Spirit of St Louis earns Grade 1 in Pegasus World Cup Turf

Chad Brown sent Spirit of St Louis to Kentucky last fall convinced the New York-bred gelding could not only fit in but potentially win a Grade 1.

That didn’t work out for the son Medaglia d’Oro, who endured a troubled trip and finished fifth behind his accomplished stablemate Carl Spackler and eventual Breeders’ Cup Mile winner More Than Looks in the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes at Keeneland. Brown didn’t throw in the towel and gave Spirit of St Louis another try at the top level and this time came away with a victory in Saturday’s $984,000 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes presented by Qatar Racing at Gulfstream Park.

Under Tyler Gaffalione, Spirit of St Louis won the 9-furlong Pegasus Turf by a neck over Integration for Brown and owners Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Richard Schermerhorn. He won in 1:44.45, just off the course record, passed the $1 million mark and became the 88th New York-bred Grade 1 winner to the delight of his connections.

“The horse had been training super,” Brown said. “I’m just fortunate the horse got in the race because without a lot of graded stuff next to him and no graded wins, he could have easily gotten excluded. I’m happy he was in the race and he fired. Tyler, just another brilliant ride.”

Pegged at 20-1 on the morning line against a field that included Grade 1 winners Nations Pride, Formidable Man and Win for the Money, Spirit of St Louis came into the Pegasus Turf off an almost three-month freshening following a victory in the Mohawk Stakes on Empire Showcase Day in late October at Aqueduct.

Horseplayers bet Spirit of St Louis down to just under 8-1 and the fifth choice in the field of 12.

Spirit of St Louis bumped 5-2 favorite Nations Pride at the start then settled into midpack under Gaffalione. Formidable Man, winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, set the pace from his inside draw and clicked off strong early splits of :22.74 and :46.20 over the firm turf. Formidable Man still led by a half-length through 6 furlongs in 1:09.29 as the field started to bunch up around the far turn approaching the stretch.

“I loved where he was, but the fact that he found himself between horses down the backside, I’d rather either be on the rail or two deep,” Brown said. “Right in between two horses can get a little tight at times, so I was mildly concerned. I loved where he was in relation to the leader and the pace, but I didn’t know how he was going to track from there.”

Integration made his run at the quarter pole and took command in the lane, ahead of Win for the Money, Mi Hermano, Major Dude and a retreating Formidable Man.

Gaffalione kept Spirit of St Louis toward the center of the course through the lane, picked off rivals in the stretch and edged Integration at the finish. The winning time was just off Warm Heart’s victorious 1:44.45 in last year’s Pegasus World Cup Turf. Chasing Crown, the longest shot on the board at 64-1, finished 1 1/4 lengths back in third.

Gaffalione, second in the Championship Meet rider standings with 35 victories, loved his trip and was thankful to watch the competition throughout.

“I needed to keep an eye on them all around me, especially when William [Buick aboard Nations Pride] went up the fence and gave me a good target,” he said. “I just kind of waited for my spot and coming into the stretch I was able to work my way out and the horse did the rest.

“I’m so happy for the connections and thankful for the opportunity. It’s incredible. This is home for me and it’s good to see so many friendly faces and it’s good to be back in the winner’s circle.”

A full brother to New York-bred Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold, Spirit of St Louis improved to 10-for-14 with three seconds and picked up $498,000 to push his bankroll to $1,267,150. That total puts him just outside the top 40 all-time leading New York-bred earners.

Bred by Chester and the late Mary Broman and foaled at their Chestertown Farm in Chestertown, Spirit of St Louis is also a half brother to stakes-placed New York-breds Land Mine and Homeland. Khancord Kid, a Grade 3 winner, has produced five winners. She’s also the dam of a 2-year-old full brother to Spirit of St Louis.

The Bromans bought Khancord Kid’s dam, Confidently, in 2000 for $1 million at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. Out of Grade 1 winner Key Phrase, Confidently is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Yankee Gentleman with her dam a half-sister to the dam of champion Shared Belief.

