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Bank Sting returns to state-bred company in $200K Critical Eye

by NYRA Press Office

• Bank Sting returns to state-bred company in $200K Critical Eye
• Trio of Abreu runners set for Big Apple Showcase Day
• First Captain eyes high caliber New York stakes following G3 Pimlico Special score
• Ray Handal notches Saturday hat trick
• Belmont Park Week 6 stakes probables 

Hidden Brook Farm, Joseph G. McMahon and Anne McMahon’s Bank Sting will seek to make amends as she returns to New York-bred company in Monday’s $200,000 Critical Eye Handicap for state-bred fillies and mares going one mile on the main track at Belmont Park.

Holiday Monday’s special 10-race all New York-bred card will celebrate the best of New York racing, featuring five stakes for the annual Big Apple Showcase Day. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Bank Sting, a 5-year-old daughter of Central Banker, who stands for $7,500 for her breeder McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, was a distant fourth to Search Results in the Grade 2 Ruffian on May 8 over a muddy and sealed Big Sandy. She arrived at the Ruffian off three straight stakes wins at Aqueduct, including the Heavenly Prize Invitational on March 5 against open company. 

Bank Sting previously won the La Verdad in January after taking the NYSSS Staten Island one month prior. Jockey Dylan Davis, who won leading rider honors at the Big A winter meet, was aboard for all three stakes wins. 

Trainer John Terranova said Bank Sting should appreciate a return to a fast main track after faltering over an off track in the Ruffian.

“We took a shot in there; she belonged in there I thought,” Terranova said. “It was a tough group of fillies and I think given the track, she’s won on an off track before, but it’s not her best surface. I think she’d excel better on a drier track. Maybe, if we had one last time, we might have got a piece of it, but it was still a tough race regardless. She came out of it well, and we’re looking forward to Monday. The weather looks great.”

Bank Sting, who won last year’s Critical Eye, will attempt to be the first filly to capture back-to-back running of the race. Lawrence Goichman’s Kathryn the Wise won two non-consecutive editions in 2017 and 2019. 

Joel Rosario picks up the mount aboard Bank Sting, who was made the 7-5 morning line favorite. 

Last weekend, Terranova sent Our Shot to Pimlico Race Course, where he won the first race on the Preakness undercard – a five-furlong turf allowance for 3-year-olds and up. Owned by Terranova in partnership with Gatsas Stables and Steven Schoenfeld, the Pennsylvania-bred Kantharos sophomore earned a career-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure when racing on turf for the first time. 

Terranova said he would shop around for a turf sprint stakes for 3-year-olds with Our Shot. 

“He came back really well so we’re going to see what’s on the schedule,” Terranova said. “I like what we saw. We’ll see how he goes, and we’ll go from there.”

A victory from Our Shot provided a silver lining for Terranova, who the day prior saddled Midnight Stroll to a troubled ninth in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico. The dark bay or brown daughter of Not This Time was wide in the first turn after checking in the race’s early stages. 

“She got bumped pretty hard into the first turn. She lost so much position and ended up wide,” Terranova said. “She did start picking up horses while making a middle move, but she kind of flattened out in the last part. It was a big step up and we’ll regroup with her. She’s sound and healthy.”

Owned by Gatsas, Terranova and R.A. Hill Stable, Midnight Stroll defeated fellow Florida-breds in Tampa Bay Downs’ Sophomore Fillies on March 27 in her start prior to the Black-Eyed Susan.   

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Trio of Abreu runners set for Big Apple Showcase Day

Trainer Jorge Abreu will be represented by three stakes entrants for Monday’s Big Apple Showcase Day at Belmont Park, which features 88 total entrants and five stakes on the 10-race all-New York-bred card. 

Leading the trio of Abreu entrants is Lawrence Goichman’s New York homebred Runaway Rumour, who will contest the $125,000 Mount Vernon for older fillies and mares travelling one mile over the turf in Race 2. Runaway Rumour makes a two-week turnaround from an even fifth-place effort in the Grade 3 Beaugay facing open company on May 14. 

“She’s doing really well. She bounced out of that race really good,” Abreu said. “I know it’s a little quick back, which is my only concern. She looks great. We’re giving her a little class relief just to get her back in her groove. I think this was the best place to go.”

The daughter of Flintshire will cut back slightly from her Beaugay effort as she faces state-bred stakes company for the first time with regular rider Jose Lezcano in the irons from post 1.  

“I don’t think the distance is an issue,” said Abreu. “She’s just been running in graded stakes with the top horses since she broke her maiden and has never run in a New York stake. I think a little class relief will help, and Jose knows her really well.” 

The consistent bay has compiled a record of 10-3-2-1 and earnings of $263,250 through two seasons of racing. 

Abreu will send out two contenders, Agility and Who Hoo That’s Me, in the $125,000 Mike Lee for sophomores sprinting seven furlongs over Big Sandy in Race 8. 

