Cimbora, Jr. trying his luck with Twenty Six Black in Saturday’s G3 Belmont Turf Sprint

• Cimbora, Jr. trying his luck with Twenty Six Black in Saturday’s G3 Belmont Turf Sprint
• Rebel’s Romance and El Cordobes headline G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic
• Phileas Fogg seeks redemption in G2 Woodward
• Patriot Spirit fits the G3 Vosburgh presented by Army Mule

Roger Cimbora, Jr. made a bold decision to re-acquire his homebred broodmare Brazo de Oro and is now hoping to see the chestnut produce her first graded winner in Twenty Six Black in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint, at Belmont at the Big A.

Brazo de Oro, by First Dude, sold for $20,000 to Ervin Rodriguez at the 2015 OBS April Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds-in Training and made two off-the-board starts at Camarero in Puerto Rico the following January.

“She raced twice and bowed two tendons, so I called down there to see if I could buy her back - I did and then flew her back to the states and made her into a broodmare,” Cimbora, Jr. said.

The journey home was a difficult one for Brazo de Oro, the first foal out of Musical Brew [32-3-2-8, $82,149] – one of the first horses campaigned by Cimbora, Jr., a native of Brooklyn, New York, now living in Florida.

“It was a real ordeal. She flipped over on the plane, and they had to cut her out with the Jaws of Life,” Cimbora, Jr. recalled. “It was not a good trip. She almost sliced off her back foot. I still have the pictures. She had a rough go of it.”

Cimbora, Jr., a utility contractor specializing in pipeline cleaning, said he kept track of the Florida-bred Brazo de Oro after the sale and wanted to do the right thing by the horse.

“They’re my babies, really. I watched her being born. I was one of the first people to handle her – I was there,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “With pretty much all my foals down here, I kept up with all of them no matter where they went. Just because they sell doesn’t mean they’re gone and ‘out of sight out of mind.’ I still want to keep up with them and they’re still a member of the family.”

Brazo de Oro survived the ordeal and has become a productive broodmare with three winners from five starters thus far – all New York-breds - including the Grade 2-placed Twenty Six Black, last-out winner of the restricted Disco Partner at Saratoga Race Course. Among her other progeny are the stakes-placed Can’t Fool Me, by Frost Giant, who won a state-bred optional claimer September 11 here; and A Little At First, a full-brother to Twenty Six Black, who stretches out in his second start in a local state-bred maiden on Friday.

Cimbora, Jr., who initially bred and raced his stock in Florida, is now fully committed to the New York-bred program.

“I grew up in Oceanside. Being a New Yorker, I felt it was a logical move to move everything up there,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “I’ve always liked horse racing as a casual fan. We went to Roosevelt a couple times when it was still open, but I lived in a place with 10 acres, and we had a couple of pleasure horses. I got involved in racing through the vet that was taking care of them. It was something to keep the competitive juices flowing. The older you get, the less you’re able to do yourself.”

A love of sports flowed through the family as Cimbora, Jr. played baseball in college at SUNY Oneonta until a rotator cuff injury brought an end to his pitching career. His late father, Roger Cimbora, Sr., was also an athlete.

“My dad played baseball in the army in Germany and traveled throughout Europe. He was an outfielder,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “He was a gambler and liked to go to the casino and to bet on the horses.

“Twenty Six Black was my dad’s go to number when he played roulette, so the name is a tribute to him. He did hit it a few times. The man really was lucky. I’ve tried – I don’t have that gift, it’s never panned out,” added Cimbora, Jr., with a laugh.

Twenty Six Black, by War Dancer, has banked $493,310 through a 15-6-4-1 ledger – all in the care of trainer Horacio De Paz. The now 5-year-old bay gelding was foaled at Rockridge Stud under the watchful eye of owner Lere Visagie and manager Maryke Roeloffze and prepared for his racing career in Florida by Nick and Jaqui de Meric.

He made his first three starts in state-bred company, graduating second-out in April 2023 at the Big A ahead of an allowance score the following month at Belmont Park. He was gelded ahead of his 2024 campaign that included victories against winners at Belmont at the Big A and the Spa. However, the hard-trying bay has stepped up his game this season, entering Saturday’s test having paired up career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figures at Saratoga for his runner-up effort to Bring Theband Home in the Grade 2 Troy and a 2 1/4-length score in the Disco Partner.

“He’s turned five and he’s growing and maturing. Mentally, he’s always been pleasant and a nice horse to be around – he still has that little bit of an edge to him, you have to be careful when you walk by the stall,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “But Horacio says he does everything a rider asks him to do. I can’t tell you how lucky I feel.”

