Dakota Gold, Moonage Daydream post upsets in Showcase Day grass stakes

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Dakota Gold upsets favored Spirit of St Louis in Sunday’s West Point Handicap at Saratoga. Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo.

The five horses that contested Sunday’s $194,000 West Point Handicap at Saratoga Race Course were the same quintet that raced in the Hudson Valley Stakes July 7 at Aqueduct. The similarities between the two races pretty much end there.

For starters, there were some anxious moments in the Saratoga paddock when Itsallcomintogetha got loose after being saddled. An outrider caught him before he could get too far and nobody was hurt in the incident. Jose Gomez mounted the Weekend Hideaway colt and led the post parade with no further problems.

With Spirit of St Louis a 3-length winner over the same four opponents in the Hudson Valley, bettors sent him off as the 2-5 favorite in the West Point. This time, Hudson Valley runner-up Dakota Gold took his turn in the spotlight as he closed from last to win the 1 1/16-mile turf event by a nose over Spirit of St Louis for trainer Danny Gargan.

“Any time you beat Spirit of St Louis, you’ve run huge,” Gargan said. “He’s been an unbelievable horse to have his whole life. We won stakes at 2, 3, 4, now at 5 with him. He’s been a pleasure to have. He’s one of those horses that you love to look in the barn at every year and see. We gelded him this year. He’s lightly raced right now, and he’s been training spectacular. But, you know, it’s a big upset because Spirit of St Louis is a serious horse. We couldn’t be more happy with how he ran today.” 

Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Dakota Gold broke from the rail Sunday and immediately took his spot at the back of the field. Jerry the Nipper appeared intent on going to the lead and set moderate fractions of :23.43 and :48.30. 

Dakota Gold remained last under Dylan Davis going into the far turn as Spirit of St Louis started making his bid from fourth. Dakota Gold swung widest of all turning for home with some work to do to catch Spirit of St Louis, but had just enough to chase him down in the final strides. The 5-year-old gelding by Freud finished in 1:41.24 with Spirit of St Louis second, followed by City Man, Jerry the Nipper and Itsallcomintogetha.

“We were able to get him in some good striking distance down the backside and I knew that he was going to make a good run even though I was going to be wide around the bend,” Davis said. “The main focus was to get him running and in the clear, and that’s what we did today. He was able to run down (Spirit of) St Louis.”

Gargan noted that Dakota Gold could race against New York-bred company again in the Ashley T. Cole September 27 at Aqueduct. 

“Most likely,” he said. “He’ll stay against New York-breds until we go to Florida.” 

Bred by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Ronald Bowden Living Trust, Dakota Gold is out of the winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Dakota Kid. 

Dakota Gold sold for $83,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale. Of three half-siblings who have raced, two have won, including multiple stakes winner Ramblin’ Wreck and stakes-placed mare Dakota Dancer. Dakota Gold, now a five-time stakes winner, improved to 6-3-3 in 17 starts and boosted his bankroll to $880,950. – Alec DiConza

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Moonage Daydream rolls to 13-1 upset of Yaddo Handicap Sunday at Saratoga. Chelsea Durand/NYRA Photo.

Moonage Daydream pulled off a 13-1 upset in the $200,000 Yaddo Handicap to give Jorge Abreu a training triple on Sunday’s card. He won with Silver Satin in the third race and Busy Morning in the seventh. Prior to Sunday, Abreu had one win at the meet with seven seconds.

“It was frustrating early on with the turf, off the turf, the rain,” he said. “A lot of horses finishing second with a good race, getting tough beats. I was just waiting for things to turn around.”

Moonage Daydream sat second behind Venti Valentine early on in the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares. Under Jose Ortiz, the 4-year-old daughter of Candy Ride overtook that rival to gain the lead turning for home and established a gap between herself and the competition. The filly owned by Chris Larsen ran home to a 1 1/4-length score in 1:42.81. Marvelous Maude closed late for second, a neck ahead of Whatlovelookslike.. 

