Gone and Forgotten, Barry Schwartz’s homebred Bustin Stones mare, wins second straight Arctic Queen Stakes Monday at Finger Lakes. SV Photography.

Barry Schwartz’s homebred Gone and Forgotten continued her dominance over the older filly and mare division at Finger Lakes Monday with her second straight victory in the $50,000 Arctic Queen Stakes.

Based at Finger Lakes with trainer Michael Ferraro, the 6-5 favorite settled in fourth, 3 lengths behind the 7-5 second choice Queen Arella before rallying to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Curly rallied to be second over Queen Arella. Luis Perez guided the daughter of Bustin Stones. The duo has now won 11 races from 17 starts. Gone and Forgotten finished 6 furlongs in 1:12.81 and increased her earnings to $226,865.

Gone and Forgotten began her career at Finger Lakes in August 2021. She won five of seven starts, including her last three, that season.

In 2022, she tacked on two wins and a second before making her stakes debut in the Jack Betta Be Rite Stakes. Gone and Forgotten drew off to win the $50,000 stakes by 5 1/2 lengths. She tacked on the Arctic Queen in her next start. She finished last season with a seventh in the Iroquois at the Belmont at the Big A meet, her only start away from central New York, and a second at Finger Lakes in November. This season, she finished third in her 5-year-old debut June 14 before taking an allowance July 12.

Foaled at Schwartz’s Stonewall Farm in Granite Springs, Gone and Forgotten is the third foal and one of three winners out of the stakes-winning Yes It’s True mare Little Rocket. Her other two New York-bred foals also won at Finger Lakes – the Scat Daddy mare Tropical Storm Em in 2019 and the 4-year-old Maclean’s Music gelding Red Fortress, a winner in a maiden special weight last September and in a claiming race July 31 for Schwartz and Ferraro.

Little Rocket won five of 19 starts for Schwartz from 2012 to 2014. She won the 2014 Susan B. Anthony Stakes and finished third in that year’s edition of the Jack Betta Be Rite, both at Finger Lakes. She’s out of the Pentelicus mare How About Now, winner of the Grade 2 Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga in 1996 for Schwartz and trainer Mike Hushion.

Little Rocket was sold in foal to Tamarkuz for $19,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. She produced a filly by that sire in Turkey last year.

Bustin Stones, a 19-year-old undefeated Grade 1-winning son of City Zip, stands for $2,500 at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham. He came into Monday ranked fourth on the New York general sire list with progeny earnings of more than $1.4 million in 2023.

Dr Ardito and Manny Franco roll to victory in Friday’s Evan Shipman Handicap at Saratoga. Janet Garaguso/NYRA Photo.

By Tom Law

When it comes to Dr Ardito it’s all about the trip and the timing. 

The trip because the 5-year-old Liam’s Map gelding doesn’t like to be inside making his run. The timing because he’s been ready to run since late May but couldn’t without a race for him, and other times because he’s endured setbacks here and there that have prevented him for making an appearance at Saratoga Race Course. 

None came into play Friday in the $121,250 Evan Shipman Handicap, as Dr Ardito enjoyed an overland late run and made his Saratoga debut a winning one with an upset in the 1-mile stakes for New York-breds. 

“The problem we have is there are so few New York-bred stakes races like this,” said Mike Dubb, who co-owns Dr Ardito with Mike Caruso. “He’s been in the barn since May, it’s August now. He’s a hard-hitter, tries every time, he’s honest as can be. We know what he’s capable of, he just needs to get a race and the trip. He got the trip today. It all came together.”

Dr Ardito, winning for the seventh time in 10 starts, won the Evan Shipman by 1 ¼ lengths over Sheriff Bianco with champion New York-breds Bankit (third) and Americanrevolution (fourth at 2-5 odds) in the beaten field. Manny Franco, aboard for all of Dr Ardito’s 10 outs, rode again as the gray gelding won in 1:37.77 over the fast track. 

Trainer Chad Brown, who won four races on Friday’s card including the Grade 2 Hall of Fame the race before the Shipman, also praised Franco’s ride. 