Spirit of St Louis, a $300,000 purchase by BSW/Crow out of the 2020 Keeneland September yearling sale, made his first two starts for owner Peter Brant and Brown. He won his debut on the dirt in mid-February 2023 before a second in a 9-furlong allowance on the dirt, both at Aqueduct. Dubb purchased Spirit of St Louis for $280,000 shortly after that effort, at the Keeneland April horses of racing age sale. He’s won nine of 12 since, including a run of five straight stakes from late 2023 to the summer of 2024.

Brown, who picked up his fifth Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding trainer Thursday, won his fourth race of the meet and was quick to credit his rider.

“Honestly, I haven’t had a good meet here,” Brown said. “Tyler’s ridden a bunch of them, and I don’t think I’ve had one bad trip. Tyler’s just been in the right spot at every pole in every race, at least for my horses that I’ve watched. Just phenomenal riding. He’s in career form. Just so happy for the partners that are here today. It’s just a great day here at Gulfstream.”

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/01/25/spirit-of-st-louis-earns-grade-1-in-pegasus-world-cup-turf/

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The Wine Steward returns with Fifth Season win

The Wine Steward returned from a more than seven-month layoff and topped open company for the second time in Saturday’s $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

The 4-year-old son of Vino Rosso, off since last year’s Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, tracked Patriot Spirit early before putting that rival away in the lane on the way to a narrow victory under Juan Hernandez.

Owned by Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher, The Wine Steward prepped for his return with trainer Mike Maker’s string at Gulfstream Park. He shipped to South Florida from Churchill Downs in early December and put in six 5-furlong works over the main track in Hallandale Beach, including a bullet 1:00.31 December 31 and a :59.64 tightener January 6.

Sent off as the 3-1 second choice in the field of nine behind 6-5 favorite Liberal Arts, The Wine Steward and Hernandez set up shop just off Patriot Spirit heading into the first turn and to the opening quarter-mile in :23.86. They stayed a length back up the backstretch and to the half in :48.08 before ramping up the pressure around the far turn, inching within a head through 6 furlongs in 1:12.77.

The Wine Steward and Patriot Spirit continued their battle into the short stretch before the former edged clear at the finish. The Wine Steward won the 1-mile Fifth Season in 1:38.98 over the fast track. Liberal Arts recovered from his poor start to finish 2 3/4 lengths back in third.

The Wine Steward improved to 4-for-8 with three seconds and picked up $81,000 to boost his bankroll to $548,260. He started his career with three straight victories, including the Bashford Manor against open company at Ellis Park and the Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. A close second in the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland Race Course solidified his credentials for champion New York-bred 2-year-old male honors in 2023.

The Wine Steward finished second in back-to-back graded stakes to start his 3-year-old campaign last year – the Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington at Keeneland and Grade 3 Peter Pan at Aqueduct – to earn a spot in the field for the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. He finished ninth in the Belmont before going to the sidelines.

Bred by Sequel Thoroughbreds, Lakland Farm and Mark Toothaker and foaled at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson, The Wine Steward is the first foal out of the To Honor and Serve mare Call to Service.

The Wine Steward originally sold for $70,000 to Oldham Bloodstock at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. He later brought the third highest price for a New York-bred – $340,000 – at the 2023 OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training out of the Sequel Bloodstock consignment.

Call To Service is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Isotherm and stakes-placed winners Gio Game and Giant Game. Cotteau Grove Farms purchased Call to Service in foal to Authentic for $350,000 at the 2022 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. She produced Acknowledge, a Louisiana-bred by Authentic, about a month later. A $310,000 out of the 2024 OBS March sale, Acknowledge broke his maiden in his third start December 13 at Fair Grounds and finished fourth in an allowance race there January 19 for owner Repole Stable and trainer Joe Sharp.

Call to Service is also the dam of a 2-year-old filly by Curlin and a yearling colt by Justify, both bred by Coteau Grove Farms. Call to Service was bred to Uncle Mo in 2024.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/01/25/the-wine-steward-returns-with-fifth-season-win/

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Horsemen pleased with upcoming purse parity for New York-breds on the NYRA circuit

New York-based horsemen have expressed their support for the two-part plan unveiled by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) to provide purse parity for New York-breds.

