Acoustic Ave lands third straight in Notebook Stakes

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Acoustic Ave and jockey Manny Franco win Friday’s Notebook for his third straight stakes victory. NYRA Photo.

Acoustic Ave showed he can win a tight finish last time at Finger Lakes and did it again Friday when he fended off D’ont Lose Cruz and Starquist in the $97,000 Notebook Stakes at Aqueduct.

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s 2-year-old son of Maclean’s Music collected his third straight win – all in stakes company – with a half-length victory over D’ont Lose Cruz in the 6-furlong Notebook. Trained by Christophe Clement, Acoustic Ave added the Notebook to victories at the Finger Lakes in the Oct. 17 New York Breeders’ Futurity and Sept. 26 Aspirant Stakes.

“He’s a 2-year-old with five starts and three stakes wins,” Clement said. “He’s obviously very tough in his own division. We’ll more than likely put him away for the winter and bring him back in the spring and see what happens. He’s a fun horse. He’s very game as you can see. He was very game in his last race and he was very game today as well.”

D’ont Lose Cruz, the 6-5 favorite in the field of five, took the early lead and led second choice Acoustic Ave by a half-length through the opening quarter-mile in :23.38. The favorite and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. maintained that same advantage through the half in :47.59 while starting to come under pressure from the outside.

Acoustic Ave came alongside D’ont Lose Cruz into the lane and the two raced side-by-side from the top of the stretch to the eighth pole. Acoustic Ave wrested a short lead from there, while D’ont Lose Cruz hung tough and Starquist mounted a belated run from third while on the outside. Acoustic Ave and jockey Manny Franco held his two foes clear in deep stretch to win in 1:13.68.

“He kind of broke a step slow and my plan was to go [to the lead], but it was perfect,” Franco said. “[D’ont Lose Cruz] was clear and we went around him and then he did the rest. I like him when he’s on the front end, but today he sat off another horse and that was good. I like him and he fights hard.”

D’ont Lose Cruz held second, a head in front of Starquist while Flashy Alex and Mshindi completed the field.

Acoustic Ave, bred by Chester and Mary Broman and purchased by the Reeves Thoroughbred Racing for $200,000 at the OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training, picked up $55,000 for the victory. He improved to 4-for-5 with a third – that coming in the Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga Race Course – and boosted his earnings to $281,260.

“He has a tremendous amount of life and a great level of energy,” Clement said. “I love the fact that Manny did not actually have to chase the speed. He just sat off the pace and the horse responded. He was game and finished all the way until the end.”

Clement said Acoustic Ave could be headed for a break with eyes on his 3-year-old campaign next season.

“I’ll speak to Mr. [Dean] Reeves, but most likely the idea will be to bring him back in the spring,” Clement said. “Sometimes, if they’re really, really precocious you wonder if you should do that or not, so I’ll talk to Mr. Reeves and we’ll make a decision.”

Foaled at the Broman’s Chestertown Farm in Chestertown, Acoustic Ave is the first foal out of the winning Street Boss mare Rock Ave. Road. He breezed an eighth in :10 during OBS presale workouts before selling through the Sequel Bloodstock consignment.

Rock Ave. Road is out of the Broman-bred multiple stakes winner and $270,550-earner Mineralogist, a daughter of Mineshaft out of the Broman’s homebred Grade 2 winner Seeking the Ante. A daughter of Seeking the Gold, Seeking the Ante is out of Grade 1 Antespend, who Broman bought as a 4-year-old for $900,000 at the 1997 Keeneland April sale.

Acoustic Ave is a half-brother to a New York-bred yearling colt by West Coast and a New York-bred weanling colt by New York-bred champion and Grade 1 winner Audible born in April.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2022/11/25/acoustic-ave-lands-third-straight-in-notebook-stakes/

Veteran horseman Lugovich dies at 80

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Hold the Salsa, a homebred also trained by Richard Lugovich, won the 2020 Bertram F. Bongard Stakes at Belmont Park. NYRA Photo.

Longtime owner, breeder and trainer Richard Lugovich, who conditioned Hold the Salsa to multiple stakes wins and a New York-bred championship nomination in 2020, died Nov. 15 at the age of 80.

A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut and resident of East Hanover Township in Pennsylvania, Lugovich trained out of Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland and bred and raised horses at Northway Farm in Stillwater, New York.

Lugovich won 106 races with 125 seconds and 135 thirds from 1,409 starts and earned $1,791,055 in purses as a trainer from 1978 to 2022. He enjoyed his best season in 2020 with four wins from 15 starts and purses of $271,927, and also record double-digit victories in 1991, 1989 and 1984.

Lugovich bred, owned and trained Hold the Salsa, winner of the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes at Belmont Park and Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct in 2020. Hold the Salsa, nominated for champion New York-bred 2-year-old male honors, also finished third against open company in the 2021 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.