“I’m pretty confident in both of them. They’re coming into the race good,” said Abreu. 

Agility arrives at the Mike Lee off a distant fourth-place allowance effort in his first try at a one-turn mile on April 15 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The son of Practical Joke has run his best races at the sprint distance, earning two stakes placings with runner-up performances in the 6 1/2-furlong Rego Park and the Damon Runyon at 6 1/2-furlongs.

Abreu said he is hopeful a cutback to sprinting will help Agility. 

“Agility got a little compromised in the mile race at Aqueduct,” said Abreu. “I think it’s a little too far for him. He had been running seven-eighths. I think he’s competitive there.” 

Agility, who was bred in New York by Hidden Lake Farm, 3C Thoroughbreds and West Point Thoroughbreds, is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes placed gelding Pain and Misery. He will exit post 3 with Jose Ortiz aboard. 

Who Hoo That’s Me, who will exit the outermost post 9 with Dylan Davis up, enters from a game runner-up effort last out in a six-furlong state-bred allowance on April 24 at the Big A. The effort ended a four-month respite that started in December after a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Remsen when he was bumped at the start and failed to fire. 

The 2-1 favorite in his return race, Who Hoo That’s Me stumbled at the start and tracked in seventh-of-8 while making up ground throughout. The son of Keen Ice put in a strong run down the lane but came up just short of returning Mike Lee rival Hot Rod Rumble. 

A New York homebred for Gold Square, Who Hoo That’s Me broke his maiden over Hot Rod Rumble at third asking in September and followed with a third-place effort in the six-furlong Sleepy Hollow. The Mike Lee will be his first time racing at seven furlongs. 

“I gave Who Hoo a little break and then he came back and ran a great effort for second,” said Abreu. “I think the seven-eighths, plus that he’s won here, will suit him perfect.” 

The New York-bred program has provided Abreu with some of his top runners, including graded stakes-winner Venti Valentine and her multiple stakes winning half-sister Espresso Shot. Venti Valentine, who won the Grade 3 Gazelle on April 9 at Aqueduct, was last seen finishing a disappointing 14th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 6 at Churchill Downs. 

In the Kentucky Oaks, Venti Valentine, with Tyler Gaffalione up, rated well in third behind pacesetter Yuugiri for the first half-mile but quickly lost ground entering the turn, was squeezed between rivals and came up empty down the lane. 

Abreu said the 3-year-old Firing Line filly exited the race in good order and will now point to the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose travelling 1 1/16 miles over Big Sandy on June 25. 

“We’ll point her there. The Oaks was a weird race, so we’ll just draw a line through that. Knock on wood, she came back 100 percent and is acting the same with no hiccups.”

Abreu had initially considered running the chestnut filly back in the Grade 1 Acorn on June 11 at Belmont, but decided the Mother Goose was a better fit. 

“I don’t think the Acorn is ideal because she just came off running in a Grade 1 and it wasn’t a good experience for her,” said Abreu. “I think that’s going to be a pretty solid field, not that the Mother Goose isn’t going to be. But we’ll give it a shot.” 

Along with Venti Valentine and Espresso Shot, Abreu has also conditioned New York-bred stakes performers Myhartblongstodady and Summer Brew. Abreu said the New York-bred program has been an important part of his training operation. 

“I’ve had a lot of success with the program,” said Abreu. “I’ve been pretty lucky and I also have some good New York-breds who haven’t broken their maiden yet, but I’m hopeful. We look forward to days like Monday.”

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First Captain eyes high caliber New York stakes following G3 Pimlico Special score

Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds identifies time and patience as the most important ingredients to success in campaigning racehorses. This philosophy has worked wonders with graded stakes winner First Captain, who posted a deep-closing triumph in last Friday’s Grade 3 Pimlico Special. 

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey and owned by West Point Thoroughbreds in partnership with Siena Farm, Woodford Thoroughbreds and celebrity chef Bobby Flay, First Captain made amends following an uncharacteristic seventh and last in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap in April at Aqueduct. 

The son of Curlin earned a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure for his Pimlico Special victory, where he showed determination in the stretch drive under Luis Saez’s left-handed encouragement to best three-time winner Vindictive by a head. 

“Time and patience are our two biggest warriors, especially when you’re involved with these horses,” Finley said. “We all want things yesterday and we all want them quick, fast and immediately. That’s really our society. But these horses will make you wait and there’s plenty of times that you wait and not get any dividends from it. The ones who make you wait and get a dividend from it, often times that dividend is really significant. We think that’s the case with him.”

First Captain burst onto the scene last spring during his 3-year-old season, winning his first three races, including the Grade 3 Dwyer on July 5 at a one-turn mile at Belmont. Following a distant third in his two-turn debut in the restricted Curlin on July 31 at Saratoga, he was sent to the sidelines and did not return to action for another seven months. 

