Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Moved to Next Saturday

Following New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) approval, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has moved the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic from Sunday to next Saturday, Oct. 7, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Friday's 11-race Aqueduct card was cancelled due to a powerful coastal storm causing widespread flooding and hazardous conditions throughout New York City and Long Island. In addition to Friday's cancellation, NYRA moved Saturday's 11-race card to Sunday and pushed Sunday's 10-race program to Wednesday.

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic will be re-drawn with entries to be taken on Wednesday, joining a stacked stakes card led by two Grade I “Win and You're In” qualifiers at one-mile for juveniles in the Champagne [GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile] and Frizette [GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies].

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Background Check: Frizette

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is Belmont's GI Frizette S., a race with a tremendous amount of repercussion on the sport.

The 1905 mare Frizette, for whom this 2-year-old filly race is named, may have been just a minor sprint stakes winner, but she was an absolute giant in the breeding shed. A foundation mare in both the U.S. and France, Frizette's descendants through her daughters include one of yesteryear's top French sires, Tourbillon (Fr), and modern U.S. stalwarts Mr. Prospector and Seattle Slew. Among the long list of top performers tracing to her are stars as varied as Dr. Fager and Dahlia, and many, many more.

How fitting then that among the 74 previous winners of the Frizette, which was inaugurated in 1945, a number would become breed-shaping broodmares in their own right.

Some of the Frizette winners who belong on this list were previously featured in our “Background Checks” for the GI Alabama S., GI Test S., and/or GIII Schuylerville S.; please see those earlier profiles for notes on Phipps homebreds Numbered Account and Heavenly Prize and the Florida-bred Meadow Star.

Following are the some of the other most important Frizette winners by what impact they have had on the sport through their sons and daughters.

Dreaming of Julia (2010, A.P. Indy–Dream Rush, by Wild Rush): This Stonestreet homebred's only foal to make it to the races thus far is Malathaat, last year's champion 3-year-old filly after her 2021 wins included the GI Kentucky Oaks, GI Alabama S., and the GI Ashland S. She was last seen taking Saratoga's GI Personal Ensign S. Sept. 27.

Preach (1989, Mr. Prospector–Narrate, by Honest Pleasure): A fourth-generation Claiborne homebred, Preach's indelible mark on the breed will forever be through her first foal, fellow Claiborne homebred and MGSW Pulpit. Not only did he have a number of top runners as a stallion, but he's been a noted sire of sires, most especially due to his exceptional multiple-leading sire son Tapit.

Personal Ensign (1984, Private Account–Grecian Banner, by Hoist the Flag): A horse can't do any more than this grand girl did. She was perfection: an undefeated champion as a racehorse and a Broodmare of the Year in her second career. A Phipps family homebred, Personal Ensign produced MGISW My Flag, as well as GISWs Miner's Mark and Traditionally. Her daughters have produced a number of top-flight runners, including champion Storm Flag Flying, who emulated her granddam and won the Frizette in 2002; GISWs Mr Speaker and Seeking the Soul; and this summer's GII Suburban S. winner Dynamic One.

Regal Gleam (1964, Hail to Reason–Miz Carol, by Stymie): A number of high-caliber horses trace to this Bieber-Jacobs Stable runner, none better than her grandson Caerleon. A Group 1 winner in both England and France, he later distinguished himself with leading sire titles in both England and Ireland.

Priceless Gem (1963, Hail to Reason–Searching, by War Admiral): Like Regal Gleam, above, Bieber-Jacobs Stable bred this lovely mare, whose most important foal was French Horse of the Year and G1 Prix d l'Arc de Triomphe victress Allez France. She's also the ancestress of GISWs Al Mamoon, La Gueriere, Ordway, Honor in War, and Icon Project, as well as of current top 10 leading sire Munnings.

