Friday, October 15, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
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- Friend Or Foe to Empire Classic, Uncle T Seven to Mohawk
- Naughty New Yorker could make fifth start in Empire Classic; Upper East Sider to Maid of the Mist
- Stakes fields coming together for New York Showcase Day
ELMONT, N.Y. – John Kimmel will have a pair of leading contenders on New York Showcase Day as the trainer is scheduled to saddle Friend Or Foe in the $200,000 Empire Classic and Uncle T Seven in the $125,000 Mohawk on October 23.
The Empire Classic at 1 1/8 miles on the main track will be Friend Or Foe’s first start against New York-breds since his victory in the Mike Lee at
“This will be his first race since a very troubled trip in the Travers,” said Kimmel, who trains Friend Or Foe for
Kimmel added that Alex Solis will ride Friend Or Foe for the first time in the Empire Classic.
Uncle T Seven, owned by Thomas N. Mina, Suzann Bobley, MFRG Racing Stable, and Dennis J. Brida, will aim for his second stakes victory of the meet, having won the Ashley T. Cole on September 12. The 4-year-old by Freud was 11th in last year’s edition of the Mohawk, a 1 1/8-mile race on the turf.
“He ran a nice race when he won the Ashley T. Cole, and he’s done very well since that race,” said Kimmel. “It’s the next logical spot for him. He’ll be ridden this time by Ramon Dominguez, and I couldn’t be happier with his progress.”
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Fox Ridge Farm’s Naughty New Yorker has made four starts in the Empire Classic and is “50/50” to compete in the 2010 edition.
“He’s actually for sale as a stallion in the Keeneland November sale, and it’s possible that if he gets sold before the sale that he’d be off to his new career,” said the 8-year-old’s trainer Pat Kelly. “He’s nominated to the Empire Classic, and if I get a breeze into him one of these days we’ll think about it.”
Naughty New Yorker, whose previous best showing in the Empire Classic was a fourth in the 2007 edition has posted a record of 12-10-10 from 65 starts and has earned over $1 million in his career.
“We actually tried to sell him a couple of years ago and couldn’t get him moved,” said Kelly of the 10-time stakes winner. “The people in the bloodstock division think that if people see him catalogued as a stallion prospect, maybe they can get him sold.”
Kelly said a strong performance in the Maid of the Mist, also set for Showcase Day, by 2-year-old filly Upper East Sider, an eight-length winner of a New York-bred turf sprint at Belmont on September 12, could lead to a start in the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs on November 5. Upper East Sider, ninth on the dirt at
“There are no grass races for her, so we are going try her in the seven-eighths race on the dirt,” said Kelly of Upper East Sider, also owned by Peter Schiff’s Fox Ride Farm. “Her one dirt race at
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Fields are beginning to come together for the seven state-bred stakes carded for New York Showcase Day at
Topping the program is the $200,000, 1 1/8-mile Empire Classic, expected to draw last year’s Grade 3 Excelsior winner Giant Moon, who, overcoming the foot troubles that plagued him earlier in his career, has waged a strong 5-year-old campaign this year with two wins and two seconds from five starts, including a neck victory in Saratoga’s Evan Shipman Stakes for New York-breds. Owned by breeder Albert Fried, Jr. and trained by Rick Schosberg, Giant Moon could face eight or more rivals in the Empire Classic.
Among those probable to join the field, according to NYRA Stakes Coordinator Andrew Byrnes, is a trio of 3-year-olds including the John Kimmel-trained Friend Or Foe, who won the first three starts of his career and exits a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Travers; Ibboyee, who has finished no worse than fourth in eight starts this year including three attempts in graded company; and Mine Over Matter, winner of the Salute Me Sir stakes here on September 17 over Giant Moon. Icabad Crane, Ruffino, Star of New York and Wishful Tomcat are also expected, and local hero Naughty New Yorker, third in the Salute Me Sir, could also run.
The Mohawk, 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf, is expected to draw Ashley T. Cole winner Uncle T Seven, along with Don’t Fouli Houli, Kutais, Mr. Vegas, Piazza Di Spagna, Pocket Cowboys, Pretty Boy Freud, Straight Story and Vlast, while the Ticonderoga, for fillies and mares on the grass, is expected to attract Akilina, Chestoria, Chorus Music, Crazy Catlady, Exclusive Scheme, Frivolous Buck, Meriwether Jessica, Ms Stilleto, Paraiba, You Go West Girl and possibly Spa City Princess.
For state-bred sprinters, the six-furlong Hudson and seven-furlong Iroquois for fillies and mares are both shaping up to be competitive with Be Bullish, Citifest, Endless Circle, General Maximus and Good Card the early probables for the Hudson and City Broad, Cody Samora, Lovely Lil, Meese Rocks, My Dinah, R Betty Graybull and Sapphire Sky probable for the Iroquois, with Shine Upon and Sweet Lorena listed as possible.
Also carded for Showcase day is a pair of seven-furlong stakes for juveniles – the Sleepy Hollow, and the Maid of the Mist, for fillies. In the Sleepy Hollow, two time stakes-winner Bug Juice is expected to meet Repole Stable’s undefeated Never Right Joey, winner of the High Rock Springs Stakes at
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