Many years ago, New York-bred Thoroughbreds were known as “muskrats,” looked down upon by the bluer bloods from Kentucky and Florida. Even when Win became the first state-bred to earn $1 million in 1985, New York-breds still weren’t getting much respect.

But, as the years went on, the New York Breeding & Racing Program began to grow and the horses and the people who cared for them began to find plenty of opportunity. And they began to win races in open company.

Horses such as Capades, Thunder Rumble, Lottsa Talc, Fourstardave, Fourstars Allstar, Gander, Fleet Indian, L’Carriere and, of course, 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide helped put the “muskrat” moniker out of commission.

Among those who fought the good fight early for the New York program was trainer Ramon “Mike” Hernandez. One of the more respected trainers and the oldest active trainer in New York, the 85-year-old native of Mexico was the top trainer of state-breds in the late 1970s with horses such as Vandy Sue, Fratello Ed and Dedicated Rullah. Throughout the ensuing decades, Hernandez has consistently run horses that have done the program proud.

His current stable star is John T. Becker’s Classic Pack, who will be making his seasonal debut in Sunday’s 30th running of the restricted $100,000-added Kingston Handicap for three-year-olds and up at a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf course.

Classic Pack, a 5-year-old homebred, has earned more than $470,000 in his 17-race career. A son of Regal Classic, he had five starts in 2007, ending his season with a victory in Saratoga’s West Point Handicap on August 12.

“He bruised his hoof, and I am pretty sure he did it in the West Point,” said Hernandez, who won the 1980 Kingston with Dedicated Rullah. “It took time to get him over it, so we just sent him to Ocala Stud Farm for the winter with (OSF President/General Manager) Mike O’Farrell. He came back to me on March 5 and he looks good.

“The Kingston will be a tough race, but we need to get Classic Pack started and, hopefully, on a schedule similar to last year’s.”

Cornelio Velasquez will have the mount on Classic Pack, who was sixth in the 2007 Kingston.

Among those out to spoil the homecoming for Classic Pack is Jeffrey Tucker’s Red Zipper, who won the Kingston last year for trainer John Morrison. The 5-year-old City Zip gelding won two of his six starts last year and put in a game showing while running fifth to Better Talk Now in the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap, where he was beaten five and a half lengths. He has earned more than $300,000 in his 17-race career.

The Kingston will be Red Zipper’s first start since winning the Cormorant Division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Aqueduct on November 11.

“Except for a couple of sub-par performances in the fall, he ran well last year,” Morrison said. “And I am at a loss to explain those efforts. After the Stallion Stakes, we decided to turn him out. We sent him to Chime Bell Farm in Aiken (South Carolina) and he got back here at the end of March.

“We made a few changes with him. He had some physical problems that we addressed. Nothing serious, but we made these changes by design in hopes of making him more comfortable. He’s on the same schedule as last year, and I’m sure he’ll be seeing the usual suspects in these races.”

Returning from Gulfstream Park is Partingglass Stable’s Dave, a 7-year-old Ends Well gelding who was third in the Kingston last year, three-quarters of a length behind Red Zipper.

Tucker is a longtime New York Thoroughbred owner and breeder who operates Stonebridge Farm in Schuylerville, N.Y. Among the horses he has raced are Acey Deucey, champion New York-bred sprinter and 3-year-old filly of 2005 and Red Zipper, who on Sunday will try to win the Kingston Handicap at Belmont Park in successive years. Only Draw Shot (1997-’98) has managed that feat.

A leading advocate for equine welfare, Tucker is also a founding partner and member of the executive committee of Fairfield Greenwich Group, an asset management firm in Manhattan that manages more than $9 billion in assets for its clients. Tucker has had a longtime connection with Equine Advocates, a Chatham, N.Y.-based horse rescue group, and serves on its Board.