Soontobeking up the inside to win Gander

George Weaver watched the pace battle unfold in Saturday’s $125,000 Gander Stakes down the backstretch and liked what he saw.

“They were stacked three or four across kind of scrumming a bit and I was happy to see that because we needed some pace,” said Weaver, represented by Soontobeking in the 1-mile stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds.

Weaver got the pace – solid fractions of :23.87 and :47.98 set by Givememythememusic, Mo Plex, Skytown and National Identity – and Soontobeking did the rest. The son of New York-based sire King for a Day cut into the lead around the far turn, continued his prolonged run through the lane and came up the inside to edge National Identity and Mo Plex at the wire for his first stakes victory.

“I was just happy to see the horse sustain the rally,” Weaver said. “I’ve never been quite sure if the mile is his best distance, but he just kept coming and that’s what we love about the horse. He just gives 110 percent every time and doesn’t stop trying and fighting. He wants to win, so he’s earned a special place in our hearts winning that race. Man, he’s a cool dude.”

Sent off as the 6-1 fourth choice under Eric Cancel, Soontobeking won by a nose over 6-5 favorite National Identity with graded stakes winner Mo Plex a half-length back in third. Soontobeking won in 1:41.26.

“He’s a pretty tricky horse,” Cancel said. “You just have to let him be wherever he wants to be and sit patient with him. Once you think it’s time to go and you start asking him, he picks it up. He knows his job and I’m really happy he got the job done.

“I saw the other two horses in front of me battling it out and they were kind of getting out a little bit in the stretch, so I decided to tip in and if I get there, I get there and if not, at least I did the right thing. He’s very hard-knocking. Every time he comes out to run, he shows up. It doesn’t matter the competition he runs in; he always gives 200 percent. I have a lot of confidence in him. It was just a matter of the timing and today the timing was right.”

Soontobeking won for his breeders and owners Our Blue Streaks Stable and Steve Venosa’s S G V Thoroughbreds. Weaver also owns an interest in the colt, who breezed an eighth in :10 before last year’s OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training and was reported sold for $80,000 to J U Racing Stables.

Soontobeking raced for his breeders and Weaver from his first start May 10 at Aqueduct, where he finished third before returning two weeks later to win for trainer Mitch Friedman in an off-the-turf open-company maiden event. Back with Weaver from there, Soontobeking competed in six straight stakes after that win, finishing second in the Funny Cide at Saratoga and Aspirant at Finger Lakes and third in the Sleepy Hollow and Notebook at Aqueduct.

Weaver gave Soontobeking some class relief in his first start of 2025 and the colt won a 6 1/2-furlong state-bred allowance-optional January 12 at Aqueduct. He finished third behind Sand Devil and National Identity last time out in the February 8 Damon Runyon Stakes going 7 furlongs.

Soontobeking is the first foal out of the winning New York-bred Freud mare Swayed. Campaigned by Our Blue Streaks Stable, Swayed went 4-4-2 in 21 starts and earned $143,328. She’s out of the Johannesburg mare Easy Erin, a daughter of champion New York-bred and graded stakes winner Dancin Renee.

Swayed is also the dam of a 2-year-old New York-bred colt by Cairo Prince and was bred to Leinster in 2024.

“His mother was Swayed, who we trained as well,” Weaver said. “She was a sway-backed filly that Sanford Bacon had bred and he didn’t want to stay in on her, so she was kind of a house horse. She was a hard-trier as well and she knocked out her races at a lower level for the most part. She was hard-trying and put that in this horse.

“We got him from the 2-year-old sale and he worked well there, and he’s been straightforward ever since. He’s been sound, we’ve been able to run him, and this horse has put together quite a string of races for a young horse. He likes what he does.”

Soontobeking’s first stakes victory also provided his sire with his first stakes win. King for a Day, a 9-year-old son of Uncle Mo out of the French Deputy mare Ubetwereven, stands for $5,000 at Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions LLC in Stillwater.

King for a Day finished second on New York’s freshman sire list in 2024 – siring three winners and the earners of $423,421. Soontobeking, who placed in four stakes as a 2-year-old, finished the season as King for a Day’s leading earner with a bankroll of $197,878. King for a Day came into Saturday ranked second on New York’s second-crop sire list with $240,474 in progeny earnings, less than $1,000 behind 2024 freshman sire leader Honest Mischief.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/03/08/soontobeking-up-the-inside-to-win-gander/

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Bernieandtherose rolls in Maddie May

Another Saturday, another stakes win at Aqueduct for a daughter of the Freud mare Berning Rose.

Bernieandtherose did it this time, adding the $125,000 Maddie May Stakes for 3-year-old fillies to her resume four weeks removed from winning the $121,250 East View Stakes. The daughter of Accelerate also added to the wintertime haul for her owners and breeders, Robert Rosenthal and Brad Bernstein, who celebrated two weeks ago when Bernietakescharge topped open company foes in the Heavenly Prize Invitational Stakes. Dominick Schettino trains both fillies.

Under regular partner Katie Davis, Bernieandtherose won her fourth straight dating back to a maiden-winning score November 3 during the Belmont at the Big A meeting. She added an allowance-optional three weeks later before the February 8 East View going 7 furlongs.

Stretched out to 1 mile in the Maddie May, Bernieandtherose hounded 47-1 longshot Howling Wind throughout before taking command around the far turn en route to a 3 1/4-length victory over 6-5 favorite Lottie Margaret. Bernieandtherose, the 5-2 third choice, earned $68,750 for the win and boosted her bankroll to $231,750. She won in 1:41.35 over the fast track.

“I don’t think my friend and trainer gets enough respect,” Rosenthal said. “He’s done a phenomenal job with this horse, with Bernietakescharge and their dam Berning Rose. We are just blessed to have horses like this giving us so much pleasure and this is really special.

“I can’t give enough credit to Domenick and to Katie, who gets on the horse every day. They know the horse and are developing her and she just keeps getting better and better. We’re ecstatic.”

Bernieandtherose is the third foal out of Berning Rose. Her first foal, the Honor Code mare Berning Honor, went 1-3-1 in 10 starts and earned $82,573 for the same connections. Bernietakescharge, a 4-year-old daughter of Take Charge Indy, improved to 5-for-15 and $354,580 in earnings with her victory in the Heavenly Prize. She finished third in last year’s Maddie May and second in last year’s East View.

Berning Rose is the dam of the New York-bred 2-year-old Always Dreaming filly Roseberns Dream and a yearling colt by Central Banker. Berning Rose was bred to Americanrevolution in 2024.

A daughter of the multiple stakes-winning Flying Chevron mare Peach Flambe, Berning Rose went 2-for-3 racing for Rosenthal, Bernstein and Schettino including the 2017 Maid of the Mist Stakes on Empire Showcase Day at Belmont Park.

“I’ve been in the breeding and racing business for more than 30 years, and I have to say this is just an incredible thrill,” Rosenthal said. “She’s now won four in a row and we’ve won seven of the last eight races between the two [half-sisters], three stakes. … It’s just incredible and it’s what you’re in this business for. It’s a tribute to Domenick and the patience he has with young horses and the way he develops them. From Galloping Grocer, who was one of my homebreds back in the day, to these horses now, it’s been great.”

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/03/08/bernieandtherose-rolls-in-maddie-may/

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