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Staudacher is Derby dreaming with New York-bred Barese in Saturday’s G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino

by NYRA Press Office

• Staudacher is Derby dreaming with New York-bred Barese in Saturday’s G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino
• Glass Ceiling streaks into G3 Distaff
• Morning Matcha needs ‘a great effort’ in G3 Gazelle to warrant Oaks aspirations
• New York-breds City Man and Therapist return in $100K Danger's Hour; $1.25M purchase Corton Charlemagne to debut Saturday
• A trio of Pick 5s offered on Saturday’s Wood Memorial card

Thoroughbred owner David Staudacher has found himself in the winner’s circle for many memorable occasions in the 22 years since his first starter, Storm the Net, finished fifth in an allowance at Golden Gate Fields in January 2000. 

In partnership with Peter Proscia’s Paradise Farms Corp., Staudacher earned a Grade 1 victory when Aquaphobia upset the United Nations at Monmouth Park in 2020 and a Grade 2 victory in the Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream Park with Temple on March 5. 

The two have teamed up again to campaign another star in the making as they send out Barese in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, a Kentucky Derby qualifier that awards 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the top-four finishers. Dylan Davis will pilot Barese, bred in the Empire State by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Lakland Farm, from the outermost post 8.

A native of Seattle, Washington, Staudacher’s love of racing began at Longacres Racetrack in Washington state, now renamed Emerald Downs. 

“I’m from Seattle and started going to races with my dad and my two brothers at a very young age,” said Staudacher. “He was a teacher so we went during the summers and went all the time.”

Staudacher claimed his first horse in 2000, the start of a more than two-decade journey to the pinnacle of success with horses like graded stakes winners Bemma’s Boy and Special Reserve.

“When I was in college, me and a couple buddies had enough money and claimed our first horse together,” said Staudacher. “I’ve been involved in the game and with claimers ever since.”

As Staudacher continued to enjoy ownership at the claiming level, he was eventually introduced to trainer Mike Maker, who Staudacher said has a proficiency for selecting promising claimers. 

“I got hooked up with Mike and then Mike put Peter and I together,” said Staudacher. “We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of success together. Mike has a great team of assistants all over and they all do such a great job. He has a great eye for picking out horses and runs a first class program.” 

Barese is the first Kentucky Derby aspirant for Staudacher and will be venturing around two turns for the first time in the Wood Memorial. He won the 6 1/2 furlong Rego Park before he successfully stretched out to a one-turn mile last out in the Gander against fellow state-breds on February 12. He will also be facing open company for the first time after opting to skip the one-mile Grade 3 Gotham on March 5 at the Big A. 

“We gave him extra time and didn’t go in the Gotham because we wanted to make sure he gives his best effort on Saturday,” Staudacher said. “We’re excited.” 

The Laoban colt, who has remained undefeated through his three starts, was purchased for $150,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale last March. 

“Barese is pretty special to us because we picked him out of the sale instead of claiming him. Mike, his assistant Nolan Ramsey, Peter and I all liked him,” Staudacher said. “Peter went to bid and we gave him a top of $110,000. Nolan and I went out to look at a couple of other horses and we came back and didn’t think we got him. Peter came running up all excited saying ‘I got him at 150.’ We have been giving him a bad time over it for a long time until he made it to the races.”

Staudacher said Barese’s breeding was a factor in his connections’ interest in him, his New York-bred status giving him a plethora of opportunity for incentives in the Empire State. 

“Peter is from New York, and he really liked that he’s a New York-bred – I love racing in New York, too,” Staudacher said. “We were excited because the New York purses are so good, the tracks are great and they write a multitude of races. We bought another New York-bred 2-year-old at the Gulfstream sale [on March 30], too.” 

Staudacher said Barese’s talents and the opportunity to venture down the Road to the Kentucky Derby have proven well worth the extra money. 

“We’re very excited to compete at this level. He’s doing great, feeling good and ready to roll. He’s really matured,” said Staudacher. “Mike and his crew do a fantastic job.”

With his love of the game fostered by his local childhood racetrack, Staudacher said that being represented by Barese on the national stage is momentous. 

“It’s absolutely a dream come true,” Staudacher said. “You dream about just having the opportunity to even be on the trail and to compete to go to the Derby.”

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Glass Ceiling streaks into G3 Distaff

Charlton Baker and Michael S. Foster’s Glass Ceiling rides a three-race win streak into Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap for older fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Trained by Baker, Glass Ceiling was a last-out winner of the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie at Laurel Park on February 19, notching the first graded victory of her career under regular rider Dylan Davis. The daughter of Constitution has posted a 7-for-8 on-the-board record for Baker and Foster since she was claimed for $40,000 out of a third-place effort in May 2021 for former trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci. 