“He has taken the time and effort to really understand this horse and any horses he’s riding,” Brown said. “He’s a smart young jockey and he knows what the best trip is for this horse and an opportunity came up down the backside to get him outside and follow the favorite and put him where he’s happy to see if he’s good enough. It was really the winning move.”

Dr Ardito came into the Shipman off back-to-back defeats in the Grade 3 Westchester in early May and Commentator Stakes on Big Apple Showcase Day in late May, both at Belmont Park. He endured trouble in both of those starts, which came after he won the restricted Haynesfield Stakes to cap a six-race win streak dating back to April 2021. 

Dr. Ardito, named for a close friend and Dubb’s physician, went to the post as the 6-1 third choice in the field of five reduced by three scratches. 

Franco was content to led Dr Ardito trail the field from the break out of the Wilson chute as Sheriff Bianco led the way through modest opening fractions of :24.01 and :47.28. Barese, last year’s New York Derby winner; and Bankit, a nine-time winner who came in with earnings of $1,406,405, took up the chase early with Americanrevolution trying to recover from a stumble at the start. 

Americanrevolution, off since finishing second in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup last September at Saratoga, recovered enough to inch up to second behind Sheriff Bianco through 6 furlongs in 1:11.67. He came under pressure from there, couldn’t get past the leader and tired between rivals. Franco guided Dr Ardito four wide around the far turn and toward the leaders in the lane. 

“The main thing was to break well and let the race develop and try to get him to the outside,” Franco said. “As soon as we broke, I let those three horses go and I went outside and [followed Americanrevolution] that stumbled and was outside of me. I let him go, bided my time and when I was at the three-eighths pole I knew I had to go. I was able to get in the clear.”

Franco stayed busy in the stretch as Dr Ardito made up 3 lengths on Sheriff Bianco in the stretch, collared the leader about 75 yards from home and won going away. 

“I knew I had to ride him, but I also knew that’s what he likes,” Franco said. “He likes to be ridden and he’ll give it to you every time you ask him. I’ve ridden this horse since his debut, so he’s special to me. He’s a lot more mature. He knows where the wire is and he tries every time he runs. I’m just grateful to be on him.”

Dr Ardito picked up $68,750 and boosted his bankroll to $372,350. 

Sherrif Bianco held second, 4 lengths clear of Bankit in third with Americanrevolution another 2 lengths back in fourth. Barese completed the lineup. 

A $95,000 purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, Dr Ardito won his Saratoga debut off his only four works in upstate New York in his career. He’s trained primarily with Brown’s main string at Belmont Park, with a few stints at Fair Hill while recovering from various physical issues. 

Brown’s four wins helped break a tie with Linda Rice atop the trainer standings and he heads into today’s card with 22 victories at the meet. And he moves forward with Dr Ardito, who more than likely will wind up in the Empire Classic on Empire Showcase Day if the timing is right. 

“It’s wild,” Brown said of the fact Dr Ardito hasn’t made the races at Saratoga until this year. “It goes to show you how tough it is for certain horses with timing. When they do have issues and when you have to stop on them. This horse constantly missed Saratoga for one reason or another and I’m happy he had his day today in front of everybody.”

Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding bred Dr Ardito out of the winning Indian Charlie mare Delightfully So. Hertrich purchased Delightfully So for $55,000 as a 3-year-old at the 2013 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.

Delightfully So is the dam of two other winners – Delightof The Nile and Navistar – and is the dam of a 2-year-old filly by Audible who sold for $15,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale. She’s also the dam of a yearling filly by Volatile that sold as a weanling for $180,000 at last year’s Keeneland November breeding stock sale and a weanling colt by Liam’s Map born on April 10.

Hertrich and Field also bred Americanrevolution, New York-bred Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male in 2021 and New York-bred champion older dirt male in 2022.

Grannys Connection and Javier Castellano cruise to the finish in Friday’s Union Avenue at Saratoga. NYRA Photo.

By Joe Clancy

It’s 2:54 Friday afternoon. At Saratoga Race Course, fans light cigars, balance empanadas on a plate, slurp Modelo’s, decipher form and ponder whether they can cut through The Porch lunch tables on the way to the clubhouse.