My Dear Girl (1957, Rough'n Tumble–Iltis, by War Relic): Not too many mares produce seven stakes winners and not many leave a sire son as impactful as In Reality. Among his best runners and stallion sons were Relaunch, Known Fact, and Believe It, while the legacies left out of his daughters included Broodmare of the Year Toussaud. My Dear Girl was bred in Florida by Ocala Stud Farms.

Bimlette (1944, Bimelech–Bloodroot, by Blue Larkspur): Bred by E. R. Bradley's Idle Hour Stock Farm and out of the 1946 Broodmare of the Year, Bimlette delivered three stakes winners, including 1963 Wood Memorial winner and sire No Robbery. Champion and Breeders' Cup winner Beautiful Pleasure and her full-brother, MGISW Mecke, both trace to her, as does champion Tempest Queen, GISW Dream Dancing, a host of other GSWs, and a current leading sire in New York, Mission Impazible.

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‘Going To Have To Catch Her’: Echo Zulu Towers Over Frizette Field

Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing's Echo Zulu will pursue a validation of dominance amongst the juvenile filly division on the East Coast when attempting a second Grade 1 victory in Sunday's 72nd running of the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

The Frizette is a “Win And You're In” qualifying event offering an automatic entry into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 5 at Del Mar.

Unbeaten in both lifetime starts, Echo Zulu, a daughter of leading first-crop sire Gun Runner, enters the Frizette off a wire-to-wire four-length win in the Grade 1 Spinaway going seven furlongs on Sept. 5 at Saratoga.

Echo Zulu registered a 92 Beyer Speed Figure on debut – one of the top-three highest recorded by a 2-year-old this year – when breaking her maiden going 5 ½ furlongs in July at Saratoga. Echo Zulu showed early speed in her maiden score and responded well when asked by Ricardo Santana, Jr., powering home to a 5 ½-length score.

A victory would provide Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen with a fourth Frizette triumph, following scores with My Miss Aurelia [2011], Nickname [2015] and Wicked Whisper [2019].

Echo Zulu was acquired for $300,000 from the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where she was consigned by Betz Thoroughbreds. She is out of the Menifee mare Letgomyecho, who also produced Grade 1-winner Echo Town and graded stakes winner J Boys Echo.

Like many of Asmussen's young horses, Echo Zulu was sent to El Primero Training Center in Laredo, Texas – owned by Asmussen's parents Keith and Marilyn Asmussen – prior to her racing career.

David Fiske, Winchell Thoroughbreds' racing and bloodstock advisor, noted the strong gate ability many horses that develop at El Primero acquire.

“The horses that come out of Laredo tend to be pretty fast from the gate. We call it the Laredo leap,” Fiske said. “They'll come out and be a length or two in front of the rest. It's just a testament to what they do at Laredo. Steve's dad does a great job getting them to leave the gate. A lot of the Gun Runners get out of the gate well, but they aren't rocket ships out of there. But once they get going, they go for a long time.”

Fiske said Echo Zulu flaunted early ability, but her speed figures surprised her connections.

“We knew she was fast. I don't know that we thought she was 92 Beyer fast,” Fiske said. “This year, there have only been a couple of other 2-year-olds with bigger figures than her. She always had trained well, but fast in the morning is different than fast against competition.”

With a likely start in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies to follow the Frizette, Fiske expressed no concern with Echo Zulu stretching out to two turns in the future.

“There's a lot of speed at the bottom side of her pedigree with Echo Town,” Fiske said. “Hopefully there's some genetic influence that would enable her to go two turns.”

Fiske said Echo Zulu is likely to be on the lead Sunday when exiting post 6 under Santana, Jr.

“Someone's going to have to catch her,” Fiske said. “Change the track surface from Saratoga to Belmont and add another furlong, and who knows. But so far, she gives every indication that the mile shouldn't be a problem for her. As fast as she is, she should be able to hold the turns well. It should be easier for her.”

Trainer Chad Brown will saddle Klaravich Stables' Gerrymander, who will attempt to give leading sire Into Mischief his second straight offspring to win the Frizette after last year's winner Dayoutoftheoffice.

