Speaktomeofsummer Looks To Return To Stakes-Winning Form In Forever Together

Fresh off a nearly four-month layoff, Waterford Stable's Speaktomeofsummer will look to return to her stakes-winning ways as part of a six-horse field of fillies and mares 3-years-old and up competing in Friday's $150,000 Forever Together contested at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The Christophe Clement-trained Speaktomeofsummer will be competing for the first time since running sixth against optional claimers on July 28 over firm turf at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The 4-year-old Summer Front filly won a stakes at both 2 and 3, capturing the 2019 Chelsey Flower at the Big A before winning the Grade 2 Lake Placid in July at the Spa.

After running off the board in each of her three starts in the current campaign, Speaktomeofsummer will have another chance to become a stakes winner at 4, with her conditioner saying she has been training forwardly at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., including a four-furlong breeze in :50.22 over the Belmont dirt training track on November 16.

“She's been doing very well since we got her back and she's been training forwardly,” Clement said.

Jockey Manny Franco will pick up the mount for the first time, drawing the inside post.

Steve Feiger's Flower Point handled the step up in class with a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel last out on October 23 over firm Belmont turf. The 5-year-old Point of Entry mare netted a career-high 90 Beyer Speed Figure in her 15th career start, and will look to pick up her first stakes win for Hall of Fame conditioner Shug McGaughey.

Jose Lezcano, aboard for her previous effort in the one-mile Noble Damsel, will have the return assignment as Flower Point looks to stretch out, drawing post 4.

New York-bred Giacosa has finished on the board in four of her five starts of her 4-year-old campaign, including a three-quarter length victory in the Yaddo, contested against fellow state-breds at the Forever Together distance in August at the Spa, for owner and trainer H. James Bond.

The daughter of Tizway ran sixth last out in the Ticonderoga against fellow New York-breds on November 5 at Belmont but will look to get back on track on Friday, drawing post 3 with Luis Saez in the irons.

Rounding out the field is Platinum Paynter, third in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial in July at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Penn., for trainer Juan Vazquez [post 6, Dylan Davis]; the Brittany Russell-trained Sailingintothewind, off back-to-back fourth place efforts, will make her first Aqueduct appearance [post 5, Kendrick Carmouche]; and Mucha Mezquina, trained by Mark Salvaggio, who will be looking for her first stakes win in her 32nd career start [post 2, Julio Hernandez].

The Forever Together is slated as Race 4 on the 10-race card with a post time of 1:18 p.m. Eastern. First post is 11:50 a.m.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall 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 fall 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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Jesus’ Team Returns In Friday’s Alydar At Saratoga

Group 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team, who has earned three placings in prestigious Grade 1 races, will return to stakes company on Friday as part of an eight-horse field of 4-year-olds and up who have not won a stakes other than state-bred in 2021 in the $120,000 Alydar contested at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The ninth edition of the Alydar, named for the 1989 Hall of Fame inductee who finished second to Affirmed in all three legs of the 1978 Triple Crown, will see Jesus' Team return to the Spa for the first time since running third in last year's Grade 2 Jim Dandy.

The Tapiture colt used that contest for sophomores as a prep for the 2020 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, which was held in October last year, with Jesus' Team finishing third in the final leg of the Triple Crown behind Authentic and winner Swiss Skydiver. Trainer Jose D'Angelo saw him build on that effort in a Triple Crown classic to run second behind Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cut Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Jesus' Team closed out his year with his first stakes win, capturing the Claiming Crown Jewel in December at Gulfstream going 1 1/8 miles. Returning to the same track and distance, Jesus' Team again linked up with Knicks Go in his 2021 bow, again running second to his rival in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January that netted a 105 Beyer.

D'Angelo then shipped Jesus' Team to the United Arab Emirates, where he ran sixth in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March. After a four-month freshening, he returned to run fifth on July 11 at Gulfstream, prompting D'Angelo to skip the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney on August 7 at Saratoga in favor of the Alydar.

“The last race, for sure, he needed,” D'Angelo said. “After quarantine coming back from Dubai, he lost a little weight. It was a little hard to [improve] his conditioning again. He needed that race to be the horse he is now. He's bigger than his last race, and in that race, he was a little too close to the front. I think it helped him get him fit, though, and we're looking forward to this race.”

Junior Alvarado will pick up the mount from post 7.

Two-time graded stakes-winner Core Beliefs returned from a nine-month layoff to run third in an optional claiming contest going 1 1/16 miles in June at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Trainer Brian Lynch said the Quality Road bay needed that race after being given a freshening following a fifth-place finish in the Champions Day Marathon in September at Churchill Downs for then-trainer Scott Hansen.

“I think he ran well enough last out to give us the confidence to try him in a spot like this, because it was a credible effort off a long layoff,” Lynch said. “He's trained on well enough to get a shot. This will be the second time off the bench and it's at a distance that he really likes.”