Behind them, in front of an old screen door with a NO ENTRY sign near the Carmen Barrera Horsemen’s Lounge, Tom Morley frets through the last few moments before the Union Avenue Stakes. The trainer’s filly Grannys Connection is 2-5 in a field of five contesting the $125,000 stakes for New York-breds and Morley looks stressed. 

The gates open. A server shuffles past with a tray of dirty dishes. Morley leans left, then right, then a little forward, eyes up and on a television hanging from the ceiling. A man in billowy white shirt and navy short stands right in front of him. Morley slides right. A minute and 11 seconds later, he lets out a long, slow breath and smiles.

“I love this filly so much. She just . . . she just . . . ahh . . .” he says as she gallops out past him and the rows of tables full of Saratoga lunch customers. “To win a stake up here with any horse is great, but it’s special with her. She has to overcome a lot of physical problems. They’re all minor, but when they’re this fast it just scares you every time they go out there.”

If she heard any of that, Grannys Connection would tell Morley to relax. She had it all the way. 

The 4-year-old daughter of Connect won her fifth race, and first stakes, to go with two seconds in seven starts while earning $68,750 for Orpen Horses, Jack Towell Jr. and Alan Griffin. Bred by Paul Pompa Jr., Grannys Connection set fast fractions and made them stand up while winning by 1 1/2 lengths over Kant Hurry Love with Bank On Anna third after 6 furlongs in 1:11.09.

The Union Avenue win avenged a nose loss to Kant Hurry Love in the Dancin Renee Stakes at Belmont Park June 25. That day, Grannys Connection also set the pace but got caught in the final stride. The loss came after four consecutive daylight wins, by a combined 27 1/4 lengths, as the bay filly ran through her conditions to earn the stakes try.

“The last time I don’t think she saw the winner until two strides before the finish,” Morley said. “She’s never had to run all the way to the line. She’s normally winning under wraps and that filly is a very nice filly too. She was getting to us at the line.”

Friday was different. From the inside post, Grannys Connection and Javier Castellano broke a quarter-step behind the rest before breezing through along the rail to take the lead. She led Kant Hurry Love by 2 lengths just before the first quarter-mile split of :21.89 and stayed comfortable through a half in :44.81. Kant Hurry Love tried to rally off the turn as Castellano glanced over his right shoulder and Grannys Connection hit the stretch in the four path. The winner switched leads early in the stretch, responded to Castellano and saw out the victory as the first three didn’t change order. Vallelujah made up ground late to grab fourth.

Aboard for the first time, Castellano said Grannys Connection came with instructions.

“The trainer told me to be very careful because the first jump for her is not too fast, but then she can take off – you ask her, she’s going to be gone,” the jockey said with a smooch sound for emphasis. “I just had to be careful. The first jump, from the one hole, you want to come out of there. You don’t want to be back there and have somebody take your path away. Then you are behind horses and some horses get rank.”

Nobody took her path, and Grannys Kitchen didn’t get rank. She erased a half-length early deficit without working and took control.

“I let her go, I didn’t send her, she just took herself,” Castellano said. “She did it easy in a good way. I didn’t want to struggle with her and I didn’t want to send her either. Just go with the flow with her. The way she did it was very nice.”

Grannys Connection cost $57,000 as a 2-year-old at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March 2-year-old sale in 2021 but didn’t make her debut until December 2022. Second there, she started the four-race winning streak in her next start and continues to improve.

Morley will continue to fret, however, and credited his staff (especially exercise rider Niko Ordonez Vilchis) with the filly’s development.

“Feet, little niggly things, you’ve just got to watch them with her and you can’t train her hard because she’s so fast,” he said. “Niko rides her every single day and does such a good job on her. He does owe me like $300 though because every time I tell him I want her to go in :50 (for a half-mile) or it will cost him, she goes faster. She never works in :50.”

Grannys Connection is the first foal out of winning Old Fashioned Granny’s Drink, who is out of the multiple stakes winner and $177,730-earner Cintarosa. Granny’s Drink is also the dam of Dixie Lullaby, an unraced Kentucky-bred 3-year-old full sister to Grannys Connection who sold for $42,000 at the 2021. Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.

Granny’s Drink, who sold in foal to Connect for $25,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January sale, is also the dam of a yearling colt by Vekoma and a weanling filly by Blame born Feb. 18.