The 5-year-old mare has now won four of her last five starts, including a six-length allowance romp in September in her first victory for her new connections. She followed with a game runner-up effort in the Pumpkin Pie to next-out Grade 3 Go for Wand Handicap winner Lady Rocket before notching her first stakes triumph in the Garland of Roses over a sloppy and sealed Big A on December 11. 

Glass Ceiling collected another optional claiming victory en route to her Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie triumph, the first graded stakes start for her since a distant seventh in the 2020 Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park. 

“We gave her a little bit of freshening after her last race,” Baker said. “She came out of it a little tired because of the shipping and all that, but other than that she came out of it well.”

Baker said Glass Ceiling’s consistency has been a positive for his team. 

“It’s been great. We’re always trying to get horses to give 100 percent and lately she’s been putting her race in every time and giving her all,” Baker said. “She’s an easy keeper and eats everything you give her. All we have to do is keep her happy and fit.” 

Glass Ceiling put in her final Distaff preparation on April 2, breezing in 1:00.60 over the Belmont dirt training track, the third-fastest of 36 works at that distance. 

“That’s a pretty typical work for her and we try to keep her a little slower because she can go fast if she wants to,” Baker said. “I wanted to get her comfortable for this race coming up and she handled it well.” 

Baker said that maturity has allowed Glass Ceiling to break through at the stakes level. 

“I think as she’s gotten older, she’s gotten better and a little calmer,” Baker said. “In her training, she was a little nervous at first but now she’s settling down a bit better. We have been trying to get her to relax a little more out there.” 

Out of the multiple stakes-placed Empire Maker mare Fighter Wing, Glass Ceiling sold for $34,000 as a yearling at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. 

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Morning Matcha needs ‘a great effort’ in G3 Gazelle to warrant Oaks aspirations

LC Racing, Cash Is King Racing and Gary Barber’s ultra-consistent Morning Matcha will get another opportunity to put her distance capabilities on display in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle, a nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

The Gazelle is the final local prep race for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, offering 100-40-20-10 points to the top-four finishers. But trainer Butch Reid, Jr. said it would take more than just a good effort from Morning Matcha to earn a trip to Louisville, noting the depth of the 3-year-old filly division this year. 

“Maybe a great effort,” Reid, Jr. said. “I think the Oaks is tougher than the Derby this year. There’s a lot of nice 3-year-old fillies this year. It’ll take a real good effort, but it’s in the planning.”

The New York-sired and Pennsylvania-bred Central Banker filly was a last out runaway winner as the heavy favorite in the one mile and 70 yard Main Line on March 8 at Parx. The winning effort came five weeks after a late-closing runner-up finish in the nine-furlong Busanda at the Big A. Never off the board in nine starts, Morning Matcha has raced over five different racetracks, with her three lifetime victories all taking place at Parx. 

“That was one of the keys, the race was here [at Parx], so we were able to get a win with her without having to ship,” Reid, Jr. said. “She’s a good shipper, but she had shipped so many times in a row and sometimes if you ship horses a few too many times in a row, they start resenting getting on that van. I was happy we were able to get a race in her without having to ship and she should be fine for this weekend.”

Reid, Jr. said the Gazelle was in mind for Morning Matcha as early as January following the Busanda, where she earned four points toward the Oaks. 

“The mile and an eighth is not an easy thing to come by for 3-year-old fillies this time of year,” Reid, Jr. said. “I don’t think there’s any distance this filly can’t get and the farther the better for her.”

If not the Kentucky Oaks, the Grade 2, $250,000 Black Eyed Susan on May 20 at Pimlico Race Course would likely be in the works. 

“It’s closer to home and would probably take a lot less out of her,” Reid, Jr. said. “It’s one of our favorite races and I’ve missed a couple of times in that race, so that’s one I’d like to win. I came up around Maryland for a long time, so I’d like to win that race. We’ll wait for Saturday, sit down with the guys and make a decision.”

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New York-breds City Man and Therapist return in $100K Danger's Hour; $1.25M purchase Corton Charlemagne to debut Saturday

Trainer Christophe Clement will saddle Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Peter Searles and Patty Searles' City Man and Oak Bluff Stables' Therapist for their seasonal debuts in Saturday's $100,000 Danger's Hour, one-mile inner turf test for older horses at Aqueduct Racetrack.

City Man, a 5-year-old son of Mucho Macho Man bred in the Empire State by Moonstar Farm, enjoyed a productive 2021 campaign, finishing second in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Fort Marcy at Belmont in May and winning the restricted West Point at 1 1/16-miles by a nose over Therapist in August at Saratoga.

The graded-stakes placed Therapist, a 7-year-old Freud chestnut bred in the Empire State by Clement and Oak Bluff Stables, banked $68,520 last year through a record of 6-0-1-1. Both horses have worked over the Belmont dirt training track for their return.