The programs will be offered starting in 2026 at both Saratoga Race Course and Aqueduct as well as at the new Belmont Park, which will open in the fall of 2026.

In October 2023, NYRA announced that beginning January 1, 2026, all New York-bred overnight races for 2-year-olds [foals of 2024] on the NYRA circuit will offer purse amounts matching their open-company counterparts.

On December 30, NYRA further announced that effective January 1, 2027, all New York-bred overnight races will be run for purse money equal to their open-company counterparts, allowing the New York-bred foal crop to benefit from the financial reward of purse parity throughout their racing careers.

Boyd Browning Jr., President and CEO of Fasig-Tipton
“It’s a fantastic move by NYRA that further strengthens the New York-bred program both from a racing standpoint and from a sales standpoint. It also reiterates the cooperative nature and strengths of the racing community, breeding community and the sales community in the State of New York. This will continue to make the New York-bred sale one of the strongest in the United States and also continue to enhance the value of every New York-bred produced. It should also provide further incentive for more people to breed in the state of New York. We look forward to continuing to devote significant resources to the sales at Saratoga.”

Joe McMahon, McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds
“As a longtime breeder and owner of racehorses in New York State, I would say this is a wonderful addition to the already great NYRA and New York Breeding and Development Fund awards. We’ve been in business here for over 50 years, and it’s certainly one of the biggest advancements we’ve made in that period. It should impact the industry for New York racing very positively. The awards to breeders are going to be based on a higher amount of money, so that’s more money in their pockets.”

Lere Visagie, Rockridge Stud
“It’s obviously very important for us to have it. It’s very good news for all of New York. We’ll see what impact it will have on us this year, but it’s very encouraging for us to say [to clients] that New York-breds will run for the same money as open company.

“There’s a little bit of a disconnect still between New York and Kentucky because it’s a regional market, but we’ve definitely kind of stopped the exodus of people going to Kentucky. There’s a lot more people staying in New York, and with the quality of stallions that are here now, there’s a wide variety for them to stay local. This [purse parity] is all the more reason to stay.

“The last three years, we’ve been stepping it up every year with better and more stallions, because we felt with the new Belmont, there’s a lot of positives that we can build off.”

Harlan Malter, Managing Partner of Ironhorse Racing Stable, Ironhorse Stallions and Bucchero 
“When we moved Bucchero up to New York, it was an unusual move. Usually, it is Florida to Kentucky, or New York to Kentucky. It was very intentional; we felt that he was on the uptick. We saw how strong he was in open company, and we would hear rumblings of the plans coming down the pipeline for Belmont and the plans of purse parity being talked about. That is one of the things that has been on the top of my mind: New York is on its path to be, if not the premier racing jurisdiction in America, the co-premier racing jurisdiction, with the new Belmont and Saratoga. I’ve found in other jurisdictions the state-bred programs are just something on the side that they try to keep going, whereas New York I think has the opportunity to make it a central part of the racing program.

“It feels like the stallions in New York are being upgraded on a consistent basis, and the beauty of this purse parity is that we wanted to come along with it. As stallion owners, as breeders, it is important for us to start to elevate New York sires, so we can have New York-sired compete with New York-breds, who compete with open horses. The strength of the New York program in the future is how strong can we make our New York-sired horses, and can they be competitive with open horses? That was one of the reasons we brought Bucchero to New York. It is a premier racing jurisdiction that is taking all the steps necessary to not just have two levels of racing.”

Dan Zanatta, co-managing partner of NY Final Furlong Stable
“This has already been front of mind for us. We’ve done a few things strategically as we started to think about the program. One, the foals that our broodmares had this year – we sold as weanlings – because we thought there would be a little more demand from the investment side. We definitely saw the market react to the news that had already been released.

“We also started to think about the need to increase the quality of our stock and we’re willing to increase the max threshold ceiling of what we would be willing to pay for horses. We bought a $150,000 Yaupon weanling filly at Keeneland November which is typically in the upper bounds of what we would be paying for a yearling. If we’re going to be able to compete for purses that are up to 20 percent higher than what they are now, then we reshape our focus and improve what we are willing to pay for horses.