Following a distant second as the favorite to Velvet Sister on debut going 5 ½ furlongs on June 10 at Belmont Park, Gerrymander emerged off a 2 ½ month layoff to dazzle at 10-1 odds on August 29 at Saratoga going six furlongs. She broke sharply from the gate, dropped back a close fourth, and made a sweeping four-wide move approaching upper stretch to take the lead past the eighth pole and fended off late rallies from two foes to win by a half-length.

“I've always thought a lot of her. She was bet first out, and I had to totally restart with her and then she showed us what we thought of her in that last race at Saratoga,” said Brown, who teamed up with Klaravich to capture the 2017 Frizette with Separationofpowers. “That's what we thought very early on in the year with her and then she's come back and trained well. We brought her down here and the filly worked fabulous on the main track, so we'll give her a shot to step up. She's going to like a mile, we'll see if she likes the competition. That's the difference.”

Brown said Gerrymander has trained forwardly since her maiden score. Following a bullet half-mile in 48.31 seconds over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track on September 19, she travelled the same distance Sunday on the Belmont main track in 48.77 seconds.

“I like the way the horse is training but she's going to have to really step up,” Brown said. “This is a really strong race.”

Joel Rosario will pilot Gerrymander from post 8.

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Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will seek a sixth Frizette triumph when he saddles Magic Cap Stables' Frosty Brew.

The dark bay or brown daughter of second crop sire Frosted was a 1 ¾-length winner on debut going six furlongs on September 8 at Laurel Park.

“She ran a good race down there,” said McGaughey, whose Frizette coups include subsequent champions Personal Ensign [1986], Heavenly Prize [1993] and Storm Flag Flying [2002]. “She laid a little bit off of it and picked it up.”

McGaughey said Frosty Brew should have no issue stretching out to a mile.

“That ain't going to hurt her,” McGaughey said. “She'll lay where she needs to lay and hopefully, she'll finish. It's a tough spot for her.”

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will ride from the inside post.

The Elkstone Group's Jester Calls Nojoy is one of two entrants from the barn of Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Frizette three times.

The bay daughter of Maclean's Music was an impressive second-out graduate travelling seven furlongs over a good main track at Saratoga, leading at every point of call to draw away by 10 lengths.

Luis Saez was aboard for the outstanding triumph and will ride once more from post 7.

My Racehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm's A Mo Reay will try to break her maiden at Grade 1 level for Pletcher. The daughter of Uncle Mo was a late-closing third last out, making up 11 lengths from ninth to round out the trifecta, just a half-length to fellow Frizette aspirant Gerrymander.

A Mo Reay will leave from post 2 under Jose Lezcano.

Rounding out the field are LLP Performance Horse's Jumeirah [post 5, Junior Alvarado], a stakes-placed daughter of Twirling Candy for trainer Carlos David; J.W. Singer's first-out maiden winner Magic Circle [post 9, Manny Franco]; James Chapman trained and co-owned Saucy Lady T [post 3, Dylan Davis], who finished third in all three graded stakes for juvenile fillies at Saratoga; and KEM Stable's Linda Rice-trained second out maiden winner Hot Fudge [post 4, Jose Ortiz].

The Frizette honors the multiple stakes-winner who is more aptly known for her stellar career as a broodmare. Campaigned by James Keene and subsequently owned by Herman Duryea, Frizette was responsible for producing multiple prominent broodmare lines including champion Myrtlewood, whose descendants include 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, influential patriarch Mr. Prospector and 1942 Kentucky Oaks victress Miss Dogwood.

Other descendants of Frizette include 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand and 1942 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Vagrancy. The Frizette has also been a popular stopping point for subsequent winners of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, including Meadow Star [1990], Flanders [1994], Storm Song [1996], Storm Flag Flying [2002], Indian Blessing [2007], My Miss Aurelia [2011], and Jaywalk [2018].

The Frizette is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Sunday's program also includes the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles over the turf and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya for fillies and mares travelling 1 3/8 miles over the turf.

