El Grande O dominates Bertram F. Bongard

El Grande O almost added to trainer Linda Rice’s haul of victories this summer at Saratoga Race Course, finishing second in a pair of stakes efforts.

Barry K. Schwartz’s homebred son of Take Charge Indy didn’t come up short Sunday, demolishing a field of six New York-bred 2-year-olds with an 8 ¼-length victory in the $125,000 Bertram F. Bongard Stakes at the Belmont at the Big A meeting. Jose Ortiz rode the colt to victory for Rice, winning in 1:23.89 over the sloppy and sealed track.

“He broke sharp. Obviously, he has speed,” Ortiz said. “I went out there and he was the fastest in the race. He proved that he was much the best today. I can’t take any credit – he was the best horse.”

The 3-5 favorite coming off a second in the Funny Cide Stakes on Saratoga Showcase Day, El Grande O improved to 2-for-6 with three seconds and a third and boosted his earnings to $204,000.

Ortiz put El Grande O on the lead after a slight bump at the start and led Detective Tom through the opening quarter-mile in :22.76. They extended that advantage through the half in :46.03, while continuing to widen the lead into the stretch.

El Grande O led by 6 in midstretch and finished under steady urging well in front. Aggelos the Great ralled from third early to finish second, 2 lengths ahead of Bonne Chance. Skyler’s Starship, Detective Tom and Ranger Blue completed the field.

“I told Jose to just use his best judgement, and obviously he put him up on the front end and everything worked out well,” said Rice, Saratoga’s co-leading trainer this season with 35 victories.

Rice said El Grande O would most likely target the $200,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes on Empire Showcase Day Oct. 29.

El Grande O is the ninth foal out of the stakes-placed Unbridled’s Song mare Rainbow’s Song. A half-sister to multiple stakes winner and stakes producer Class Above, Rainbow’s Song is the dam of four winners led by Grade 2-placed Meal Ticket.

Schwartz purchased Rainbow’s Song in foal to American Pharoah for $13,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale. El Grande O is her third New York-bred foal and she’s also the dam of a New York-bred yearling filly by Dialed In that sold for $32,000 at the recent Keeneland September sale. St. Simon Place, which purchased the mare for $17,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, bred that yearling and also a Kentucky-bred colt by Mendelssohn born March 30.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/09/24/el-grande-o-dominates-bertram-f-bongard/

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Cara’s Time posts 22-1 upset in Joseph A. Gimma

By Alec DiConza

Cara’s Time may have been the longest shot on the board at 22-1, but that didn’t stop the gray or roan filly from defeating her four rivals in Sunday’s Joseph A. Gimma Stakes at the Belmont at the Big A meet.

Breaking from the inside post, the 2-year-old New York-bred daughter of Not This Time rushed to the lead in the early stages of the 7-furlong contest. Under Dylan Davis, Cara’s Time set fractions of :22.87 for the quarter and :46.23 for the half before kicking clear of the stalking My Shea D Lady at the top of the stretch.

Though undefeated 4-5 favorite Caldwell Luvs Gold came with her typical closing kick, Cara’s Time was able to hold off the challenger en route to a 1 1/2-length score on the sloppy and sealed track. My Man Squeeze finished third with My Shea D Lady and Nicky Jolene completing the field.

Owned by Richard Greeley and trained by Mitch Friedman, Cara’s Time won in 1:23.28.

“I’d never sat on her in the morning, but I saw she had good gate speed,” Davis said. “Our plan was to break and come out running. When she got there, she was loving every part of it. She was a little skipper on that mud and she really got comfortable. I could hear them behind me trying to range up at the two-and-a-half, and I just tried to get her run going a little bit, but not too much because she got late there with [Jose] Lezcano last time out. She just kept finding more and more down the lane, so it was great. The one closer [Caldwell Luvs Gold] was coming, but I knew it was too late for her.”

Cara’s Time turned the tables on Caldwell Luvs Gold in the Gimma, rebounding in a big way from a fifth in the Seeking the Ante Stakes at Saratoga Race Course when finishing 25 3/4 lengths back. Friedman was very pleasantly surprised to see the change in fortune this time around.

“I thought she would probably get the lead by herself, but I was surprised [to win] a bit,” Friedman said. “She didn’t run good last time, but I knew she had a good excuse. I put the blinkers on her and it made her a little worse. She’s nervous and wants to react to it. She had dumped the rider after she broke her maiden, and in the mornings, if she sees something, she won’t walk through the end of the barn – she has to go through the middle if there’s something she doesn’t like. I thought the blinkers would help with all of that and she worked well with them, but we took them off and [hoped] she would stay focused.”

Friedman believes the sloppy surface helped Cara’s Time snatch the first stakes victory of her career.

“The wet track probably helped her out a lot,” he said. “Dylan said she was gliding over it and that she likes the wet track.”

Friedman didn’t commit to a next start for Cara’s Time.

“We’ll look and see what’s next on the schedule,” he said. “We’re in no rush.”

Cara’s Time now has two wins in three starts with earnings of $118,000.

Bred by Stephen Crestani Jr., Cara’s Time is out of the Macho Uno mare Zindra. Greeley purchased Cara’s Time for $175,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. Zindra has produced one other winner among her three to race – the New York-bred Tapizar mare Glorious Tapizar.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2023/09/24/caras-time-posts-22-1-upset-in-joseph-a-gimma/

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