Cimbora, Jr. was onsite to see Twenty Six Black run fourth in the state-bred Ashley T. Cole in June here and jokes that De Paz has forbidden him from attending since.

“He just didn’t fire at all which was very uncharacteristic of him. He was a little dull the morning of the race. So, Horacio has told me that I can’t come up again. I came up for the one race the horse didn’t want to run. It’s worked out as he’s been doing much better since,” said Cimbora, Jr., with a laugh.

De Paz is equally enamored with the productive Brazo de Oro.

“The mare has been great. Everything she's produced, they seem to be runners,” De Paz said. “Can't Fool Me won last week and his full brother is in on Friday, and he shows like he could do some damage in that race.

“Twenty Six Black, being a New York-bred - how great is that,” De Paz added. “Look at all the money he's made going through all his New York-bred conditions and all his open conditions and now he's ventured into open stakes races and being a New York-bred he runs for that extra money. He's a great example of why to own a New York-bred.”

Twenty Six Black [post 5, Flavien Prat] is one of five New York-breds in the body of the Belmont Turf Sprint along with Dancing Buck, Senbei, Bold Journey and Run Curtis Run. The state-bred Acoustic Ave is entered for the main-track only.

Cimbora, Jr.’s success with state-breds saw him finish in the Top 10 in terms of open-company owner awards last year on the New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ Inc. (NYTB) leaderboard.

Breeders of New York-sired New York-bred horses, such as Twenty Six Black, earn awards on a 40-20-10 percent basis [capped at $40,000] for top-three finishes to go along with a 20 percent bonus [capped at $20,000] for first-through-third place finishes in open-company races.

“It’s wonderful to see the success Mr. Cimbora, Jr. has achieved through his commitment to breeding in New York and by New York stallions,” said NYTB Executive Director Najja Thompson. “The incentives and opportunities available on the NYRA circuit in purse money and breeder awards for New York-breds, especially those sired by stallions standing in the Empire State, are unmatched. We’re proud to see Twenty Six Black carrying the banner for the New York-bred program.”

Cimbora, Jr. said the earning potential for New York-breds, which is set to increase in January with a two-part plan to provide purse parity for Empire State-breds on The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit, is key to his strategy with rising yearling prices making competing at the sales difficult.

“Being a breeder, you wait four years to find out if the decision you made was a good one. I know for a lot of people it’s easier to go to the sale and find out six months later if it was a good decision or not,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “It’s tough having to wait all the time but I’m a true believer in the New York program. I’m going to breed to New York stallions and I’m going to run in New York – I’m fully on board.”

Cimbora, Jr. said he is buoyed by the state’s $455 million investment in a new and reimagined Belmont Park complete with two turf courses, a dirt main track and a new Tapeta inner surface.

“I can’t wait for Belmont to open,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “It’s going to be a showcase for racing and for people that say, ‘racing is in trouble’ and all that doom and gloom, when you see a place like Belmont being built, you know that people have faith in the industry. That’s a considerable investment in the industry.”

The installation of a Tapeta surface could also benefit Cimbora, Jr.’s breeding program given that turf horses often perform well on synthetic.

“This year we were pretty lucky as far as rain was concerned but last year it was horrible with races coming off the turf,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “My horses are not particularly good in the slop, so you lost so many races, and to have that [Tapeta] as an option is going to be nice.”

Cimbora Jr.’s trio of broodmares include Brazo de Oro and two of her progeny in Heavenly Girl and Happy Hill Lil. He said he is very much looking forward to racing a pair of colts out of Brazo de Oro, including a weanling by War Dancer and a yearling by Tourist.

“These foals out of Brazo – she produces nice babies, and they all have that determination, for sure,” said Cimbora, Jr., who noted that Brazo de Oro will again be producing a War Dancer foal. “She throws such nice babies with War Dancer, and they all seem to be very good runners and very correct. It’s the fifth time back to the same stallion, but I can’t argue with the results.”

Win or lose on Saturday, Cimbora, Jr. said he is thrilled with the gamble he took on bringing Twenty Six Black’s dam back to the U.S.

“It’s really unbelievable,” Cimbora, Jr. said. “I love the races and the thrill that it gives you, but all the credit for ‘26’ goes to Horacio and his team, Nick and Jaqui, and Lere and Maryke – they’re truly the ones that have made the horse. All I do is decide on who to breed to, so I can’t take any credit for how good he is. It’s really all due to all those other people.”

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Rebel’s Romance and El Cordobes headline G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby will send out a strong pair in Rebel’s Romance and El Cordobes in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, a 12-furlong inner turf test for 3-year-olds and up, at Belmont at the Big A.

