song to a three-quarter-length victory in the $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes July 28 at Saratoga Race Course.
The partnership of Lady Sheila Stable and trainer Linda Rice last year found great success with a mare and a filly, but on April 9 the focus will be on the 3-year-old colt Matt King Coal in the Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I).
Effinex, a grade I winner and $2.2 million earner, was named New York's 2015 Horse of the Year at the New York Thoroughbred Breeders annual banquet April 4 at the Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs.
It's too soon to know if Jose Ortiz will have a Derby ride this year, but he did pilot the promising Matt King Coal to an allowance win March 6. The son of Cool Coal Man is under consideration for the Wood Memorial (gr. I).
Hot City Girl enters the seven-furlong Barbara Fritchie off a second-place finish in the Dec. 26 La Brea (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park, which followed three consecutive victories by a combined 14 lengths.
Lady Sheila Stable's La Verdad, the champion female sprinter of 2015, has been retired from racing and will be bred later this year to top sire Medaglia d'Oro.
The connections of Beholder, La Verdad, and Glen Hill Farm also accepted honors with quote-worthy responses Jan. 16 at the 45th annual Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park.
Lady Sheila Stable's star La Verdad dominated the female sprint division all year in New York. Her year's work was good enough for her to be named champion female sprinter.
Lady Sheila Stable's multiple graded stakes winner La Verdad turned the $100,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack into a cakewalk Jan. 9, and will have another start before being bred to Medaglia d'Oro.
On the same day she was named a 2015 Eclipse Award finalist in the Filly and Mare Sprint Division, Lady Sheila Stable's La Verdad was entered in the Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack for her first start of 2016.
Green Gratto, the longest shot on the board, won the $250,000 Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. III) Nov. 26 at Aqueduct. The New Jersey-bred son of Here's Zealous covered the six furlongs in 1:09.95.
La Verdad takes Sheila Rosenblum on a fun ride. Download Now
Lady Sheila Stable's La Verdad, a winner of 15 of 23 starts for earnings of more than $1.5 million, could make her final start in the $250,000 Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack Nov. 26.
Sheila Rosenblum withdrew Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I) runner-up La Verdad from the Nov. 1 Fasig-Tipton November sale and will breed her in 2016.
Wavell Avenue, with a strong late kick, rolled past front runner La Verdad to take the $1 million TwinSpires Filly and Mare Sprint (gr. I) at seven furlongs in 1:22.39.
Belmont Park, Woodbine, Keeneland, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise, Hawthorne and More. View Slideshow
Resurgent champion jockey Frankie Dettori will be aboard Judy the Beauty when the reigning champion female sprinter bids for a repeat win in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I) Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
Trainer Linda Rice Oct. 25 said Lady Sheila Stable's La Verdad, who won the Iroquois Stakes for New York-breds at Belmont Park the previous day, will be entered in the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I).
The 1 1/8-mile Empire Classic was the feature race on a Belmont card that included eight stakes worth a total of $1.75 million.
Former claimer Royal Posse will try for his second straight stakes win against other New York-breds and third victory overall when he faces an expected eight rivals in the $300,000 Empire Classic Handicap.
A cadre of candidates for the Breeders' Cup World Championships worked at Belmont Park Oct. 17, led by Tonalist, who went six furlongs in 1:14 in advance of the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I).
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's Breeders' Cup hopefuls, led by grade I winner Frosted, continued their preparations in New York Oct. 15-16.
| Horse | Trainer | Breeder / Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Carameaway | Mitchell E. Friedman |
|
| Hot Stones | Bruce N. Levine |
|
| La Verdad | Linda Rice |
|
| Lady Gracenote | Diane Balsamo |
|
| Macha | Rudy R. Rodriguez |
|
| Miss Da Point | John T. Toscano, Jr. |
|
| Princess Mara | Patrick J. Quick |
|
| Sunny Desert | Bruce N. Levine |
|
| Tahoe Tigress | Mitchell E. Friedman |
|
| Race | Track | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Applause S. | BEL | 6/24 |
| New York Stallion S. | BEL | 6/25 |
| New York Stallion S. | BEL | 6/25 |
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