“Do we want to have more broodmares and be more invested on the breeding side, as well? These kind of announcements force those discussions and make some of those investments a little easier.”

Michael Sternklar, Clear Stars Stable
“The New York program has always been great for New York-breds, between the increased purses with the casino and the bonuses for running against open-company horses. But you always looked at those other purses and said, ‘why is there a disparity?’ So this was, of course, great news, especially because we converted our stable about 10 years ago from one that did claiming and buying at the sales, to a pure breeding, yearling and 2-year-old stable. We might purchase 10 new 2-year-olds a year and they’re all going to be New York-breds, so this is wonderful news. The program has always been so much better than other states, and it’s not even comparable. This just makes it even better.”

Linda Rice, trainer and owner
“Anything that is good for the New York-bred program is good for me because I race in New York year-round. I’m a big supporter of the New York-bred program and it’s been very good to me for the past 10-15 years, since I started racing in New York for the majority of the year. I’m happy to see that and what’s good for the program is good for my stable as well. I think it will definitely attract more interest in the New York-breds [at the sales], but hopefully not so much interest that we can’t get them bought!”

David Donk, trainer
“It’s showing the strength of the New York-bred program which continues to get stronger where in some other jurisdictions it hasn’t, especially with the declining horse population nationally. It’s a great opportunity for people and there’s a lot of positivity – not just for owners, but for breeders. The state-breds are getting better and better all the time. There’s a lot of good New York-breds out there and it’s a big strength of NYRA’s program.

“There’s a lot of optimism with the new Belmont Park and this just adds to it. The state-breds are the backbone – especially with the winter program – and I think it leads into that winter of 2026. The New York-bred program has been very good to me and hopefully it continues to do so.”

Ray Handal, trainer
“It is huge for the New York-bred program. The New York-breds are getting better so it makes the racing more competitive and people are more inclined to breed to have New York-breds and race them here. I think it is good for everybody that there will be more contentious races. It will give incentive to breeders to bring more horses here and it will put money in all of our pockets for the guys that are dedicated to the New York racing program.

“Half of my barn is New York-bred, so they are a big part of it, and they are a big part of New York racing. Anything we can do to help promote that, is huge.”

Horacio De Paz, trainer
“It is a great incentive for the owners. I would say New York-breds are at least 80 percent of my barn, for the most part, because I train for breeders and owners here in New York. This is a great incentive for us and for them.

“This is going to make the program even better – maybe you will see some different sires start coming over here. It will open up things for people wanting to breed to have New York-breds.”

David Duggan, trainer

“It becomes an easier sell to people that are investing in New York. If you’re thinking of investing, you’re increasing the amount you’re going to invest based on return. It regenerates interest – the cost of doing business here can be a deterrent to people, and I think it’s an added bonus that’s needed to sustain people in regular business. The New York breeders need that boost, and I think this is a good avenue for that. I think it’s good.”

New York State has adopted rules that expand the reach of the New York-bred awards and benefits by clarifying a pathway for non-resident mares to gain residency status. Accordingly, a non-resident mare purchased in foal through public auction is deemed a resident mare provided the mare is purchased for at least $50,000 in the public auction; is present in the state of New York within 15 days after a sale in North America and 60 days at any public auction sale abroad; the foal is foaled in New York; and the mare thereafter is continuously in residence in New York from within 120 days after her last cover in the year of conception of another foal and remains in residency until foaling.

For additional information on resident and non-resident mares and their foals, visit https://www.nybreds.com/rules/resident-non-resident-mares[2].

To support the residency rule, NYRA and The New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund (NYTBDF) provide up to $650,000 per year in purse bonuses to owners. The bonus offers $5,000 every time a New York-sired New York-bred wins at the maiden special weight or allowance level at NYRA’s tracks.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/01/10/horsemen-pleased-with-upcoming-purse-parity-for-new-york-breds-on-the-nyra-circuit/

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