Barese reaches for the finish of Monday’s Genesee Valley Stakes. SV Photography
By Paul Halloran
Barese made it a second successful sojourn out Route 90 from Saratoga Springs to Farmington Monday, rolling to an easy win in the Genesee Valley Breeders’ Stakes at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack.
The field in the $50,000 stakes for New York-breds scratched down to five and it looked like a two-horse race on paper. That’s what it turned out to be, but it was not Sea Foam battling it out with Barese. That role was played by Debra Breed homebred Lady’s Golden Guy, who led into the stretch before Barese overtook him at the eighth pole.
It was the sixth win in 16 career starts for Barese, a son of Laoban bred by Becky Thomas’ Sequel Thoroughbreds and Lewis Lakin’s Lakland Farm. Owned by Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher, the son of Laoban increased his career earnings to $531,252.
Barese won his fourth stakes race and first since capturing the New York Derby at Finger Lakes July 18, 2022, which he followed by running second in the Albany Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on New York Showcase Day. After ending his 3-year-old campaign with a sixth in the Alex M. Robb Stakes, Barese was given five months off by trainer Mike Maker.
After running third in an open allowance and last in the Commentator Stakes, Barese won an open allowance by 5 lengths at Belmont July 1. He finished last in the Evan Shipman Stakes and continued the off-on pattern Monday.
Lady’s Golden Guy set the pace, but a timing malfunction precluded accurate fractions being posted (that became evident when :32.16 was put up for the first quarter). Beta stalked in second while Barese saved ground on the rail and Sea Foam, a 10-time winner and $850,000 earner raced wide throughout and ended up finishing last.
Barese engaged Beta on the far turn, going by on the inside and taking aim at Lady’s Golden Boy. The winner collared the frontrunner a furlong out and pulled away in the final eighth to win by 2½ lengths. The winning time for the 1 1/16 miles was posted in 1:45.72. Sent off at 1-4, Barese paid $2.60 to win.
Barese is the third foal out of the unraced Successful Appeal mare Right Prevails. Maker purchased the colt for $150,000 out of Thomas’ Sequel Bloodstock consignment at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale of 2-year-olds in training.
Right Prevails, a full-sister to Grade 3 winner and 2005 Kentucky Derby runner-up Closing Argument, also produced Barese’s 6-year-old full-sister Breakfastatbonnies, who has won three of seven and earned $165,865. Right Prevails is also the dam of unraced 2-year-old colt Krigsman; Wrongsideofhistory, by Tiznow, who was winless in six starts; Not Wrong, an unraced 3-year-old filly by The Lieutenant, a yearling colt by Mission Impazible and a colt by Catalina Cruiser, all bred in New York and co-bred by Sequel and Lakland. She was bred to Jackie’s Warrior this year.
