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Magic Circle Breaks Through For First Stakes Score In Busanda

J.W. Singer's Magic Circle got her breakthrough victory in her fourth attempt at stakes level with a commanding gate-to-wire performance in Sunday's $100,000 Busanda for 3-year-old fillies going nine furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The chestnut daughter of Kantharos was a close third in the Grade 2 Demoiselle in December at the Big A, displaying the same forwardly-placed tactics before lugging out in deep stretch. Magic Circle never relinquished this time around, maintaining her advantage throughout to win by 2 3/4 lengths.

In capturing the Busanda, Magic Circle earned 10 qualifying points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, pushing her total up to 13 points. She earned two points when third in the Demoiselle and one point when fourth in the Grade 1 Frizette in October at Belmont Park.

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Piloted by Jose Ortiz, a now three-time Busanda winner, Magic Circle was nudged a few strides out of the gate from her inside post, and led the field through an easy opening quarter-mile in 24.38 seconds over the fast main track. Rosebug kept close company to her outside in second with two-time winner Waters of Merom another half-length back in third.

Positions remained unchanged through a half-mile in 48.28 seconds, but the tempo picked up around the far turn with Morning Matcha launching her usual late move. Ortiz kept Magic Circle to task approaching the quarter pole and into upper stretch as Morning Matcha continued to sweep up ground. But Magic Circle could not be caught, coming under the wire in a final time of 1:51.29.

“She broke really sharp and put me there by herself,” said Ortiz, who also piloted Fierce Boots [2014] and Flora Dora [2016] to Busanda scores. “She was traveling very nicely the first quarter. She was pulling me a little too much. I was a little bit nervous and I just wanted to put my hands down and relax and she finally did passing the seven furlongs. When she entered the backside she was completely relaxed and going a very decent cruising speed. She didn't walk the dog but the track is fast and inside is good, so I wasn't afraid to let her go.”

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez tasked Ortiz with piloting Magic Circle, who was ridden by Manny Franco in all four of her previous efforts.

“At Belmont, when she finished second, I was hoping that Manny didn't [use the crop] the way he did because she doesn't like the whip too much,” Rodriguez said. “I told him, 'Don't try to surprise her because she ducks in and out.' Jose is one of the top riders in the country and we are happy to get him in the race. Nothing against Manny; I told the owner that if we couldn't get Jose, we would try to get Manny.”

The remaining local qualifiers for the Kentucky Oaks are the one-mile $250,000 Busher Invitational [50-20-10-5] on March 5 and the nine-furlong Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle [100-40-20-10] on April 9.

“I'm going to talk to the owner about that and decide what we are going to do,” Rodriguez said. “I don't know. You never know. Right now she's learning, so we just have to hope for the best.”

Returning $4.10 for a $2 win wager, Magic Circle brought her lifetime earnings up to $194,000 and boasts a record of 5-2-1-1.

Morning Matcha maintained her perfect in-the-money record and picked up a third career stakes placing when finishing second. She finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Reigning Chick.

Trainer Butch Reid, Jr. did not rule out the addition of blinkers for Morning Matcha's next start.

“We'll try it in the mornings with her and see if it perks up her interest early on a little bit and go from there,” Reid, Jr. said.

Reid, Jr. said Morning Matcha will likely target the Gazelle.

“That's a definite possibility because it's not easy finding races long enough for this filly and the Gazelle is a mile and an eighth,” Reid, Jr. said.

Completing the field were Rosebug, Waters of Merom and Gamestonks.

Magic Circle, bred in Kentucky by Manitou Farm, is out of the Distorted Humor mare Magic Humor. She was purchased for $110,000 from the 2021 OBS April Sale, where she was consigned by Costanza Stables.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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The Grass Is Blue Earns Kentucky Oaks Points With Busanda Victory

There were some anxious moments throughout the running of Sunday's $100,000 Busanda for The Grass Is Blue, but the daughter of Broken Vow proved superior in the nine-furlong event for sophomore fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Owned by Louis Lazzinnaro and trained by Chad Brown, The Grass Is Blue received a well-timed ride by jockey Manny Franco, who piloted the filly to a one-length triumph in her second start around two turns and first with blinkers.

The Grass Is Blue garnered ten points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks when taking the Busanda – a 10-4-2-1 qualifier for the prestigious event. The Grass Is Blue arrived at the Busanda off a close third as the favorite in Laurel Park's Anne Arundel County on December 26.

Breaking from the outside post in the five-horse field, Franco angled The Grass Is Blue to the inside approaching the first turn while Traffic Lane assumed command with fellow Todd Pletcher-trained Repole Stable color bearer Coffee Bar close behind in second through an opening quarter-mile in 24.44 seconds. Franco had a tight hold on The Grass Is Blue, who was rank as the field approached the backstretch.

With the half in 49.73, Traffic Lane was maintained command as The Grass Is Blue was still in search of racing room along the fence with Wonderwall and Diamond Ore inching closer to the front.

