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In Stakes Debut, Secret Love Posts $28 Upset In Franklin Square

Secret Love handled her first stakes appearance – and first start on an off track – with a strong stretch-drive move, with the field's longest shot outkicking 3-5 favorite Laobanonaprayer by 1 1/2 lengths to capture Saturday's $100,000 Franklin Square for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Owned by Nedlaw Stable and Tobey Morton, Secret Love won her debut in September going six furlongs at Belmont Park. After running second at the same distance on December 20 at the Big A, trainer John Kimmel moved the Not This Time filly up in class in the seventh running of the 6 ½-furlong Franklin Square.

She responded by tracking in second position behind pacesetter Rossa Veloce, who led the five-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 22.76 seconds and the half in 46.68 on the muddy and sealed main track.

Jockey Pablo Morales kept her forwardly placed out of the turn with plenty in reserve, as she easily overtook a fading Rossa Veloce from the outside at the top of the stretch. Morales, utilizing left-handed encouragement, repelled Laobanonaprayer's late outside bid, hitting the wire in 1:19.86.

“She came to run,” said Morales, who won his first stakes at the Big A since Great Intentions in the 2006 Flip's Pleasure. “They gave me a lot of confidence in her. They told me to have her forwardly placed because they thought she was going to run big. I pretty much followed instructions and came out of there running. Once the other horse made the lead, I just sat second the whole way around there. She gave me a nice kick down the lane and I thought it was good enough to win and she sure did.

“I knew everybody was right there,” he added. “I knew it was a competitive field and I wasn't going to draw off in hand and I would have to keep on riding. She dug in hard and I knew with the run she gave me, she was going to be tough to pass.”

Off at 13-1, Secret Love paid $28 on a $2 win wager. Bred by Sequel Stallions NY and Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Secret Love more than doubled her career earnings to $98,000. She was purchased for $270,000 at the 2020 OBS July 2-year-Old Horses of Racing Age Sale.

Kimmel said Secret Love had been working with fellow New York-bred sophomore Frost Me, who won an optimal claimer event on January 8 at Aqueduct.

“The filly broke her maiden very impressively but she lost a shoe and grabbed her quarter and that's why she missed the next 90 days,” Kimmel said about the break between her first and second starts. “We came back and ran her in an 'a other than' off a long layoff and I think she needed that race. She had a couple breezes after that race and was breezing extremely well and outworking Frost Me. Today, they kind of overlooked her and sent her off at a generous 13-1.”

Kimmel said he was impressed with Secret Love's sophomore bow and could run next in the $100,000 Maddie May for state-breds going one mile on February 20 at Aqueduct, along with stablemate Frost Me.

“He [Morales] got her off the inside and he did a very nice job,” Kimmel said. “Laobanonaprayer is a proven horse and a very nice filly. I thought our filly did very well. The pace was very quick up front and she held on. Maybe the track helped her as it might have been tough to make any big closing moves today.”

Laobanonaprayer, who entered with stakes wins in her last two starts, edged Vacay by a neck for second. The Daniel Velazquez trainee is 2-2-1 in five career starts.

“I never had the horse today,” said Laobannaprayer's jockey Kendrick Carmouche. “She missed some training at Parx and you've got to be ready when you come to New York. He [trainer Daniel Velazquez] thought he had the best horse and could still win. The filly still tried.”

Rossa Veloce and A Life That's Good completed the order of finish. Caramocha was scratched.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with a nine-race card headlined by the $100,000 Ladies Handicap for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles in Race 8. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

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Laobanonaprayer Gives Breeder Deronda Another Chance For The Limelight

For a small breeder, having just one stakes-producing mare on the farm is a source of pride for Christina Deronda. But how about two?

Deronda is the breeder of Laobanonaprayer, who will seek a third straight stakes victory in Saturday's $100,000 Franklin Square going 6 1/2 furlongs for New York-bred sophomore fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Deronda, who operates Moonstar Farm in Dutchess County, N.Y., alongside her mother Angela Colyard and sister Patricia Calandro, owns Raffie's Chance – a daughter of Raffie's Majesty who is the dam of Laobanonaprayer. She also owns City Scamper, who produced two-time stakes winning New York-bred City Man, under the Moonstar Farm moniker.

Via the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund, breeders of a New York-bred and sired horse, such as Laobanonaprayer, that win on any New York track earn a bonus of 30 percent of the purse money earned, while second and third-place breeders garner a 15 percent bonus. Horses foaled in New York, but by a sire from outside the Empire State, earn a 15 percent bonus for the winning breeder and a 7.5 percent bonus for finishing second or third.

“We're backyard farmers and we love the horses,” Deronda said. “We don't really do this for the money, we do it because we like to do it. Being a New York state breeder, when your babies do something here, it's nice to get some return. We always work hard and help each other out. It's nice to have a couple of good years in the horse business, because one year could be really good and the next could be really not so good.”

Laobanonaprayer, a daughter of second-crop sire Laoban, won both of her stakes efforts in dominant fashion when notching a 5 1/2-length triumph in the Oct. 24 Maid of the Mist at Belmont Park before an eight-length stroll under the wire in the NYSSS Fifth Avenue on Dec. 6 at the Big A.

Deronda said the filly displayed an audacious demeanor from the beginning.

“When she was first born, she had some intestinal problems, so we took her to the hospital, and they cleared her up,” Deronda said. “When we came and picked her up, they asked me 'Did you name her? Because we call her 'Sassy.” She was sassy alright. She was always a very strong-minded filly. Very sweet, but she had an attitude. She was the leader of the pack. You had to be on your game when you were working with her.”

