Sacrosanct, With the Angels stay perfect in Empire Showcase Day juvenile stakes

By Alec DiConza

Sacrosanct proved his blowout victory in last month’s Bertram F. Bongard Stakes was no fluke when winning Sunday’s $200,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes to kick off the stakes portion of the Empire Showcase Day program at Belmont at the Big A.

Breaking from post two as the 2-5 favorite, the New York-bred son of Honest Mischief outdueled multiple stakes winner Mo Plex in the stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths under Manny Franco.

“I knew that the one horse (Mo Plex) was the other horse to beat and he broke good,” Franco said. “My horse broke good. So, it was like a match race. I went right next to him. I gave a breather to my horse at some point and I finished strong with him. He responded really well. He is a really nice colt.”

Sacrosanct sat just off of Mo Plex through quick fractions of :22.78 and :46.21. Trained by Brad Cox, Sacrosanct ran up alongside Mo Plex rounding the far turn and poked his nose in front at the quarter pole. Owned by Lady Sheila Stable, Net Birdie LLC and Schwing Thoroughbreds, Sacrosanct edged clear and ran home to win the 1-mile stakes for 2-year-old New York-breds in 1:36.30.

Sacrosanct made his debut at 6 furlongs and then stretched out to 7 furlongs for the Bongard, but he hadn’t been tested at the 1-mile distance before Sunday. Assistant trainer Dustin Dugas said he was confident that he’d handle it well.

“I thought he could get the mile today, but he really had to work for it,” he said. “I was worried about Mo Plex as he already had a mile start under him and I knew he’d be a tough one to beat. Manny rode a good head’s-up race, and we were fortunate to have the outside advantage on Mo Plex. Our horse had been training really well and I thought he could get the mile, and he did.”

Sacrosanct won his first race by 3 1/4 lengths at Saratoga Race Course and then crushed the field in the Bongard by 12 lengths. He improved to 3-for-3 with earnings of $228,250 in the Sleepy Hollow.

Bred by Burleson Farms, McKenzie Bloodstock and Sequel Thoroughbreds and foaled at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson, Sacrosanct is the fourth foal out of the unraced Unbridled’s Song mare Vibrato.

Sacrosanct was purchased for $260,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-year-olds in training sale. Vibrato is also the dam of Navit, a graded stakes winner in Puerto Rico, and the four-time winner All The Diamonds.

• Winning Move Stable’s Steve Sigler named his star 2-year-old filly With the Angels with family in mind.

“My son Adam, who was a fervent race fan, loved the racetrack, knew all the jockeys and the trainers,” Sigler said Sunday at Aqueduct. “So congenial, so affable, (he) passed away almost a decade ago. In tribute to him, and my mother-in-law who passed away this past summer at 103, we named the horse With the Angels, which is so appropriate. Everyone loves the name and hopefully she’ll continue to live up to that name.”

With the Angels delivered on those hopes for Winning Move and fellow owners John Oxley, Lady Sheila Stable, Rideau Racers and Sanford Robbins with an impressive 3 1/4-length victory in Sunday’s $200,000 Maid of the Mist Stakes. The Omaha Beach filly trained by Linda Rice improved to 3-for-3 after having already demolished her competition by 11 1/2 lengths in her debut at Saratoga Race Course this summer and by 9 3/4 lengths in the Joseph A. Gimma Stakes September 22.

Rice considered trying open company in the Grade 1 Frizette after the Gimma, but elected to wait for Showcase Day.

“We decided against the Frizette,” she said. “We wanted to give her a chance to get a few more races under her belt before she meets open company, that was the plan, and that’s what we did today.”

Rice’s plan worked perfectly Sunday.

With the Angels broke well and cruised to take an easy lead early on in the 1-mile affair for New York-bred 2-year-old fillies. Under Jose Ortiz, With the Angels led Boston’s Phinest through fractions of :23.57 and :46.82 before quickly extending her lead through the stretch. She crossed the wire well clear of her competition in 1:36.69 with Boston’s Phinest holding second and Carmen’s Candy Jar finishing third.

“Broke good. Obviously, she was the controlling speed,” Ortiz said. “Nice test for her to keep improving. She has won at 6 (furlongs), 7, now today at 1 mile. We are excited with her, step-by-step. I think Linda has done an amazing job with the owners to manage her and take it little by little. We are going to keep going forward.”

Rice said that With the Angels could challenge open company in the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes December 7 at Aqueduct.

“That’s our mark if we’re going to step into open company,” Rice said about the Demoiselle. “That, or we’ll wrap her up for the year and start her up again in the spring. Time will tell.”

Bred by Joseph DeRico and foaled at River Valley Farm in Gansevoort, With the Angels is out of the three-time winning Pulpit mare Sister Margaret. She’s the dam of three other winnings, including stakes-placed filly Maggy’s Palace. With the Angels sold for $350,000 at the OBS April 2-year-olds in training sale.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/10/27/sacrosanct-with-the-angels-stay-perfect-in-empire-showcase-day-juvenile-stakes/

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