As Coffee Bar inched her way to even terms with her stable mate at the top of the stretch, Franco weaved The Grass Is Blue two paths to the outside and in the clear and gave the filly her cue at the three-sixteenths. Coffee Bar proved to be a tough customer and battled gamely to the inside, but the 8-5 favorite proved best, completing the 1 1/8 miles in a final time of 1:54.90 on the fast main track.

The New York-bred Coffee Bar, a Repole Stable homebred, finished another five lengths ahead of Diamond Ore, who rounded out the trifecta. Traffic Lane and Wonderwall completed the order of finish.

Franco expressed confidence in his filly and said the equipment change made a big difference.

“I knew I had a lot of horse under me the whole way around,” said Franco, who piloted Always Shopping to a win in the 2019 Busanda.“The blinkers helped a lot. I was just waiting for the right moment to make my move and at the quarter pole, she just accelerated. With the blinkers first time, I knew she was going to take me there. I just wanted to give her a breather at some point during the race and that's why I stayed inside. When the time came, I tipped out and she just accelerated. She got the distance really well.”

Lazzinnaro was full of praise for Franco for a confident and patient ride aboard his filly.

“I think Manny gave the horse a perfect trip,” Lazzinnaro said. “It looked like she liked the track a lot so we'll probably keep her here during the winter and let Chad figure out what to do and how to go about winning another race with her. Chad took his time with her and got her going good. The distance was good for her today.”

The Grass Is Blue returned $5.20 as the favorite and banked $55,000 in victory pushing her lifetime earnings past the six-figure mark to $121,978 through a career of 5-3-0-1.

Bred in Kentucky by Phillips Racing Partnership, The Grass Is Blue is out of the Aldebaran mare Shine Softly, whose mother Soaring Softly won the 1999 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and was named Champion Turf Mare that same year.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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Oaks Prep: Arrogate’s Half-Sister Diamond Ore Tops Sunday’s Busanda Stakes

The Road to the Kentucky Oaks will go through New York when Diamond Ore takes on four other sophomore fillies in Sunday's 47th running of the $100,000 Busanda going nine furlongs over the main track at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Busanda is a local qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, scheduled to be run on April 30 at Churchill Downs, awarding the top-four finishers points on a 10-4-2-1 scale.

The race honors Ogden Phipps' 1950 Alabama winner, whose name is an anacronym for the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (BuSandA) – a Navy bureau that Phipps had served in during World War II. As a broodmare, Busanda, a daughter of War Admiral and granddaughter of the prolific broodmare La Troienne, produced Hall of Famer and prestigious sire Buckpasser and was also the great granddam of 1984 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Outstandingly.

Clearview Stable's Diamond Ore, a $750,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, makes her stakes debut for trainer Barb Minshall following a maiden-breaking effort routing on the Tampa Bay Downs dirt on Dec. 24.

The Tapit bay, out of the multiple stakes winning Distorted Humor mare Bubbler, is a half-sister to champion Arrogate, who won the 2016 Travers at Saratoga Race Course in a track record time of 1:59.36.

Diamond Ore made her first three starts on Tapeta for the Woodbine-based Minshall, who captured the 2017 Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga with Dream It Is, and will send out her first representative at the Big A since Hollywood Hideaway ran third in the 2017 Artie Schiller.

Following a pair of sprint efforts at Woodbine, Diamond Ore rallied to be second when stretched out to two turns for the first time on Nov. 14 at the Rexdale, Ontario oval, garnering a career-best 70 Beyer Speed Figure.

Minshall said the well-bred Diamond Ore is ready for her stakes debut.

“With her pedigree any blacktype is important,” said Minshall. “Hopefully, we can do that for the owners, and she could move forward from this. The horses will tell you where you can go. They sort themselves out. It's early in the 3-year-old year and this is a good chance to see what she's got and see how she handles the dirt in more difficult company.”

Minshall said Diamond Ore will appreciate the added distance Sunday and enters with the benefit of additional training at her Ocala, Florida base on the Winding Oaks Farm dirt, including a five-eighths breeze on Jan. 15 in 1:02 flat.

“The farther she goes the better. She's very game,” said Minshall. “She's trained very well on the dirt here at Winding Oaks. I find she's moved forward with her training. She's done everything right and deserves a chance to move on.”

Minshall said outside of the addition of jockey Eric Cancel, there will be no changes for Diamond Ore who will emerge from post 1.

“Everything's the same. She wears a small cup blinker. She's pretty straightforward,” said Minshall. “I did race her on Lasix at Woodbine, but she raced at Tampa without it and I didn't have any problems.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the 2013 Busanda with subsequent Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar, will attempt a sixth triumph in the Busanda with Repole Stables' Traffic Lane.

The daughter of second crop sire Outwork set the pace in the Grade 2 Demoiselle on December 5 over a sloppy and sealed Big A main track last out but faded to a distant fifth, finishing 18 ¼ lengths to stable mate Malathaat.

Pletcher's Belmont Park-based assistant Byron Hughes noted that neither the Demoiselle winner nor Traffic Lane liked the off-going but is optimistic for a better effort on Sunday.

The National Weather Service calls for partly cloudy skies and zero percent chance of precipitation on Sunday for the Ozone Park area.