Hold the Salsa, a 4-year-old son of Hold Me Back out of Lugovich’s unraced homebred King Cugat mare Northern Mambo, remains in training and is 3-0-2 in 15 starts with $284,162 in earnings. Hold the Salsa was a third-generation homebred for Lugovich, who bought the four-time-winning Kick mare Northern Nymph, in foal to Four Seasons, for $2,700 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December mixed sale in 1997.

Northern Nymph produced Northern Sprite on that cover in 1998. She only made one start, finishing 10th in a maiden race at Belmont in 2002 as a 4-year-old, before joining Lugovich’s broodmare band at Northway Farm. Northern Mambo, the dam of Hold the Salsa, was born at Northway in 2009.

Lugovich also bred, owned and trained Regal Chant, winner of the 1996 Damon Runyon Stakes who earned $118,331; and Gregorian Gold, winner of the 2015 Lady Finger Stakes who earned $99,889; along with steady allowance performers Royal Jest ($155,108) and Lost in the Woods ($127,840).

Lugovich also co-bred the third most expensive New York-bred sold at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale of 2-year-olds in training, a colt by Violence out of the unraced Pulpit mare Oenophile. The colt, co-bred by Barbara Nelson, sold for $210,000 after originally being an RNA for $45,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.

Lugovich is survived by his wife of 48 years, Lisa L. (Hubbell) Lugovich, sons Richard John Lugovich, Jr., Stephen Michael Lugovich and John Daniel Lugovich; and brother Charles Lugovich.

A celebration for Lugovich will be held in the spring of 2023.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Cutler Scholars Fund, Inc., PO Box 56, Cutler, ME 04626 or USO, PO Box 96860, Washington, D.C., 20077.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2022/11/22/veteran-horseman-lugovich-dies-at-80/

Stonewall Star handles foes in Key Cents

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Stonewall Star, a homebred daughter of Flatter for Barry Schwartz, cruises to victory in Sunday’s Key Cents Stakes at Aqueduct. Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo.

Barry Schwartz’s homebred Stonewall Star improved off her stakes debut last month and scored a front-running victory in Sunday’s co-featured $100,000 Key Cents Stakes at Aqueduct.

The 2-year-old daughter of Flatter, a close third behind males Acoustic Ave and Andiamo a Firenze in the New York Breeders’ Futurity at Finger Lakes, led from the start on the way to a 4-length tally over Weekend Rags in the 6-furlong Key Cents. Ridden by Jose Ortiz for trainer Horacio De Paz, Stonewall Star improved to 2-for-4 with the victory in 1:13.48 over the fast track.

“She moved forward off that race at Finger Lakes,” De Paz said of her 1-length defeat after making a menacing and wide move around the far turn.

Ortiz was aboard for that effort and felt the 2-5 favorite would be up to the task against her five opponents Sunday.

“Going into the race, we kind of knew she was much the best,” Ortiz said. “She faced the boys at Finger Lakes and she ran a great race. We were confident today and she didn’t disappoint. She got a good trip, broke very alert and we were in control of the race every step of the way, which is what we wanted to do. She’s a nice filly.”

Bred and foaled at Stonewall Farm in Granite Springs, Stonewall Star became the second stakes winner out of Schwartz’s Proud Citizen mare Jonata. La Fuerza, a 6-year-old full sister to Stonewall Star won three stakes carrying his owner and breeder’s black and white colors in 2018. He won four of eight and earned 4261,610.

Jonata is also the dam of New York-bred winners Citizen K, a gelding by Mizzen Mast also trained by De Paz; and Whatlovelookslike, a 3-year-old by English Channel who won at Saratoga in early September and is 2-2-1 in seven starts with $155,250 for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Stonewall Star finished second behind Security Code in her debut Sept. 2 at Saratoga before a maiden-breaking score 20 days later at the Belmont at the Big A meeting. She earned a trip to Finger Lakes with that win, but broke slow in the 6-furlong Futurity. Stonewall Star handled her business better behind and in the gate Sunday, broke on top and took the field through fractions of :23.17 and :47.59

“She broke sharp today,” De Paz said. “I don’t know if that was by mistake; maybe getting settled in the gate a little bit, but she got great position early on.”

Stonewall Star turned for home in command, fended off a mild rally from maiden and 7-2 second choice Weekend Rags and widened her 2 1/2-length advantage in midstretch in the final furlong.

“She has sat behind horses and took dirt [in the Breeders’ Futurity], but I think with the kind of pace [we see] in the winter, she’ll be on top,” Ortiz said. “If she’s got good position, she can sit off speed. That’s the good thing about her – she’s not a ‘one-way’ horse; she can come from behind, and that’s a relief as a rider.”

Weekend Rags held second, a neck ahead of Security Code with Dream On Cara another 6 lengths back in fourth. Three Unions and Small Pebbles completed the field.

A $100,000 purchase by Schwartz at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale, Jonata won two of 17 starts with five placings and $140,800. Stonewall Star, the mare’s fourth foal, earned $55,000 for her Key Cents win to improve her bankroll to $130,808.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2022/11/20/stonewall-star-handles-foes-in-key-cents/