“We broke really clean,” Ortiz said. “I had to wrestle with her in the first turn to take her back, but I did take her back. She settled on the backside. Three-eighths pole, I was traveling really well and I was very confident. I rode her last time and knew her well. She ran good that day, but she was a little bit rank early on. Today, I tried to settle more, and there was still a lot of room to improve. She needs to settle a little bit more.”

Moonage Daydream came into the Yaddo off a fourth in the Perfect Sting against open company after setting the pace. Seeing his filly tire to finish 4 1/2 lengths off the winner, Abreu came into the Yaddo with a plan to be less aggressive early.

“When she ran at Aqueduct, the stakes she ran before this one, she would make the lead and she got a little tired toward the end,” Abreu said. “Jose told me we just want to try to relax her a little bit, and we did. I told Jose, ‘Whatever you do, do not make the lead with this filly. I don’t care if you have to stand up in the stirrup. Do not make the lead.’ He did a good job.”

Abreu said he isn’t quite sure where Moonage Daydream will run next, but noted that he wouldn’t likely stretch her out in distance.

“I don’t think I’m going to stretch her out any more than this,” he said. “We’ll see how she comes out of it and then make a decision of where we want to go next.”

Ortiz won the Seeking The Ante with Accelerating earlier on the card, making his win in the Yaddo a stakes double for New York Showcase Day. After the Yaddo, he praised the New York-bred racing program.

“It is a great program, I fully support,” he said. “It is a great program for New York breeders and owners. It is a very rich program. They put a lot of money into New York-breds here at NYRA, which is very important for the program to keep growing. It is in a great place right now.”

Moonage Daydream is out of Elatha, a winning Malibu Moon mare who has produced two other foals to race, including the two-time winner Guardian Moon. Moonage Daydream was bred by 3C Stable and now has four wins in 10 starts with career earnings of $301,910. – Alec DiConza

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/08/25/dakota-gold-moonage-daydream-post-upsets-in-showcase-day-grass-stakes/

Accelerating speeds to Seeking The Ante; Mo Plex gets up in time in Funny Cide

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Accelerating speeds to victory in the Seeking The Ante Sunday. NYRA Photo/Susie Raisher

A $25,000 New York-bred Saratoga yearling turned into a $325,000 Fasig-Tipton Timonium 2-year-old. Sunday, she morphed into a stakes winner.

Accelerating, bred by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds and Jeff Gard, romped in the Seeking The Ante Stakes to kick off New York Showcase Day at Saratoga Race Course.

“She’s obviously a very nice filly that just happens to be a New York-bred,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “She’s trained really well against everybody in the morning. I think we obviously have enough tools in other horses to know that she’s got good ability for open company as well.”

Accelerating is the fourth foal and first winner out of Tizjet, a Tiznow mare the McMahons bought in foal to 2019 champion male sprinter Mitole for $30,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Her three previous foals have a combined 0-for-15 record. Accelerating is now 2-for-2, having broken her maiden at Saratoga July 26.

“Many thanks to Steve Asmussen and Ben McElroy for selecting this filly. This is where Steve decided to run her, and here we are celebrating a win,” said owner Kaleem Shah, who had some fun with his trainer when naming the horse. “I’ve bought a few other New York-breds, but this is my first New York-bred stakes winner. She was named a little bit after Steve’s speeding habits. He travels a lot. He’s got a few speeding tickets. Just to have a little fun with him, I decided to name her Accelerating. Hopefully, he’ll slow down, but the filly won’t slow down.”

Sunday, she bobbled at the break, but Jose Ortiz had her straightened within a few strides and she went to the lead, chased by Central to Success, Trail of Gold and Carmen’s Candy Jar through a quarter-mile in :22.69 and a half in :46.07. By the time they reached the stretch call, Accelerating had extended the lead to 3 1/2 lengths on the way to a 4-length win. The final time was 1:11.31.