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

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Grade 1 Woodward Returns To Belmont Park’s Fall Stakes Schedule

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 28-day fall meet at Belmont Park, which will include 20 graded stakes among 47 total stakes worth $11.15 million in purses.

The fall meet, which will run from Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, October 31 will offer four Grade 1 races and five “Win and You're In” qualifiers to the Breeders' Cup in November at Del Mar.

The highlight of the meet will be the return of the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes on Oct. 2. The Woodward has been run at Saratoga since 2006, but had previously been held at Belmont Park and makes it's return to the Elmont track this year.

The first two stakes will come during the meet's second day, with a pair of $100,000 six-furlong turf sprints on Friday, September 17, with the Allied Forces for sophomores and the Christiecat for 3-year-old fillies. The following day will feature the first Breeders' Cup qualifier on the docket with the $1 million Jockey Club Derby for 3-year-olds going 1 1/2 miles on the turf in the final leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series that will commence with the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby in July and continue with the Grade 1, $1 million Saratoga Derby in August at historic Saratoga Race Course.

September 18 will also see the $700,000 Jockey Club Oaks, the concluding leg of the Turf Triple for 3-year-old fillies, held at 1 3/8 miles, with the card bolstered by the 1 5/8-mile $300,000 Grand Prix American Jockey Club Invitational.

The weekend of September 25-26 will encompass the meet's first graded stakes races, with that Saturday offering the Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso Handicap for 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the main track and the Grade 3, $200,000 Athenia for fillies and mares 3-years-old competing at 1 1/8 miles on the turf. The following day will see fillies and mares 3-and-up sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom, with the undercard rounded out by the $150,000 Bertram F. Bongard for New York-bred juveniles going seven furlongs.

Seven graded stakes will comprise the weekend of October 2-3, with a pair of Grade 1s highlighting the Saturday card with the $500,000 Woodward for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn 1 1/8 miles on Big Sandy and the $500,000 Champagne for 2-year-olds running one mile in a prestigious race affording a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile to the winner. The Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo will see juvenile fillies running 1 1/16 miles on turf that day, along with the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the grass.

Sunday, October 3 will continue the high-level action, with the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at one mile with a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies up for grabs. The day will also include the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the turf and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya at 1 3/8 miles in a turf route for fillies and mares 3-and-up.

The following weekend will again provide a chance to see top-caliber racing, with Saturday, October 9 showcasing the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for 3-year-olds and up in a marathon 1 1/2-mile turf competition, with the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh, a six-furlong “Win and You're In” event for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint, bolstering the undercard along with the Grade 3, $150,000 Matron for juvenile fillies.

October 10 will offer the fall meet's final Breeders' Cup qualifier with the Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity for 2-year-olds going six furlongs on the turf providing a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Juvenile Turf Sprint. Also on tap that day will be the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame at nine furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

Closing weekend on October 30-31 will see a packed Saturday that will offer eight stakes for New York-breds on Empire Showcase Day, led by the $300,000 Empire Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles. A trio of $250,000 stakes includes the Empire Distaff, Sleepy Hollow and Maid of the Mist. Also on tap will be two $200,000 contests in the Mohawk and Ticonderoga, along with a pair of $150,000 stakes in the Iroquois and Hudson.

Closing Day on Sunday, October 31 will conclude the meet with five stakes: the $150,000 Zagora for fillies and mares 3-and-up; the Pumpkin Pie for the same division going seven furlongs; the $100,000 Awad for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on the turf and the $100,000 Chelsey Flower for 2-year-old fillies going the same distance.

Three stakes have been added to the fall schedule, starting with the $100,000 Glen Cove for sophomores fillies sprinting seven furlongs on the turf on October 15. The $100,000 Carle Place, for 3-year-olds also going seven furlongs on the turf, will be held October 22, while the $100,000 Oyster Bay for 3-year-olds and up going seven furlongs on the turf will be run on October 29.

For the complete Belmont Park fall meet stakes schedule, please visit NYRA.com/stakes

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