Between planes leaving and landing at nearby Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, Santa made an early visit Aqueduct race track December 17th.
Arriving eight days earlier than expected, his presence can be found in the form of two shares of the New York Stallion Series for 2-year-olds, gifted with a number of gifts. lucrative holiday for the ponies and good-natured ponies relationships.
In particular, everyone involved with total bank and Les Bon Temps was in a jubilant mood after the minors won two stakes, the Great White Way Precinct for men and the 5th Avenue Division for women, both bringing in huge purses. huge $500,000.
“This year there will be some great presents under the Christmas tree,” said Brett Setzer, co-owner of the Mike Maker-trained company. laoban Les Bon Temps are dirty. “You don’t run with $500,000 a day, and when you win, that’s the cherry on top.”
Videotapes: New York Stallion Series S. (BT)
Even at Racecourse SaratogaA $500,000 purse is huge, and that count becomes even more epic as the mid-December race takes place in the fields just for the progeny of New State-based stallions. York.
To put the value of the races in proper context, they are not only the richest 2-year-old stake in New York, but as of October 8 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T), the only stake in New York richer Stallion Series events are the $750,000 Cigar Mile (G1) Handicap on December 3.
Going forward, the next time the New York Racing Association will offer more than $500,000 worth of bets will be April 8 when the $750,000 Wood Memorial is set up by Resorts World Casino (G2) presentation is posted.
In any economy, $500,000 is indeed a holy grail of cash, especially for areas where there are more 2-year-olds than winners, and it’s a strong incentive to breed. New York stallion.
Tom Gallo, president of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, said: “Things really turned out the way we wanted, in terms of bringing attention to the New York State breeding program and the stallion line. . “One win and your horse can pay more for itself. It gives people who don’t normally run with half a million dollars the chance to run for that money with a horse from a stallion. in New York. Typically level 1 horses run for this currency.”
You can certainly tell Gallo speaks with some experience about the benefits of competing in the rich December stallion bet series at Big A. Last year, his Dream Maker Racing owned the winner. wins in the dirty department, Yo cuz , the daughter of the late Laoban bred by Seidman Stables in New York. Coached by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, she raked in $275,000 in her wallet — plus bonuses — for her 1/4-length win, which was billed as her first win at the start. career in 2nd place.
She went on to win bets on a bunch of New York State stallions and stallions earlier this year and has a three-win streak in six starts with earnings of $401,675, more than double three times her purchase price of $125,000 from Hidden Brook shipment in 2021 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old during the training sale.
Gallo said the possibility of chasing a half-million dollar purse with a girl is an exciting one, even for a Hall of Fame coach like Mott.
“These races allow people to give their 2-year-olds time to grow up, race a few times and then run in a half-million dollar race, which is a huge number. When I see first mentioned to Bill last summer the year that we should consider Yo Cuz for the stallion bet, she didn’t run.When he saw the wallet, he thought it would be too hard for him. her. Then, as the race approached and she ran, he started talking about it. More,” Gallo said. “Now, after winning it, he told us to look for more 2-year-old ponies bred by stallions in New York. The point is—Bill never cared much for the series. , but once he learned about it, he became very interested in it. . The same goes for other top coaches like Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown and Christophe Clement.”
In addition to the funds in the wallet, the breeders of the two winners on Saturday will receive 30% percent of the winnings as a bonus, capped at $40,000. The same bonus of 15% of the payout will be given to the breeders of the 2nd and 3rd place finishers, also capped at $40,000.
Additionally, farms with the top three stallions in each race will receive a 10% payout corresponding to the $10,000 cap.
“This program has enhanced the visibility of New York stallions,” said Najja Thompson, chief executive officer of the NYTB. We are seeing more mares being bred with New York stallions and mares better stallions to New York in the last few years”. “We gave vendors another reason to buy a foal from a stud in New York. This has worked very well for our program as well as the owners, who trainers and breeders.”
According to statistics compiled by The Jockey Club, the number of mares in New York increased by 2.6% between 2021 and 2022, making the Empire State one of only two of the top 10 states to see an increase.
Reaching a total of $1 million is a relatively new prize for riders, having only emerged in the last few years.
To understand the impact of two races on relationships, for coach Jimmy Ferraro, when General Banker prevailed in Saturday’s $500,000 Great White Way Division, he won payday. his highest with a 4,000th start in a career that began in the late 1970s and now has 330 wins and a little over $13 million in earnings.
“The biggest win for me before was probably $150,000, and that was in the 1990s,” Ferraro said.
Thoroughbred Seacrest of New England Thoroughbred General Banker, son of McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbred horse central bank was one of 12 girls out of 21 to start in two tournaments, winning their eighth career match in three seconds, two of them on the field.
As early as Wednesday under the lead of rider Eric Cancel on slot 11, the black or brown horse dominated for extended periods, and the 10-1 ($23) shot resulted in the winning streak. 8 1/2 lengths in 1:25.49 for seven stretches on a muddy, sealed road.
Eric Cancel enjoying the moment on his way to the winner’s circle aboard the General Banker
Get out Johannesburg mare Elusive Jozi , he made $345,600 for owner/breeder John Forma. He is the third winner and the most recent of three ponies from his dam.
Ramblin’s Wreck the son of rework, do it again owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Peter and Patty Searles, second in length Lifetime opportunity a pony of sublieutenant owned by DJ Stable.
Les Bon Temps, Fifth Avenue Division winner, more closely matches the profile of a horse that has earned $275,000 in purse money for its owner.
Les Bon Temps captures the 5th Avenue Division of the New York Stallion Series
Bred by Southern Equine Stables of New York, she won the Maid of the Mist Stakes match on October 30 and her third win in six career starts for the Deuce Greathouse owners, Cindy Hutson and Setzer.
“This is huge,” Greathouse said. “There’s not a lot of opportunity to run in a race like this, not in a handicap race, but the level of competition is a bit lower.” “It’s been a great show they put together and I wish there were more of these stallions.”
Les Bon Temps were a 6-5 favorite ($4.40) and won 1 1/4 lengths under Jose Lezcano by 1:27.28.
Clay Scherer, Carson McCord, Gregory Hoffman, Harriette Waldron, and Sonny Dotson’s center light one rework, do it again dirty, take second place by 1 3/4 length Little Linzee one Venerable Dillon owned by Jan Durrschmidt.
Les Bon Temps returns to Midtown Lights at the wire
Purchased for $65,000 from Bluewater Sales at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, Les Bon Temps has now made $462,260. Get out French fries mare Winsanity, she broke her maiden debut in her May 26 debut against the company opening in Churchill Downs. She is the second of four ponies from her dam, who have also produced a Laoban one-year-old foal and a 2022 foal naughty honest dirty.
“At some point, she deserves a chance against open company. She broke her maidenhood in front of outspoken company. We’ll see what Mike has to say,” Greathouse said. “I think two turns is to befriend her.”
Needless to say, Les Bon Temps and General Banker, for that matter, had no shortage of friends on Saturday as they sent out some pretty chic holiday gifts, thanks to a breeding program in New York State.
Videotapes: New York Stallion Series S. (BT)