"We've been waiting all winter long for them to come back and I think they will both improve from the race," Clement said. "They're fit enough to run and we can go from there. They're both training forward and will benefit from the race. It's time to run."

The popular Therapist, an eight-time stakes winner, will be in search of his first win since capturing the Artie Schiller in November 2020 at one mile over good Big A turf. Clement said he is hopeful that the nine-time winner will return to winning form this campaign.

"The question mark will be if he is back at the same level as he used to be. It's important to see how he does in his first race or two this year and then we can adapt to his performance," Clement said.

The Danger's Hour, slated as Race 7 at 4:11 p.m. Eastern, is one of six stakes on Saturday's Wood Memorial Day card.

Joel Rosario will pilot City Man from the inside post, while Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will guide Therapist from post 4.

Clement will send out Corton Charlemagne for his career debut in Race 3 Saturday, a one-mile maiden special weight over the inner turf for 3-year-olds and up.

By American Pharoah and out of the multiple stakes winning Victory Gallop mare Swingit, the 3-year-old dark bay is a half-sibling to multiple graded stakes winner Travel Column and multiple graded stakes placed $2.2 million earner Neolithic. 

Both Travel Column and Neolithic were campaigned on dirt with Travel Column winning the 2020 Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill and the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks last year, while Neolithic, runner-up in the 2016 Grade 3 Discovery at the Big A, racked up big paydays in 2017 with third-place efforts in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational and Dubai World Cup.

A $1.25 million purchase at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, Corton Charlemagne has breezed extensively on both dirt and turf at Payson Park in Florida, including a five-eighths grass effort in 1:02.40 Friday.

"He's a nice horse but for some reason he always trained better on turf than he did on dirt," Clement said. "We'll try him on grass first time out, but I wouldn't be against running him back on dirt. At the moment, I think the grass might be a little bit kinder to him. He's very good looking and a very imposing kind of horse."

Thursday's races were taken off the turf at Aqueduct, but Clement said he is hopeful that better weather forecasted over the coming days will bode well for Saturday.

"We will see what happens with the weather. I'm not sure if I'll run him if the race comes off the grass, I will have to think about it," Clement said.

Corton Charlemagne, who will exit post 3 under Junior Alvarado, will take on an overflow field that includes the experienced Al's Rocket, a first-time gelding for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher; and the debuting Cognitive Bias and Father Red.

Trained by Chad Brown, Klaravich Stables' Cognitive Bias, a Gun Runner colt, is out of the Indian Charlie mare Ms. Cornstalk, who produced multiple graded stakes winner Biofuel, Canada's 2010 Horse of the Year as well as graded stakes winner Tu Endie Wei, Canada's 2011 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly.

Lael Stables' homebred Father Red, trained by Michael Stidham, is by Quality Road and out of Medaglia d'Oro mare Maraschino Red, who produced last year's Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational winner Arrest Me Red.

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A trio of Pick 5s offered on Saturday’s Wood Memorial card

Saturday’s stakes-laden Wood Memorial Day card offers a number of intriguing options for bettors, including a middle Pick 5 featuring a mandatory payout.

The 11-race card begins at 12:50 p.m. Eastern with an overflow field of fillies and mares 4-years-old and up sprinting six furlongs over the outer turf to kick off the first of three Pick 5 offerings. The opening Pick 5 sequence, which offers a carryover provision, concludes in Race 5 with the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap led by returning Grade 1-winner Search Results.

The middle Pick 5, which offers a mandatory payout, begins in Race 4 [2:29 p.m.] with a field of nine fillies and mares 3-years-old and up battling 1 1/16-miles in an outer turf allowance. The middle Pick 5 sequence is bolstered by the Grade 3 Distaff Handicap, the $100,000 Danger's Hour at one mile over the inner turf in Race 7, and ends in Race 8 with the featured Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino which is headlined by undefeated graded stakes winners Early Voting and Morello.

The Late Pick 5 sequence, which has a carryover provision, kicks off in Race 7 [4:11 p.m.] with the Danger's Hour. In addition to the Wood Memorial, the sequence includes the Grade 1 Carter Handicap presented by NYRA Bets in Race 9 at seven furlongs for older sprinters, featuring multiple graded stakes winner Speaker's Corner. 

A competitive sequence concludes with the Grade 2, $250,000 Gazelle, a 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifier in Race 10, in which Venti Valentine and Classy Edition will look to make the grade; and the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore at seven furlongs on the main track for sophomores in Race 11 which features a field of 10 topped by Wit and Dean's List for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The $1 Pick 6 will begin in Race 6. There will be a pair of Pick 4s offered starting in Race 2 [1:25 p.m.] and Race 8 [4:45 p.m.].

For more information, please visit http://www.nyrabets.com.