Core Beliefs, owned by Gary Broad, won the 2018 Grade 3 Ohio Derby in a sophomore year that saw him run fourth in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and fifth in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. He then made his 2019 debut with a win in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La., that March, which marked his last victory.

Running at Saratoga for the first time, Core Beliefs will be seeking his first victory in his last eight starts and enters after posting four workouts over the Saratoga main track in July.

“He's doing well and has great energy, and for an older horse, he's been very willing and trying hard in his works,” Lynch said. “I take that as a positive. He just acts like he's in good form. He's done so well since he's been here and the weather has been a little bit cooler, and he seems to enjoy that. His appetite has been fantastic, too. We're just hoping for good things.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will have the call from post 3.

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Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector, who like Jesus' Team also competed in last year's Preakness and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, will get his first opportunity to run at Saratoga and his first start for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Art Collector commenced his 4-year-old year with a sixth-place finish in the Kelly's Landing on June 25 at Churchill Downs, marking his first race since running eighth in that Breeders' Cup appearance seven months prior.

Art Collector, who ran fourth in the Preakness, finished just a head back to Jesus' Team to fall just short of black type in the 1 3/16-mile classic. The winner of the 2020 Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland will have the services of Luis Saez. on Friday, breaking from post 4.

Steve Landers Racing's Night Ops, off three consecutive runner-up efforts in the Grade 3 Ben Ali, Blame, and Grade 3 Monmouth Cup for reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, will make his Saratoga start in a well-traveled career.

Night Ops, who Manny Franco will ride out of post 8, has finished in the money in his last six starts, all against stakes competition, starting with a win in the 2020 Grade 3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa.

Bourbon Lane Stable's Bourbon War will be running in a stakes for the first time since 2019, when as a 3-year-old he found success on the Triple Crown trail by running second in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth before finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, eighth in the Preakness, and 10th in the Belmont Stakes. Trainer Ian Wilkes took over the conditioning duties for Bourbon War's 5-year-old campaign, which started with a strong second, by a neck, to Home Base in an optional claimer in May at Churchill Downs before running third under similar conditions at the same track on June 26.

“He came off a long layoff and ran two good races; I thought he ran really respectable in putting two good ones together back-to-back,” Wilkes said. “I'm getting to know him and he's getting to know me, so it's all good there. The horse has been happy, so that's the key. We're hoping to make that next progression. He needs to step up and pick up his game a little more. I feel good for him.”

Bourbon War, a son of Tapit, will have Brian Hernandez, Jr. in the irons from post 6.

Prioritize, sixth in the Grade 2 Suburban on July 3 at Belmont, will return to a familiar track that's near trainer H. James Bond's base, as the Tizway gelding ran twice here last year, winning an optional claimer before running third in the Grade 1 Woodward. The now 6-year-old will have jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard for the first time, departing post 1.

Math Wizard will enter off a six-month layoff in his first start since finishing sixth in the Pegasus World Cup. The Saffie Joseph, Jr. trainee will be racing for just the second time as a 5-year-old as he seeks his first victory since the 2019 Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby [Irad Ortiz, Jr., post 5].

Limonite ran third in the Grade 3 Excelsior going the Alydar distance on April 3 at Aqueduct and after two fifth-place efforts will return to the Spa for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez [Joel Rosario, post 2].

The Alydar, slated as Race 8 on the 10-race card, is one of three stakes on a stacked Friday card that will feature a 1:05 p.m. Eastern first post.

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James Bond: ‘We Got Through It As A Family And As A Team’

Just one live race day – the New Year's Eve card on Thursday at Aqueduct Racetrack – remains in 2020 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. The NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of New York-based racing personalities to get their reflections on the memorable year.

H. James Bond is a multiple Grade 1-winning trainer and a fixture on the NYRA circuit. Born in Rochester, New York, Bond began galloping horses at age 11 before taking out his trainer's license at 16. The veteran conditioner heads the family-run Bond Racing Stable with his wife, Tina, and their sons Kevin and Ryan. In addition to the racing stable, Jim and Tina own a 100-acre farm named Song Hill Thoroughbreds in Stillwater, New York.

Bond's numerous G1 winners include Behrens, Val's Prince, Tizway, L'Carriere and 1996 Travers winner Will's Way. Bond has been named New York Trainer of the Year five times and is on the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) board of directors.

What was your favorite winning moment of 2020?

Bond: Winning the West Point with Rinaldi was huge. He was a household horse for us and the partners. I was just proud of all the horses. They all showed up and ran well. I was happy for our clients, they didn't bat an eye during COVID. We got through it as a family and as a team and I didn't lay anyone off. I was proud that we kept the whole team together. We have a pretty big payroll between the farm and the track.

Our Saratoga meet in general was just awesome. The horses ran great. It was sad a lot of owners couldn't attend being out of state. More than anything, it was hard not seeing the fans who love to come to Saratoga. But we were very fortunate as a stable.

Was there a horse that you thought exceeded expectations this year?