Venti Valentine and Manny Franco storm past the field to win Wednesday’s Johnstone Mile at Saratoga. NYRA Photo.

Final Furlong Racing Stable waited 12 years for their first stakes victory at Saratoga Race Course. They got that win Wednesday with Venti Valentine in the $125,000 Johnstone Mile Handicap.

“This horse has been everywhere. We put together Final Furlong in focus solely on New York-breds,” said Vincent Roth, co-founder of the partnership. “She took us to the Kentucky Oaks, just to come back here and win something like this on our home turf…we’re just over the moon right now.”

Owned by Final Furlong and Parkland Thoroughbreds, the 4-year-old Firing Line filly collected her fifth lifetime win and first in 2023. She also notched trainer Jorge Abreu’s second win of the day at Saratoga.

“She is a special horse to me,” Abreu said. “Having two wins in a day, it’s very special to me.”

The partnership, who also bred the filly out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Glory Gold along with Maspeth Stable, packed the winner’s circle to welcome their filly and jockey Manny Franco.

“We had maybe six or seven owners in there today, but we tell everybody to bring the family, bring the crew, bring your friends,” Roth said. “I think I might have met a couple people on the way [into the winners circle] that we pulled in too. It was great.”

Sunset Louise set the pace from the Wilson Chute, ticking off the opening quarter-mile in :24.33. Venti Valentine sat a ground saving fourth through a half-mile in :47.34 before beginning her run midway through the far turn.

Franco and the chestnut filly rounded Sunset Louise, Know It All Audrey and Timeless Journey as they hit the stretch, running three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.15. Venti Valentine battled a game Timeless Journey through the final furlong, going on to win by a half-length in 1:38.98. Post-time favorite Betsy Blue rallied to finish third, with Know It All Audrey fourth.

“At the quarter pole when she was picking up her momentum, I was feeling pretty confident then because there was nobody coming from behind,” Abreu said. “We had like 2 lengths in front of the six horse [Timeless Journey].”

Venti Valentine started her career with three wins in five starts, including the Maid of the Mist Stakes at Belmont and the Busher Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct. She finished second to champion Nest in the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct on the way to the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, where she endured a hard trip in the crowded field and finished 14th.

Venti Valentine, champion New York-bred 2-year-old filly in 2021, improved to 5-for-13 with two seconds and two thirds for $617,600 in earnings

Foaled at Schuylerville Thoroughbred Farm in Schuylerville, Venti Valentine is one of two stakes winners out of the winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Glory Gold, whose produce record includes multiple stakes winner Espresso Shot. That mare was also raced by Venti Valentine’s connections and trained by Abreu.

Espresso Shot was sold for $300,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale three years after Final Furlong purchased Glory Gold carrying Venti Valentine for $13,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. They purchased that mare after being impressed with Espresso Shot, who they purchased for $69,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale.

The dam of four winners from five runners overall, Glory Gold is the dam of the New York-bred 2-year-old Omaha Beach filly Landed. Bred by Final Furlong Racing Stable and Maspeth Stable, that filly sold for $500,000 to Lael Stables at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings. Glory Gold was bred to Munnings in 2022.

Toronto On.August 6, 2023.Woodbine Racetrack.Jockey Patrick Husbands guides Conman to victory in the $100,000 Hamilton Stakes.Conman covered the 7 1/2 furl on the inside turf in 1.28.3 for owner D. J. Stable LLC and trainer Mark Casse. Woodbine/ Michael Burns Photo

By Melissa Bauer-Herzog

D. J. Stable’s Conman, a graduate of the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale bred by Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding, registered his first stakes win Sunday with a victory in the $100,200 Hamilton Stakes at Woodbine.

Shipping to Woodbine from trainer Mark Casse’s Saratoga string for the Hamilton, the 3-year-old Constitution gelding broke well in the 7 1/2-furlong turf race. He settled into third a few lengths off leading Sir Lancelot through fractions of :23.38 and :45.91 under some pressure from Eyes On The King.

Conman was content to allow that pair to battle on the lead, several lengths back as the field raced into the far turn. A spot on the rail opened up for Conman at that point and he rolled up the inside to cut into the margin heading into the stretch.