“We bobbled a little bit out of the gate. That was pretty much the only thing that went wrong,” Ortiz said. “Other than that, she recovered well, put us on the lead, and I was able to nurse her along the turn and when I asked her to go, she was much the best today. In her first race, she felt nice. Today, she put an exclamation point that she is definitely a stakes horse.”

Asmussen was concerned when the filly wasn’t on her best behavior before the race.

“I thought she was a lot more anxious pre-race today in the paddock and in the post parade than she was first time,” he said. “So we’ll try to give her a little more time and settle down. I think that she will benefit from having the two races in her. If anything, with her being a little more anxious today, she needed it.” – Paul Halloran

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Mo Plex (left) gets up in the final strides to edge Soontobeking in the Funny Cide. NYRA Photo/Chelsea Durand

After the trophy presentation for Mo Plex’s win in Sunday’s Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Jeremiah Englehart shook hands with Jack Knowlton and said, “It’s an honor” to win the race named for the 2003 Kentucky Derby winner campaigned by Knowlton’s Sackatoga Stable.

“Funny Cide was one of my favorite horses,” Englehart said of the $3.5 million earner. “His Triple Crown year, I had a lot of fun. I loved it when they brought him up to the Finger Lakes. I was there and it was packed. It’s cool to see some of these horses have the stakes named after them. I won it a few years ago with Aveenu Malcainu (2017) and it’s nice to come back and win it today.”

Mo Plex made Englehart and R and H Stable sweat. The even-money favorite in a field of seven 2-year-olds stumbled leaving the gate from the outside post, then veered toward the outside rail and galloped alone six paths wider than his nearest rival. Irad Ortiz Jr. angled in gradually and Mo Plex found a spot stalking In The Chase through a quarter-mile in :22.43. Mi Bago sat third along the inside, followed by Soontobeking and McDiesel. In The Chase still led through a half in :45.89, towing Mo Plex and Soontobeking into the stretch. Fifth behind Mo Plex in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes July 13, Soontobeking attacked first and took over at the eight pole as Ortiz implored Mo Plex for more. Finally, inside the final sixteenth the son of Complexity leveled off and hacked into the margin, getting up in the final steps to win by a nose in 1:11.72 for 6 furlongs. The Toner was 2 1/2 lengths back in third.

Englehart watched from a clubhouse box about up the stretch and winced.

“It worked out a lot better at the wire than it did at the eighth pole,” he said. Then he played comedian. “I told Irad, ‘Let’s really challenge him today. Let all the other horses comes to him at the top of the stretch and pass him and then see if he can come on . . .’ ”

Englehart let it hang there while standing at the top of the steps to the track, and laughed.

“He’s just a cool horse,” Englehart said. “He fought. I’m like, ‘He’s going to run third, second maybe, at the top of the stretch, eighth pole and he just dug in. He just wanted to win.”

Mo Plex is learning to do that. Purchased by Englehart and Legion Bloodstock for $45,000 at the OBS April sale, the bay colt won his debut against New York-breds by 10 lengths at Aqueduct June 20. Stepped up to open company in Saratoga’s Sanford on the first Saturday of the meet, he won by a length. Englehart opted for a return to the New York-bred ranks for the $200,000 Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, and his horse collected $110,000 to raise his earnings tab to $247,500 in three starts.

Consigned by Jesse Hoppel at the sale, Mo Plex caught Durr’s attention as a potential prospect for R and H.

“I do a lot of business with Jesse, he was high on him, and we liked the shape,” Durr said. “We had a budget for those guys of like 75-grand and we thought we were going to have to pay at least that for him. We got him for 45. I don’t know how we bought him for that, but we’ll take it.”

Bred by Avi and Rhoda Freedberg’s Everything’s Cricket Racing, the winner is the first foal for the Uncle Mo mare Mo Joy and was a $27,000 RNA at Fasig-Tipton’s New York-bred yearling sale last summer. – Joe Clancy

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/08/25/accelerating-speeds-to-seeking-the-ante-mo-plex-gets-up-in-time-in-funny-cide/