Mid Day Image wins Claiming Crown Emerald
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Patricia Generazio’s homebred Mid Day Image went all the way on the lead in the Claiming Crown Emerald Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Lauren King/Gulfstream Park Photo.
By Tom Law
Mid Day Image came into Saturday’s $95,000 Claiming Crown Emerald at Gulfstream Park with a three-fold tactical advantage – plenty of early speed, an inside draw for the starter stakes and a hot rider.
Patricia Generazio’s third generation homebred son of Midshipman put all those traits to good use and came away with a 1 1/4-length victory in the final event on the 23rd annual Claiming Crown. Paco Lopez, who won three other Claiming Crown events and another race on the card, rode Mid Day Image for trainer Luis Carvajal Jr.
“Not too bad a day. We had five wins and a couple seconds,” said Lopez.. “My horses ran very well today.”
Lopez won the second race aboard Joe DiBaggio, the Iron Horse Kent Sterling Memorial on Blue Steal, Distaff Dash on Payntdembluesaway and Rapid Transit on Miles Ahead.
The Claiming Crown, run at Gulfstream for the 10th straight year, featured nine starter stakes worth $810,000 in purses. For 3-year-olds and up which have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21, the Emerald was the last of four turf stakes.
Mid Day Image met the conditions when he ran for a $12,500 tag Sept. 5, 2020 at Monmouth Park. He won that day, doing 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass for his third of four wins in 2020. Mid Day Image came into the Emerald on a two-race win streak – both in starter handicap races at Monmouth in August and September – and four wins in eight starts overall this year.
Sent off the 3-1 second choice in the field of 12 behind the 9-5 Max K. O., Mid Day Image went straight to the lead from the rail and clicked off splits of :23.39, :47.73 and 1:11.22 chased by Clear Vision and Max K. O.
Lopez and Mid Day Image continued to roll along on the lead around the far turn and into the stretch, opening up by 1 1/2 lengths at the eighth pole on the way to victory in 1:39.82 over the firm turf.
“[Mid Day Image] has a lot of speed. Max K. O., I was scared of that horse because he’s fast, too. I know that horse,” Lopez said. “I give credit to my horse. He’s very, very good. He put me right there and Carvajal told me, ‘Paco, that horse is ready today.’ ”
Mid Day Image is the first foal out of the multiple stakes-placed winning Disco Rico mare Image of Noon. Foaled in New York at Rockridge Stud in Hudson and raced by Generazio, Image of Noon went 3-4-2 in 15 starts with placings in a pair of New York Stallion Series Stakes. Her second foal, the 4-year-old New York-bred Verrazano gelding Disco’s Bridge, is 2-2-3 in 26 starts with $37,849 in earnings. She’s also the dam of the 3-year-old New York-bred filly Another Image, who has placed for Generazio; a New York-bred yearling colt by Frank Conversation and a New York-bred weanling filly by that same sire. Image of Noon was bred to Leofric in 2021.
Created by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association in partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Claiming Crown rewards and pays tribute to the horses and horsemen that provide the foundation for day-to-day racing programs at tracks around the country.
Endnotes:- [Image]: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Mid-Day-Image-LaurenKing.jpg
Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/12/04/mid-day-image-wins-claiming-crown-emerald/
Americanrevolution earns Grade 1 victory in Cigar Mile
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Americanrevolution, already a three-time stakes winner, reached the top Saturday in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. NYRA Photo.
By Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Earning stakes victories at every New York track in 2021, Americanrevolution saved the best for last Saturday with a victory in Aqueduct’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets.
After finishing third in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby two starts back, the Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding-bred 3-year-old son of Constitution made it clear he deserved a spot in the field after an 11 3/4-length demolition in the Empire Classic Handicap Oct. 30 at Belmont Park. He confirmed that his connections made the right choice to run back in the Cigar Mile as the field came into the final furlong of the final Grade 1 of the year in New York.
Americanrevolution broke sharp with the rest of the field under Luis Saez and put himself square in the running. He took a place between horses in the pack just behind the leading Following Sea and Ginobili and waited for his time to shine. By the time they reached the final quarter-mile, Saez asked him for his best and though he showed some greenness in the lane, Americanrevolution responded.
As Ginobili gave up on his duel for the lead, Americanrevolution took up the fight against Following Sea in the final sixteenth. Neither 3-year-old was willing to bow out, but Americanrevolution soon had the better of his rival and crossed the finish a half-length in front. Americanrevolution won in 1:36.68.
“We weren’t 100 percent positive about the mile, but a lot of times good horses do multiple things really well and he’s a great example of that,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Constitution puts so much determination into his offspring and they’re just like he was – very tough horses and versatile. It’s great to see him get that Grade 1 win.
“He’s a rare horse that when you look at his figures, he’s improved every single start of his life. That’s great to see. It was a hard-earned win today, but he fought on.”
A $275,000 purchase by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm’s Maverick Racing from Taylor Made at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, Americanrevolution has been worth every cent of that price tag.
He broke his maiden second out at Belmont in June of this year and has raced exclusively in stakes in his five starts since that victory. Only finishing off the board once in his career – that race in his sole start at 2 – the flashy chestnut boosted his earnings to $944,535.
Pletcher said that Americanrevolution will get a break at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., before pointing for the major route races next year.
The latest successful runner bred by Hertrich and Fielding, Americanrevolution was foaled at Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater. His birth came a year and a half after Hertrich bought his dam Polly Freeze for $75,000 at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale in 2016 carrying the foal who would become two-time winner Text Dont Call.
A winner herself, Polly Freeze is the dam of two winners from three to race. She’s also the dam of the 2-year-old New York-bred Bold Journey, a son of Hard Spun who finished second in his debut Nov. 19 at Aqueduct.
Poly Freeze’s dam Elusive Gold has lived up to her name as a producer with her three stakes winners including multiple graded stakes winner Gouldings Green and Korean champion Cheongam Dokki. Her third stakes winner is Filare l’Oro, who is better known as the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Silver Dust and New York Grade 3 winner Forza di Oro. Those under Americanrevolution’s third dam include Grade 1 winners Stop Traffic and Cross Traffic.
Polly Freeze produced a Kentucky-bred yearling filly by Collected that sold for $210,000 at this year’s Keeneland September yearling sale. She was bred to Frosted in 2021.
Endnotes:- [Image]: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Americanrevolution-CigarMile.jpg
Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/12/04/americanrevolution-earns-grade-1-victory-in-cigar-mile/