Rotknee overcomes slow start in Leon Reed Memorial

Two days removed from his younger half-sister collecting her second graded stakes victory, Buck Butler’s homebred Rotknee won the seventh stakes of his career in Monday’s $50,000 Leon Reed Memorial at Finger Lakes.

The 5-year-old son of Runhappy overcame a slow and bothered start in the 6-furlong Leon Reed and came away a convincing 5 3/4-length winner under Andre Worrie. Rotknee also improved to 11-for-22 overall and scored his second win in as many tries at Finger Lakes in his first start in Western New York since taking the 2022 Ontario County Stakes as a 3-year-old.

Rotknee’s victory also followed My Mane Squeeze’s victory in the Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Dogwood Stakes for Butler. Mike Maker trains My Mane Squeeze and Rotknee, who are out of the winning Speightstown mare In Spite of Mama.

Sent off as the even-money favorite in the field of six for the Leon Reed, Rotknee broke a bit slow and was squeezed between rivals after the break.

Lady’s Golden Guy, a 20-1 longshot looking for his first win in four starts this season, spurted away to a clear lead thanks to Rotknee’s poor beginning and led through the opening quarter-mile in :22.80.

The lead didn’t last long as Rotknee and Worrie recovered from the bad start and took over shortly after the quarter-mile split. Rotknee opened up a 5-length lead after a half in :45.54 as seven-time winner The Institute started his run from the back of the pack. Rotknee opened his lead up to 8 lengths in midstretch and past 5 furlongs in :57.88 and finished clear on the wire in 1:11.20 over the sloppy and sealed track.

The Institute held second, 3 3/4 lengths ahead of 43-1 longshot Tacony Road, with Lady’s Golden Guy fourth.

Bred by Butler and foaled at Keane Stud in Amenia, Rotknee and My Mane Squeeze are two of four winners out of In Spite of Mama. She’s also the dam of the 6-year-old New York-bred Into Mischief horse Lookin for Trouble, a winner and multiple stakes-placed runner for Butler and Maker, and 4-year-old New York-bred Bolt d’Oro colt Mama’s Gold, a four-time winner with earnings of $191,041.

In Spite of Mama is also the dam of Willful Mama, a New York-bred 2-year-old filly by 2019 Preakness Stakes winner War of Will who finished second in a maiden special weight at Aqueduct September 13; a yearling full brother to Rotknee and a weanling filly by Honest Mischief born May19.

Rotknee bounced back from a sixth in the John Morrissey Handicap August 8 at Saratoga Race Course, where he also broke slow and came home last of six. He had won two of four before that race – the Affirmed Success at Aqueduct and the Say Florida Sandy January 28, both at Aqueduct. Rotknee picked up $30,000 for the Leon Reed win and boosted his earnings to $695,330 from a record of 11-3-1 in those 22 starts.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/09/23/rotknee-overcomes-slow-start-in-leon-reed-memorial/

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Bostontonian sharp in Aspirant Stakes victory

Bostontonian ran to his odds in his June debut and again Monday in his victory in the $131,892 Aspirant Stakes at Finger Lakes.

Sent off as the 3-4 favorite in the field of eight New York-bred 2-year-olds, Bostontonian took control shortly after the start under Dylan Davis and fended off a late rally from second choice Soontobeking to win by 2 lengths.

Bostontonian, a son of Bernardini campaigned by RT Racing Stable, Smart Choice Stable and breeder Denlea Park Ltd., improved to 2-for-2 for trainer Wesley Ward in the 5 1/2-furlong Aspirant. A $40,000 purchase out of last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, Bostontonian won his debut June 22 in a Churchill Downs maiden special weight for horses that sold or RNA’d for $50,000 or less at their most recent auction.

Bostontonian broke well in the Aspirant and opened up a 3-length lead to the opening quarter-mile in :22.64 over the sloppy and sealed surface with Cast a Coin, Soontobeking, Mr. Sugar Daddy and King’s Leap on the immediate chase. Bostontonian continued on an open lead around the far turn and to the half in :46.39, while King’s Leap tried to mount a run from the extreme outside with Funny Cide Stakes runner-up Soontobeking also mounting a rally.

Bostontonian fended off those challenges in the lane and held Soontobeking clear at the finish to win in 1:05.21. Soontobeking finished 1 3/4 lengths clear of King’s Leap in third.

Bostontonian, entered but scratched out of the Funny Cide Stakes on New York Showcase Day August 25 at Saratoga Race Course, earned $79,136 for the Aspirant victory to boost his bankroll to $119,456.

Bred by Denlea Park Ltd. and foaled at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, Bostontonian is out of the winning Forest Wildcat mare Falconess. She’s the dam of a Nyquist filly that sold for $350,000, the highest price for a New York-bred yearling filly at the recently concluded Keeneland September sale.

Falconess is also the dam of 2022 Lady Finger Stakes winner and $172,764-earner Curly Girl and winners Mabrouk, Consiton and Polpis and a New York-bred weanling colt by Mo Donegal born February 22.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/09/23/bostontonian-sharp-in-aspirant-stakes-victory/

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Stone Smuggler leaves no doubt in Lady Finger Stakes

Stone Smuggler gave New York-based freshman sire Honest Mischief his second stakes winner in as many days Monday with a dominating victory in the $98,912 Lady Finger at Finger Lakes.

Stone Smuggler, owned by NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and SunsetRidge Racing Stable, took the lead from the start of the 5 1/2-furlong Lady Finger under Keiber Coa and won by 3 1/2 lengths over fellow Honest Mischief filly Mischief Lady. Idyll Gossip, a daughter of Central Banker and a winner of a Finger Lakes maiden August 26, finished another 2 lengths back in third.

Bred by Eaton & Thorne Inc., foaled at Thorndale Farm in Millbrook and a $57,000 purchase out of last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, Stone Smuggler went off as the even-money choice in the Lady Finger. She finished second behind With the Angels, subsequent winner of Sunday’s Joseph A. Gimma Stakes at Aqueduct, in her only previous start August 22 at Saratoga Race Course.

Trainer Jorge Abreu kept Stone Smuggler at Saratoga to prep for the Lady Finger, breezing her twice over the Oklahoma Training Track before her second start and stakes debut.

Stone Smuggler went to the front ahead of Mischief Lady, Princess Mischief and Idyll Gossip in the Lady Finger and clicked off splits of :22.30 and :46.31 over the sloppy and sealed track under Coa’s tight hold. She turned for home clear and widened her advantage in the lane, opening up by 3 1/2 lengths in midstretch and cruising to the finish in 1:06.03.

Mischief Lady, sixth in a Saratoga 5 ½-furlong turf maiden in her lone prior start for trainer Eddie Barker, finished a clear second under Dylan Davis.

Offered out of the Eaton Sales consignment at last year’s Saratoga New York-bred sale, Stone Smuggler is the seventh foal out of the winning Bustin Stones mare Bustinattheseams. She’s the dam of five other New York-bred winners, including $129,749-earner Limit Up, $119,952-earner Fat N Bitter and the 3-year-old Destin gelding and August 5 maiden winner Seams Like Destiny.

Honest Mischief, an 8-year-old son of Into Mischief who stands for $6,500 at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson, scored his first stakes winner when Sacrosanct won Sunday’s Bertram F. Bongard Stakes at Aqueduct.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/09/23/stone-smuggler-leaves-no-doubt-in-lady-finger-stakes/

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