Light Man and Kendrick Carmouch head to finish en route to victory in the Hudson Stakes. Coglianese Photo/Susie Raisher.
Bruce Levine put blinkers on McRich Stables’ Light Man a few times for morning breezes and loved the response from the 4-year-old Central Banker gelding.
Light Man raced with blinkers for the first time in the afternoon Sunday – in the $150,000 Hudson Stakes on Empire Showcase Day – and showed improvement yet again. Light Man made a wide move on the far turn and got up inside the final sixteenth to land his first stakes victory in the 6 1/2-furlong Hudson.
“He’s a different horse [with the addition of blinkers],” Levine said. “You wouldn’t think he could get too much better, but he was so much more on the bridle the whole way when you breeze him. We’d run him, he’d run in spots and you could just see there was more there. We put the blinkers on him and breezed him a couple times and he just never let go of the bit. He’s just a different horse.”
Third in his first stakes appearance in the John Morrissey Handicap August 8 at Saratoga Race Course and third again in an open-company allowance-optional August 31 in upstate New York, Light Man improved to 5-for-8 in the Hudson. He won by three-quarters of a length under Kendrick Carmouch over Silver Satin with defending champ Rotknee third in the field of seven. Sent off at 8-1, Light Man won in 1:16.64.
“We were thinking about going for the lead and he didn’t break that sharp from the one-hole and everybody else went,” Levin said. “I said, ‘man, they’re cooking up front, it’s going to be a good setup.’ Sure enough, he came running.”
Looms Boldly, the 7-5 favorite, and 34-1 longshot Disarmed dueled for the early lead and clicked off the opening quarter-mile in :21.96. Rotknee, coming off a powerful victory in the Leon Reed Memorial Stakes September 23 at Finger Lakes, took over and led through the half in :44.97 just ahead of Factually Correct.
Rotknee continued to lead in midstretch, a length clear of Light Man with Silver Satin also within a chance after a wide run into the lane. Light Man collared Rotknee at the sixteenth pole. Silver Satin finished a clear second, 1 3/4 lengths in front of Rotknee with Sheriff Bianco fourth. Factually Correct, Disarmed and Looms Boldly completed the field.
Carmouche loved the trip from the start.
“He kind of broke a step slow and they bumped his back end,” he said. “I let the speed run away from him. First time blinkers with my horse, I knew he would improve. Once I got him outside, he was ready to run. It was just a matter of time of getting to the wire first.”
“I wanted to be a little forward with my horse because of the blinkers. It didn’t work out that way. I went to Plan B – just sit and make a run. He made the run and got the money.”
Bred by Newman Racing and foaled at Fawn Ridge Farm in Schodack, Light Man picked up $82,500 for the victory and boosted his bankroll to $315,450.
Levine purchased Light Man for $30,000 out of the Vinery Sales consignment at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.
Light Man is the sixth foal out of the stakes-winning New York-bred Freud mare So N So, a homebred for Donald Newman who won two of five starts and earned $98,500. She’s also the dam of multiple stakes winner Absatootly and winners Quest for Fire, So Let It Be So and Whendowerunpappy, along with the unraced 2-year-old Lookin At Lucky colt Hello Newman.
– Tom Law
Cara’s Time upsets older fillies and mares in Sunday’s Iroquois Stakes. Coglianese Photo/Chelsea Durand.
• Nearly 13 months to the day after she secured her first stakes victory, the Stephen Crestani Jr-bred Cara’s Time added a second to her resume in Sunday’s $150,000 Iroquois Stakes on Empire Showcase Day.
Breaking from the widest gate in the 6 1/2-furlong stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares, Cara’s Time hopped at the start and was the last out, but that position didn’t last long. Dylan Davis allowed his mount to quickly move up along the outside and settle just behind the pressured Athena Beach, who set early fractions of :22.47 and :45.74 with Security Code pushing her to keep the pace honest.
Cara’s Time loomed large around the turn as Davis asked her for more, joining the battle for the lead as the field hit the stretch. Athena Beach started to fade and left Cara’s Time to take command. Cara’s Time faced her own challenge down the stretch, with Captainsdaughter launching a bid late. Cara’s Time won the duel in the final furlong, refusing to fold and winning by a head in 1:17.13.
“I thought we were going to be on the lead fighting it out, but [after hopping at the start] the jock did a terrific job,” said winning trainer Mitch Freidman. “She was very game. She dug in. She really likes to go head-and-head with horses. If she comes out of the gate and goes head-and-head down the backside, it doesn’t matter, that’s what she likes. She likes to be next to horses and fight it out.”
The Iroquois was the fourth victory for the Not This Time filly, who races for Richard Greeley. Cara’s Time, who placed in seven of her 11 starts, boosted her earnings to $346,850.
“It was a lot of fun,” Greeley said. “My wife is here, the real Cara that we name all these horses after. … It is a great day for New York-breds. I breed a lot of them, so I want to thank Mitch for the great training job that he’s been doing.”
Foaled at The New Hill Farm in Hoosick Falls and a $175,000 purchase by Greeley at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred sale, Cara’s Time is one of two winners from three to race out of the Macho Uno mare Zindra. That mare is also the dam of two-time winning New York-bred Glorious Tapizar and the placed New York-bred Japazina.
Cara’s Time is also closely related to the multiple graded stakes winner and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic contender Next. That runner is by her sire and out of Zindra’s multiple stakes placed three-quarter sister Bahia Beach.
Zindra has a New York-bred Midnight Storm yearling filly and an Independence Hall weanling colt. She was bred to Liam’s Map for 2025.
– Melissa Bauer-Herzog