“She didn't take to it either, but it looks like we'll have a fast track this weekend so we should see some improvement there,” said Hughes. “Our overall impression is that she didn't care for the off track.”

Prior to her stakes debut, third time was the charm for Traffic Lane, who graduated on November 15 over a good outer turf course at Aqueduct after two efforts in off-the-turf maiden events. In the 1 1/16-mile event, Traffic Lane tracked a length off the pace and secured a three-quarter length triumph over next-out winner Candace O.

“It was all just experience, that was the main thing,” Hughes said. “She hasn't been the most precocious filly, but I think the experience helped her and the races under her belt helped her. When she did break her maiden, she did it as we expected her to.”

Bred in Kentucky by Oak Lodge Bloodstock, Traffic Lane was purchased for $95,000 from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Blandford Stud consignment and is the second offspring out of the Quality Road mare Katie Lane.

With Jose Lezcano aboard, Traffic Lane will emerge from post 4.

The Pletcher-Repole combo will also be represented by New York homebred Coffee Bar, who is entered off two weeks' rest from an 8 ¼-length maiden win on January 10 going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.

Also a daughter of Outwork, Coffee Bar was a distant third on debut, but sat a couple of lengths closer to pace in her maiden victory to draw off a decisive winner while registering a 73 Beyer.

Coffee Bar will receive the riding services of the Big A's current leading rider Kendrick Carmouche from post 2.

Trainer Chad Brown sends out Louis Lazzinnaro's The Grass Is Blue after a close third in the December 26 Safely Kept at Laurel Park. The chestnut daughter of Broken Vow won on debut for a $25,000 tag at Monmouth Park by 8 ½ lengths and defeated winners in a Keeneland allowance on October 4 over next out stakes winner Feeling Mischief.

Bred in Kentucky by Phillips Racing Partnership, The Grass Is Blue is out of the Aldebaran mare Shine Softly, whose dam was 1999 Champion Turf Mare Soaring Softly.

Jockey Manny Franco will pilot The Grass Is Blue from post 5.

Wonderwall was dropped into a $25,000 maiden claiming tilt at Laurel Park on December 19 off a pair of swift works and proved she was no morning glory with a sharp 7 1/4-length score.

Claimed out of that winning effort by owner Marcial Cornejo, Wonderwall posted a supersonic effort in her first start for trainer Claudio Gonzalez when romping by 10 1/2-lengths in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming tilt last out on January 8 at Laurel that garnered a career-best 75 Beyer.

Wonderwall will be ridden by Trevor McCarthy from post 3.

The Busanda is slated as Race 8 on Sunday's nine-race program, which has a first post of 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

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Arrogate Half Sister Diamond Ore To Make Stakes Debut Jan. 24

Clearview Stable's Diamond Ore, a half-sister to 2016 Grade 1 Travers-winner Arrogate, is set to make her stakes debut in the $100,000 Busanda on Jan. 24, a nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies at the Big A offering 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

Trained by Barb Minshall, the Tapit bay, out of the multiple stakes winning Distorted Humor mare Bubbler, was purchased for $750,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms and Hill 'N' Dale Equine Holdings, Diamond Ore made her first three starts on Tapeta at Woodbine Racetrack, including a good second, defeated a half-length, on November 14 when stretched out to two turns for the first time that garnered a career-best 70 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I thought she was unlucky not to win her last race at Woodbine,” said Minshall. “She got shuffled back at the turn and then came back on and she just missed. That was the first two-turn maiden race at Woodbine on the synthetic.

“I ran her a couple times short just to give her some racing experience, even though I knew she wanted to go long,” added Minshall. “In her last race at Woodbine, she was really unlucky not to win.”

Last out, in a mile and 40 yards maiden special weight on Dec. 24 at Tampa Bay Downs, Diamond Ore made her dirt debut a winning one while racing without Lasix for the first time. With Samy Camacho up, Diamond Ore tracked in fifth before grinding out a half-length score over Purtiz that registered a 57 Beyer.

“The number was a little on the slow side, but she handled the dirt well off of one dirt work,” said Minshall.

Diamond Ore, who is based at Winding Oaks Farm in Ocala, Fla., worked five-eighths Friday morning in 1:02 as she prepares to stretch out in her stakes debut.

“It was a good work. She's strong,” said Minshall. “It's a deep track here at Winding Oaks and I thought she worked well. She's feeling good.

“I think she fits. The nine furlongs will be good for her,” added Minshall. “She's not an overly big filly, but she's gotten a lot more robust build since she came to me in July last year. She's a really happy, good feeling filly but she's not what I would call tall. She's compact.”

Minshall said the Kentucky Oaks qualifier will be a good litmus test as she plans a sophomore campaign for the well-bred bay.

“She's improved along the way. She's needed to learn and she's gotten stronger and smarter with every race,” said Minshall. “She has potential to move forward and obviously this is a big step from a maiden race to a stakes race, but it will be the same for most of the horses that are nominated. We're all looking to see what we have.”

Diamond Ore is slated to ship up to New York on Wednesday and will be piloted in the Busanda by Eric Cancel.

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