Conman moved to the outside as the field straightened up and passed Sir Lancelot while drawing away from the field. Fellow New York-bred Lifetime of Chance tried to run down the winner but his stablemate was 3 1/4 lengths clear at the finish. Conman won in 1:28.65 over the firm turf.

D. J. Stable’s Lifetime of Chance, a son of former Sequel resident The Lieutenant bred by Destiny Oaks of Ocala, held second and was a half-length clear of another Casse runner, Eyes On the King in third.

“He seems like he wants to go further,” winning jockey Patrick Husbands said. “The pony had to pull me up just now. I just tried to get him in the clear and get him over to his right lead. And when I tried to get him over to his right lead, that’s when the other horse came. But when he got to his right lead, he just took off.”

Conman was purchased by D J Stable for $300,000 out of the Taylor Made Sales consignment at the New York-bred sale. He improved to 3-2-0 in 10 starts and boosted his bankroll to $181,592 with the victory.

Conman is one of two winners from four to race out of the five-time-winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Rare Medal. That mare is one of seven winners from seven to race out of Grandma’s Girl with the group led by the stakes placed Songsational. Conman’s fourth dam is champion and Grade 1 winner Northernette with the family also including Brazilian champion Didimo.

Rare Medal’s youngest is a 2-year-old Kantharos filly Becca Belle and after not having a foal in 2022, she was sold last November for $11,000.

Maple Leaf Mel and Melanie Giddings days after the Seeking the Ante. Susie Raisher photo.

New York-bred star Maple Leaf Mel, unbeaten in her first five starts and on the cusp of a Grade 1 victory in the Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Saturday, suffered a catastrophic injury to her right front leg and was euthanized by track veterinarians.

The 3-year-old filly, owned by pro football Hall of Famer Bill Parcells and trained by namesake Melanie Giddings, led at virtually every point of her five victories – a maiden race at Saratoga last summer and four consecutive stakes – and followed the same script in her Grade 1 debut. She took the lead from the start, set every fraction and was coasting to victory when she fell a few yards from the finish line under jockey Joel Rosario. Pretty Mischievous inherited the victory, a hollow one according to her trainer.

“I don’t want to say a lot, to be honest. I’d rather leave it. It’s just cruel what happened,” he said in New York Racing Association press notes. “I just feel terrible for Melanie and that whole team. That must be gut-wrenching. My filly ran her race, but that’s another story. I don’t know what to think right now.”

Maple Leaf Mel was bred by Joe Fafone and foaled at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham. She sold for $18,000 as a yearling in 2021 and was added to Parcells’ August Dawn Farm roster for $150,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old purchase last May. Sent to trainer Jeremiah Englehart, the gray daughter of Cross Traffic was named for Englehart’s then assistant Giddings, a native of Canada. Maple Leaf Mel won both starts in 2022, topped by The Seeking The Ante Stakes for New York-breds at Saratoga.

NYRA Vice President of Communications Pat McKenna released the following statement:

“The health and safety of horses and jockeys competing at NYRA tracks is our highest priority and one that stands above all other considerations,” said McKenna, NYRA VP of Communications. “NYRA, HISA (the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority) and the New York State Gaming Commission will closely review the circumstances around this incident to ensure we are providing the safest possible environment for racing and training at Saratoga Race Course.”

This year, she won Aqueduct’s East View Stakes in New York-bred company in March and Pimlico’s Grade 3 Miss Preakness in May for Englehart. Giddings kept working with Englehart horses, but opened her own stable in late December and expanded it as the calendar turned to 2023. After the Miss Preakness win, Maple Leaf Mel joined the Giddings squad at Saratoga. In her first start for the new trainer, the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont Park July 8, Maple Leaf Mel won for the fifth time – a comfortable victory over seven rivals – to boost her lifetime earnings to $399,650.

Saturday’s win would have put Maple Leaf Mel into the national picture among 3-year-old fillies and filly/mare sprinters, but instead turned tragic.

“On behalf of our board and our members, we extend our deepest condolences to her connections,” said Najja Thompson, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. “She was a star for our program and an example of excellence. Maple Leaf Mel will be missed by those that knew her and cared for her, and by racing fans everywhere.”