Mama’s Gold posts monster upset in Empire Classic; Venti Valentine closes career with Empire Distaff win

Romero Maragh figured there was one way to go aboard Mama’s Gold from his outside draw in Sunday’s $250,000 Empire Classic on Empire Showcase Day at Belmont at the Big A.

“We broke very sharply,” Maragh said. “He is a one-dimensional type of horse, so I knew I had to establish the lead and get to the rail as fast as I could. That’s how he is, and I knew especially going two turns, if he gets to the lead and to a nice cruising speed, that he is going to be tough to beat.”

Mama’s Gold proved exactly that, clicking off strong splits throughout the 9-furlong Empire Classic and running off to a victory at 40-1 in the co-featured event on the annual card for New York-breds.

A half-brother to Grade 2 winner My Mane Squeeze, multiple stakes winner Rotknee and stakes-placed winner Lookin for Trouble, Mama’s Gold landed his first stakes victory in the Empire Classic in just his second stakes appearance. The 4-year-old son of Bolt d’Oro won by 4 1/4 lengths over 2-1 favorite Bank Frenzy in 1:49.01 over the fast main track.

Bred by William “Buck” Butler and campaigned by Joe Hardoon, Mama’s Gold improved to 5-for-18 and picked up $137,500 to boost his bankroll to $329,461.

Mama’s Gold was claimed by trainer Chad Summers from Butler and trainer Mike Maker for $25,000 out of a victory in a maiden claiming race in January 21, 2023 at Aqueduct. He showed up in his next start for Hardoon and Summers and finished last of eight in a 6-furlong starter-optional in early March 2023 at Aqueduct.

Mama’s Gold lost five subsequent starts – for Summers and trainer Brad Cox – before winning three straight for Summers in October and December 2023. Mama’s Gold finished fifth in Aqueduct’s Haynesfield Stakes in late February 2024 before going to the sidelines.

Mama’s Gold returned September 20 and finished second, behind fellow Empire Classic runner Donegal Surges, in a 9-furlong open-company allowance for trainer Jimmy Ferraro at Aqueduct. He finished seventh in a similar race going 1 mile after that, behind Empire Classic runners General Banker and Jackson Heights.

“He bounced the last time, but he recuperated and ran a fantastic race,” Ferraro said after the Empire Classic. “I have a great crew, and they worked hard on him. The distance suits him, he can get a little more of a relaxed pace. It was a perfect trip.”

Maragh gave Mama’s Gold, who is out of the winning Speightstown mare In Spite of Mama, an ideal trip from the start.

Mama’s Gold clicked off splits of :23.96, 47.24 and 1:11.29 with Olympic Dreams, Cicciobello and Drake’s Passage giving chase. Bank Frenzy, winner of the Evan Shipman two starts back at Saratoga Race Course, made a menacing run while wide around the far turn to reach contention. Maragh countered that move while down on the inside with Mama’s Gold, who gave the field the slip and zipped past the mile marker in 1:36.17.

Bank Frenzy couldn’t close from there in the lane as Mama’s Gold draw off and cruised to victory.

“I’m not sure what timing I went, but with him, it is all about comfort,” Maragh said. “He was doing it all comfortably. I’d estimate we went 47 and change, for him, that is OK. That is reasonable. I’m happy we got him into a nice comfort zone and he finished up well, like he always does when he gets to the lead.”

Bred by Butler and foaled at Keane Stud in Amenia, Mama’s Gold is one 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.

My Mane Squeeze, second in the recent Grade 2 Lexus Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland Race Course, won this year’s Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes and Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs, along with three New York-bred stakes. She’s won six of 13 with  $1,044,710 in earnings. Six-time stakes winner Rotknee, third in Sunday’s Hudson Stakes on Showcase Day, sports a record of 11-for-23 with earnings of $713,330.

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.

– Tom Law

• There were a million reasons to love the last Valentine’s Day.

In her 25th and final start, Venti Valentine – a champion New York-bred as a 2-year-old who was multiple-graded-stakes-placed – went out on top after holding on to win the $250,000 Empire Classic Distaff Sunday on Empire Showcase Day during the Belmont at the Big A meeting.

In winning for the eighth time, the 5-year-old by Firing Line out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Glory Gold became a millionaire, ending her career with $1,056,100 in earnings. Venti Valentine is cataloged as Hip 209[3] at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale.

“She’ll be missed at the barn; I can tell you that,” winning trainer Jorge Abreau said. “She has a lot of heart. She’s a been a lot of fun since Day 1. I really wanted her to win because I wanted her to go over the million-dollar mark.”

Smokin’ Hot Kitty set the pace in the 9-furlong stakes, leading the six-horse field through a quarter-mile in :23.80 and a half in :48.20. Golden Rocket sat right off her down the backstretch, with Bon Adieu third. Odds-on favorite Sterling Silver was in tight quarters on the rail on the far turn, while Irad Ortiz Jr. made what turned out to be the winning move by taking Venti Valentine to the outside.

Venti Valentine had the lead when they straightened for home and opened up by 1 1/2 lengths at the stretch call, but had to hold off a fast-closing Sterling Silver, who was taken to the rail by John Velazquez and missed getting up by a nose.

“All year long we were saying we wanted to get her to the million dollars. That was Jorge Abreu’s goal for the past two years,” said Dan Zanatta, co-managing partner of winning owner NY Final Furlong Stable. “Obviously, we’re big supporters of the New York-bred program and this is one we bred, which is kind of rare that we would breed a horse and campaign it for this long.”

Venti Valentine is one of five winners and three stakes winners produced by Glory Gold, who was bought by Final Furlong for $13,000 while she was carrying Venti Valentine. Final Furlong purchased one of those stakes winners, Espresso Shot, for $69,000 as a yearling in 2017. She won five times and earned $516,625 in a 24-race career.

Glory Gold’s 3-year-old Landed, a daughter of Omaha Beach, sold for $500,000 as a yearling and has won four of seven starts, including two New York-bred stakes this year.

Bred by Final Furlong and Maspeth Stable and foaled at Schuylerville Thoroughbred Farm in Schuylerville, Venti Valentine ends her career with six stakes wins, a second in the Grade 2 Demoiselle in 2021, second in Grade 3 Gazelle in 2022 and third in the Grade 3 Go For Wand in 2023. She also earned a start in the 2022 Kentucky Oaks.

– Paul Halloran

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/10/27/mamas-gold-posts-monster-upset-in-empire-classic-venti-valentine-closes-career-with-empire-distaff-win/

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