Rebel’s Romance [28-19-0-2, $14.1M], a 7-year-old Dubawi gelding, and El Cordobes [10-4-2-2, $605,688], a 4-year-old Frankel gelding, arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport on Thursday and underwent quarantine at The ARK before shipping upstate Saturday to Saratoga Race Course.

Chris Connett, traveling assistant for Appleby, noted that both horses were able to stretch their legs at Godolphin’s Greentree facility located adjacent to the Saratoga backstretch on Saturday evening.

Both horses have trained regularly since, including solo half-mile works over the Oklahoma training turf Monday that saw Rebel’s Romance, with Mark Halford up, timed in 54 seconds flat and El Cordobes, under Jamie Linwood, clocked in 53 seconds flat.

“They had a little canter around on the Oklahoma track before we got to have a little breeze Monday on the turf. They went solo and it was just in hand, just to allow them to stretch their legs over the turf course,” Connett said.

Irish homebred Rebel’s Romance, the reigning Champion Turf Male, won 5-of-6 starts last year, including a neck victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar – a race he also won in 2022 at Keeneland.

The globetrotting dark bay, who has also won races in the U.K., Dubai, Germany, Qatar and Hong Kong, has returned as strong as ever this season. He captured the 1 3/4-mile Group 2 Yorkshire Cup in May at York ahead of a score in the 12-furlong Group 2 Hardwicke in June at Royal Ascot. He landed third in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in July at Ascot but returned to winning form in the 12-furlong Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin on August 10 at Hoppegarten.

The prospect of soft turf kept Rebel’s Romance from attempting a title defense in Sunday’s Group 1 Preis von Europa at Cologne.

“He's had a really solid year,” Connett said. “He stepped up to a mile and six [furlongs] and won the Yorkshire Cup and then he ran back in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot and won there as well before a pretty gutsy run in the King George when the race wasn't really ran to suit him. He bounced back with a win in Germany, so he's just as good as ever really.”

Rebel’s Romance finished fourth as the mutuel favorite in the 2023 Hirsch.

El Cordobes, bred in Ireland by Bjorn Nielsen, captured the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s in July at Newmarket before venturing stateside for the first time to post a half-length win in the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer at Saratoga.

He was sent to post at odds of 4-1 in the Sword Dancer which featured a salty eight-horse field that included four-time Group/Grade 1-winning stablemate Nations Pride along with returning rivals Rebel Red and three-time Grade 1-winner Far Bridge, the defending Hirsch winner.

El Cordobes saved ground out of the inside post under Flavien Prat and remained patient in fourth position as Far Bridge made an early move down the stretch for the first time to press longshot pacesetter Vote No. El Cordobes maintained his rail spot down the backstretch to the inside of Rebel Red and waited for racing room into the final turn as Nations Pride took the lead. Rebel Red got the jump into the stretch run but El Cordobes was rolling late in the lane, splitting Nations Pride and Rebel Red to secure the win.

“He was given a lovely ride that day by Flavien, but you need the horse to take you there as well,” Connett said. “It was a slight step into the unknown with him going up into Group 1 company but to finish off the race like he did against some very well regarded horses was impressive.

“It was a solid Group 1 and for him to produce that effort was very pleasing for the team,” he added.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will pick up the mount on El Cordobes [post 1] Saturday with Prat slated to ride Grade 2-winner Redistricting for five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown – a three-time Joe Hirsch winning conditioner. Rebel’s Romance will leave post 3 in rein to Frankie Dettori.

Connett said strategy will be left to Appleby and the veteran riders, but that both jockeys should have options aboard their versatile charges for the first time.

“We have two very capable pilots on board, but I think both horses are very flexible in their run styles,” Connett said. “El Cordobes has led in his races before but has also been dropped in like he did in the Sword Dancer. Rebel's Romance is fairly uncomplicated, as well - he jumps out and has a big old stride on him and if they're going too slow, he can go on; and if they're going quick enough, he can take a sit.”

Rebel’s Romance and El Cordobes will continue to train upstate before shipping back downstate on Friday.

The Joe Hirsch, slated as Race 5, headlines a stacked 12-race program supported by the Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward in Race 6, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Vosburgh presented by Army Mule in Race 9, awarding a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar. Also featured are the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom in Race 8 and the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint in Race 4. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

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Phileas Fogg seeks redemption in G2 Woodward

Jupiter Stable’s graded stakes-winner Phileas Fogg did not land the result his connections were hoping for when disqualified and declared unplaced in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in August at Saratoga Race Course, but the 5-year-old gelding looks to turn the page in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward at Belmont at the Big A.