Finley said First Captain’s two-turn success in the Pimlico Special could identify the chestnut colt as a candidate for prestigious handicap division races for older horses in New York, including the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban Handicap on July 9 at Belmont as well as the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney and Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, both at Saratoga. 

Should a Grade/Group 1 winner start in the 2022 Jockey Club Gold Cup, the purse will be increased to $1.25 million. In addition, the first four placings of the Grade Suburban will have their nomination, entry and starting fees waived should they start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“It’ll be in New York,” Finley said when asked of First Captain’s next start. “The three races coming up, the Suburban, Whitney and Jockey Club Gold Cup. One or more of those are coming into consideration.”

Finley said First Captain has matured and improved physically from his narrow optional-claiming win in his seasonal debut in February at Gulfstream Park.

“Looking at him in Florida compared to last week in Maryland, I saw a really nice step forward. I hadn’t seen him in the flesh in a couple of months,” Finley said. “He’s a very, very exciting horse. He’s got the pedigree to beat any kind, so it’s a matter of Shug mapping out a plan for him and I’m sure he’s thinking about it quite a bit. He’s kind of a throwback, a big, beautiful horse with some brawn to him. He walks around like he’s very confident with a lot of class and presence to himself. When all those things come together it’s the epitome of what a racehorse should look like. That’s what I saw at Pimlico.”

First Captain boasts a record of 7-5-0-1 and earnings of $470,100. Bred by co-owner Bobby Flay, he is out of the graded stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed A.P. Indy mare America. He was a $1.5 million purchase from Stone Farm’s consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in August 2019. 

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Ray Handal notches Saturday hat trick

Trainer Ray Handal notched three victories with as many runners Saturday at Belmont, securing the hat trick with Jack the Cat [Race 4, $10.60], Thinking It Over [Race 6, $13], and Barrage [Race 7, $13.80]. 

“I felt like I had three very live horses with three very good chances. I thought they would all hit the board,” Handal said. “Barrage, who won by a nose, was the one I liked the most. I thought he improved a lot, and he was training insanely well coming into it. But you can never predict going 3-for-3; you just do your best, put them in the right spot and the rest is up to them. Fortunately, everything went the right way.”

Perhaps what is most notable about Handal’s three wins on Saturday was that they were all piloted by different jockeys, including Jalon Samuel who was aboard Jack the Cat. Samuel, a native of Barbados, has the record for most victories won by a jockey in his native land’s Barbados Gold Cup. Thinking It Over was ridden to victory by Joel Rosario, while Dylan Davis rode Barrage. 

“I was happy for Jalon. He rides out for me in the morning. He’s a great guy, super talented, and I wouldn’t put him behind anyone,” Handal said. “Watch him riding down the lane in that race yesterday, he looks as good as anyone riding on the NYRA circuit. I have a lot of confidence in him.”

Merrylegs Farm’s New York homebred Thinking It Over defeated state-bred winners coming from off the pace going six furlongs on the main track. The Overanalyze filly finished third in the Franklin Square in January at Aqueduct. The sophomore filly broke her maiden in November on the same surface, defeating eventual stakes-placed Bank On Anna. 

Handal said a return to stakes company could be in play, but that he’ll take things slowly with his developing filly. 

“We’ll weigh everything in,” Handal said. “We’ll go back to the drawing board and come up with a game plan. I’ll take my time with her, she’s had a long winter and hasn’t missed a beat of training. I’ll give her some time and let her fill up. She’s a lighter framed filly and she puts a lot into her races. I’m in no rush to get her back in action.”

Barrage, owned by Teresa Palmer and David J. Palmer, made his first start for Handal as well as his first start of the year when outdueling Lord Flintshire in the stretch drive to win by a nose over the inner turf. The 4-year-old War Dancer gelding was third at 52-1 behind future stakes winners Ocala Dream and Step Dancer in last year’s NYSSS Cab Calloway at Belmont for former trainer Armando De La Cerda. 

Handal expressed confidence in keeping his upward trajectory afloat. 

“The horses are running well, and I have a really good barn of horses right now. I have some nice 2-year-olds here as well. I think we’ll be able to continue this,” Handal said. “I have great clients, everyone has been patient just letting me do my thing and place them where I think we can win races. That’s half the battle.”

Following Saturday’s action, Handal boasts a strong record of 14-5-4-0 at the Belmont spring/summer meet, winning at a 36 percent clip.  

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Belmont Park Week 6 stakes probables

Saturday, June 4, 2022

G2 Pennine Ridge

Probable: Credit Event (Chad Brown), Daunt (Robert Ribaudo), Elizar (Christophe Clement), Gilded Age (Bill Mott), Limited Liability (Shug McGaughey), Napoleonic War (Brown), Unanimous Consent (Brown) 

Possible: Emmanuel (Todd Pletcher)