Bond: Prioritize is a horse that I've always liked. We picked him out at the sale ourselves and didn't pay a lot. He was always a solid, training horse who always did what you wanted. I had him on the turf at first and he was getting close-but-no-cigar in those stake races. He always worked well on the dirt in the morning so finally we took a shot on the dirt and the rest is history. After the Woodward [where Prioritize finished third], we decided to give him one shot in the Gold Cup [fourth] and give him a rest. I'm excited for him for next year; he's in top physical condition.

What was the best ride on a horse of yours this year?

Bond: Every horse Luis Saez rode for us at Saratoga was memorable for me. He had it tough. He had a positive COVID test and he had to serve days [at first]. His Saratoga meet was probably one of the best Saratoga meets for a rider when you go back and look at it. He wasn't riding Chad [Brown's] 2-1 shots, he was riding [Jimmy] Bond's 10-1 shots.

He was playing catch up in a sense and [agent] Kiaran [McLaughlin] did a great job stepping in and taking his book after Richard DePass retired. I think it's a great story. He gives you a confident smile when he gets on a horse saying, 'We're good boss, we're good'. He's such a nice person and that smile of his is contagious. I think New York racing is lucky to have a rider of his talent.

How much do you enjoy racing on the New York circuit?

Bond: I'm on the NYTB board and my wife is on the NYTHA board, so we believe in New York. I have a $4 million barn and a private racing barn at Saratoga, so I'm all in. I came from humble beginnings and was lucky to have a lot of nice owners who gave me a chance. I want everyone in New York to have that same dream. You have to have a couple people who believe in you along the way. When you come into Belmont Park or Saratoga, you better bring a racehorse. A few weekends back, the New York-breds won a lot of the big races across the country and New York-breds are really showing what they can do on a major scale. We had the [Grade 1] Starlet winner [Varda] here at the farm for six months and we still have her mother, She'll Be Right, here at the farm too. She's in foal to Maclean's Music.

New York-breds are serious horses, like Tiz the Law and so many others. It's remarkable how great we really are. The purse structure is what brings horses. I was so happy NYRA realized that when you increase purses, people come. It's hard to do, because you're sort of speculating on whether or not they do come. We have a lot of history here with some of the greatest races of all time and they're exciting to win. Whether it's the Bold Ruler or the Ruffian, when you walk into Belmont Park and look at all of those pictures on the walls you get goosebumps. I want the next generation to get that chance.

I'm very optimistic. We're getting phone calls from all over North America of people who want to invest 10 or 20 thousand dollars because they think it's fun. That's our job, to make it fun. I think sometimes the racing industry forgets that it's an entertainment business and we have to try hard and take pride in what we do.

As both an owner and a trainer, what was the most challenging part of this year given the COVID-19 pandemic. How did you overcome it?

Bond: We were pretty nervous during COVID in terms of how things would rebound. We were very lucky. Most of the owners stayed with us, supported us and made it through. I'm just proud that the horses and help really jumped in. It was really a team effort. The guys held the barn together. I didn't go back to New York City a lot, but I have a great team of people, including Kevin and Ryan who both do a great job. My wife comes from a financial background and she was very keen. We sat down and planned it out. We had 11 yearlings we were going to sell, but the Fasig-Tipton New York sale was cancelled, and we didn't want to just take them to Kentucky and have them possibly not race in New York, where we could get breeders awards.

We watched what NYRA was doing on FOX Sports and we decided to be bullish. It's what NYRA did in November; they got bullish. They raised the purses and the horses stayed as a result. The advertising for our ownership group on the television show helped immensely. We've already signed up for next year. We were lucky to have had the inventory. We had a lot of 2-year-olds ready to go. We breed a wholesome horse and we buy some, too.

Many of your better horses this year are ones that also are owned by you. Talk about Bond Racing Stables and what the ownership group is about.

Bond: It's a lot of fun. We have people from all over the country that were sitting home and tired of watching replays of golf and football during the pandemic. They tuned into America's Day at the Races. We keep 50 percent of everything and we sell each share for 10 percent. There are no maintenance fees. It's just like owning 10 percent of a sports team. They share in the rewards and the headaches. A lot of them are homebreds.

It's so satisfying. Of course there's a risk factor for ourselves, but 50 percent is not so bad and it gets a lot of new people in the game to see if they like it, but it's a team mentality that I really like. It teaches people about our game without getting hurt. We make sure that the horses get placed, my wife Tina is very strong on aftercare and retirement making sure they get to the next safe spot and we have so many great stories about some of our old horses. [Multiple stakes winner] Our Way found a home in Massachusetts and he was a very good racehorse. It's nice to see horses like him go to the next level.

What NYRA race would you most like to win?

Bond: I haven't won the Jockey Club Gold Cup yet. I love distance horses, so that race is something that I can hopefully put on my resume someday.

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The 2020-21 winter meet at Aqueduct returns to action on Thursday, December 31 and continues through Sunday, March 28.

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.

For additional information, and the complete winter meet stakes schedule, please visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule.

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