Phileas Fogg [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche] is expected to face a compact group on Saturday, with Woodward entrants Film Star [per trainer Rob Atras] and Gould’s Gold [per trainer Kenny McPeek] opting to run in the Battery Park on Sunday at Delaware Park. Trainer Norm Casse was undecided as of Thursday morning where Awesome Aaron, cross-entered in the Woodward and Battery Park, will run; and as per the Daily Racing Form, Willy D’s will run in Saturday’s Grade 2 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs.

In addition to Phileas Fogg, the confirmed Woodward runners are multiple Grade 1-winner Locked [post 7, John Velazquez] and multiple graded stakes-winner Post Time [post 2, Sheldon Russell]

Trained by Gustavo Rodriguez, Phileas Fogg gets back to the track that saw him post two Listed stakes wins this winter and spring, and cuts back to nine furlongs from the 10-furlong Jockey Club on August 31.

There, a sharp inward move at the start under Kendrick Carmouche caused a chain reaction that led to the bumping of several rivals and Mindframe to lose jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. Phileas Fogg tracked well behind the pace set by Contrary Thinking and took the lead in the final turn, but was passed in the lane by the victorious Antiquarian and late-running Sierra Leone and crossed the wire third. A stewards’ inquiry led to Phileas Fogg being disqualified and declared unplaced.

Rodriguez said the result was disappointing, but that he is looking forward to Saturday.

“We all make mistakes, so what can we do? I was happy with a third place, and when they took us down, it was disappointing, but the good thing about it all is that he came out of the race in good shape and we’ve just got to hope for the best on Saturday,” Rodriguez concluded.

The bay son of Astern has been a model of consistency since being claimed for $62,500 out of an optional claiming turf tilt last summer at the Spa. He has gone on to cross the wire in the top-three in each of his eight starts since, led by a head victory over Antiquarian in the 10-furlong Grade 2 Suburban presented by Subourbon on July 4 at the Spa. He also finished a narrow second to possible returning rival Awesome Aaron in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special in May at its namesake course.

“Everything is good. We worked him twice, nothing crazy, and the horse is happy and eating good,” Rodriguez said. “Maybe it’s coming back a little soon from the last race, but what can we do? And, he’s home. This horse likes to run anywhere though – we take him to Pimlico, Saratoga, Aqueduct and he runs good. He’s a nice horse.”

Bred in Kentucky by Godolphin, Phileas Fogg is out of the unraced More Than Ready mare Merino, a half-sister to Group 1-winner Capezzano. His third dam is 1995 Canadian Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Silken Cat, who produced Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and influential stallion Speightstown and multiple graded stakes-winner Irap.

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Patriot Spirit fits the G3 Vosburgh presented by Army Mule

George A. Mellon’s multiple stakes-winner Patriot Spirit carries momentum from a dominant stakes score into Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Vosburgh presented by Army Mule, at Belmont at the Big A.

The seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up, offering a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November at Del Mar, is slated as Race 9 on Saturday’s 12-race card, with a first post of 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by Michael Campbell, the 4-year-old Constitution colt dueled for the lead of the seven-furlong Reigh Count last out on July 26 at Colonial Downs, shaking clear by the three-eighths marker and drawing off under a hand ride to a four-length victory over multiple stakes-placed Inveigled.

“This horse is just such a good horse, but his last race at seven-eighths was spectacular,” Campbell said. “He was favored, he should’ve won, but the way he handled those horses was impressive. He just did it with complete authority.”

Patriot Spirit made his prior four starts at one mile or beyond, entering his last race from a three-quarter-length second to Liberal Arts in the one-mile restricted Listed Knicks Go on May 3 at Churchill Downs. That performance earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, matching his career-best for a neck second in the one-mile Listed Fifth Season in January at Oaklawn Park.

“I had multiple options for this horse’s next race, but I could not dismiss that he ran such a big race at seven-eighths of a mile,” said Campbell. “That’s why we are heading to Aqueduct on Saturday. I hope the weather stays good and we will see you then.”

The Vosburgh drew a competitive field of nine, headlined by the Hall of Famer Bill Mott-trained Scotland, a rallying second last out in the Grade 1 Forego on August 23 at Saratoga Race Course.

“I don’t think there’s as much speed in this as you’d expect for a sprint, which should be to our horse’s advantage,” Campbell said. “This is a good field overall. I think we are live in the race, and I think the horse to beat is Mott’s horse. We are looking for a good race.”

Patriot Spirit, bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm, was a $235,000 purchase at the 2023 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. He is out of the Grade 1-winning Game Plan mare Mistical Plan.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano has the call from post 8.