While a young Laobanonaprayer was manageable during her foal and yearling days, her attitude saw new heights when being taken into the sales ring at Fasig-Tipton's New York Saratoga Fall Sale in October 2018, where she brought $17,000 and was purchased by Hidden Brook.

“She was good when people wanted to look at her and she was, for the most part, well behaved during shows. But in the sales ring, she started acting up a bit,” Deronda said. “Every three steps she would start bucking and rearing. She had a real get-me-out-of-here attitude. I put in a reserve for $16,999 and she sold for $17,000.”

Hidden Brook then put her through the sales ring at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Sale last May, where she was acquired for $15,000 by owner and trainer Daniel Velazquez.

“When I watched her go through the 2-year-old sale, she floored me. I thought she would sell better than she sold for,” Deronda said. “But I'm glad that she's with a good trainer. He has done such a great job with her. He really seems to be taking his time with her and spaces her races out nicely. Seems like he's always found the right spot for her.”

Half siblings of Laobanonaprayer could see action in the future as Raffie's Chance has produced a now 2-year-old daughter of Algorithms as well as a Central Banker yearling colt.

“She was a really nice filly, very beautiful filly. She had some attitude as well,” Deronda said of Raffie's Chance's Algorithms filly, who was an RNA for $39,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Yearling Sale in October of last year. “The mare throws some nice looking foals. I have a [yearling] colt by Central Banker and he has the same attitude that she does.”

Deronda said that Laoban and Raffie's Chance appear to be a good match.

“They nicked an A and now, obviously, they nick an A++,” Deronda said.

Laobanonaprayer, listed as the 6-5 morning line favorite, will be piloted from post 4 on Saturday by Kendrick Carmouche. The Franklin Square is slated as Race 8 on the nine-race card with a post time of 3:50 p.m. Eastern. First post is 12:20 p.m.

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Vacay Takes On Laobanonaprayer In Franklin Square For New York-Breds

Two-time stakes winner Laobanonaprayer will cut back in distance in Saturday's seventh running of the $100,000 Franklin Square, a 6 1/2-furlong test for New York-bred sophomore fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Owned and trained by Daniel Velazquez, the bay filly is a daughter of second crop stallion Laoban, who broke his maiden against stakes company in the 2016 Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga Race Course.

Like her sire, Laobanonaprayer also notched her first career win at stakes caliber when defeating next-out winner Frost Me in the one-mile Maid of the Mist on October 24 at Belmont Park, which took place following a respective third and second against maiden special weight company at Delaware Park.

Piloted by jockey Kendrick Carmouche in her maiden score against fellow state-breds, Laobanonaprayer tracked a close fifth in behind horses, weaved her way through traffic up the rail around the far turn, took command approaching the eighth pole and drew off to a 5 ½-length victory.

Last out, Laobanonaprayer displayed another dominant effort in the seven-furlong NYSSS Fifth Avenue on December 6 at the Big A, where she rated off the pace from the four path and picked up runners around the far turn before taking command at the three-sixteenths pole and striding away an eight-length winner as the odds-on favorite under Carmouche.

Velazquez said Laobanonaprayer is better suited for longer distances, but a cutback in ground won't hinder her winning chances.

“I still think six-and-a-half is not her key distance,” Velazquez said. “It's just the way things went. We debuted her going 5 ½-furlongs and she was third. I'm not saying she can't do six-and-a-half, but she would be better going anywhere from seven-eighths, a flat mile to a mile and a sixteenth. That's more her cup of tea.”

Based at Parx Racing for the winter, Laobanonaprayer worked five-eighths over the Philadelphia oval in 1:02.24 on January 9.

“We're excited,” Velazquez said. “She's doing really well and it's a good spot for her to win. We were going to try open company, but we figured why do that when we could run against New York-breds. She's extremely versatile and I know she handles the wet track.”

Bred in New York by Christina Deronda, Laobanonaprayer is out of the Raffie's Majesty mare Raffie's Chance. She was purchased by Velazquez for $15,000 from last year's Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, where she was consigned by Hidden Brook.

Carmouche, the leading rider at the winter meet, will retain the mount from post 4.

Laobanonaprayer will face a stiff test from up-and-coming filly Vacay, who is unbeaten in two career starts.

Owned by Repole Stable and Aron Wellman's Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, the dark bay or brown daughter of second crop sire Not This Time won on debut over a sloppy and sealed main track at Belmont Park before winning the six-furlong Key Cents against state-breds on November 15 at the Big A.

Piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the Key Cents, Vacay was in stalking position and went five wide at the quarter pole before edging up to even terms with the frontrunners at the three sixteenths pole and strolling home a 5 ½ length winner for trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the 2016 Franklin Square with Clipthecouponannie.

Bred by J Stables, Vacay is the third progeny out of the Belgravia mare Florida Sun, who was a stakes winner at six furlongs.

Vacay will emerge from post 1 under jockey Jose Lezcano.

Trainer Ray Handal will saddle Key Cents runner-up Rossa Veloce in attempt of her first stakes victory.

Co-owned by Handal with Blue Streak Racing, Rossa Veloce defeated winners last out in wire-to-wire fashion on December 20 at Aqueduct going six furlongs. With five career starts, the chestnut daughter of Girolamo is the most seasoned filly in the Franklin Square field with a record of 2-1-0. Rossa Veloce won her August 5 debut at Saratoga by a half-length, defeating subsequent stakes winner No Mo Spending.

Jockey Manny Franco retains the mount from post 5.

Completing the field are maiden special weight winners Secret Love [post 2, Pablo Morales], A Life That's Good [post 3, Trevor McCarthy], and Caramocha [post 6, Dylan Davis].

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

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