Gyarmati Surrenders License, Stalls Revoked by NYRA

New York-based trainer Leah Gyarmati voluntarily surrendered her license Mar. 1 and subsequently had her stalls at Belmont revoked by NYRA following separate incidents, according to a story first reported by DRF. Stewards scratched horses she had entered last weekend at Aqueduct and the 12 horses under her care were transferred to her former assistant trainer Marcelo Arenas, who took out his own license in 2021.

Gyarmati told the DRF's David Grening that she failed a breathalyzer after she was awakened by NYRA security when found sleeping in her truck, which was parked by Belmont's training track following training hours. She told Grening she had eaten a sandwich and drank two beers and was napping. Gyarmati, who was ordered by state officials to meet with a substance-abuse counselor by a specific date, indicated she was unable to schedule an appointment by that date and has since met with a counselor and was awaiting the counselor's report.

The DRF said that In a separate incident, a horse trained by Gyarmati reportedly recently exited the track lame and was returned to the barn by Gyarmati's exercise rider and stable employee. According to Gyarmati, she remained at the track with her other horses and later returned to her barn. NYRA contradicted her account to the DRF, citing that officials had to request radiographs of the horse and that she didn't return to the barn until the next morning when the vet returned for a follow-up examination.

“I showed up as soon as the last horse I was training finished training,” Gyarmati told DRF. “I came back to the barn, and the vet was X-raying the horse.”

Gyarmati confirmed to DRF that the horse underwent surgery to have one screw inserted to repair a fractured cannon bone and is convalescing on a farm.

“Following a thorough review of recent incidents, NYRA revoked all stalls previously granted to trainer Leah Gyarmati,” read a statement issued by NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna. “Subsequent to this action, Gyarmati voluntarily surrendered her New York State-issued owner, trainer, and exercise rider licenses and is not currently able to participate in Thoroughbred racing activities. NYRA retains the exclusive right to grant or revoke stall space at its properties at any time.”

Gyarmati, who has been training for 25 years, has never been cited for any violations in New York.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Gyarmati Riding The Waves With Sail By

In the 16 years since trainer Leah Gyarmati and owner Jeff Treadway of Treadway Racing Stable first began their working partnership, the pair have experienced all the highs and lows that the business has to offer.

Among those highs were a handful that carried the Treadway banner to the Breeders' Cup World Championships. But if everything goes according to plan on Nov. 5, that number could rise by one thanks to a new budding talent — and Treadway homebred — named Sail By.

A daughter of Australian stallion Astern (AUS), Sail By punched her ticket to this year's Breeders' Cup at Del Mar when she ran to her name Oct. 2 in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park. The victory was the first stakes win for Sail By, who has never been off the board in her four career starts.

“It was a race that obviously had some good horses in there with very good numbers and speed numbers, but I felt confident with my filly because she tries every time and she's versatile,” said Gyarmati. “She can close and I told [jockey] Junior [Alvarado] to play the break and I think obviously he did a great job with that. She's a really honest horse and she will do what you ask her to do.

“She's not one of those horses that has to be one thing or the other. When they start going really fast, she'll settle and run at the end. She has a great burst of speed. I was surprised with the speed she's shown. When the pace is slow, she'll get up there and be right there.”

A native of Forest Hills, N.Y., Gyarmati got her start at the racetrack when she was a teenager, working a summer job as an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens. She would eventually go on to work for Jerkens and his son, Jimmy, before taking a break to pursue a brief career as a jockey in the mid-1990s.

Photo courtesy Leah Gyarmati

Breaking out on her own on the training circuit in 1998, Gyarmati sent out her first winner one year later in the form of Flippy Diane, who took the 1999 Maryland Million Distaff at Laurel Park. Her relationship with Treadway would follow years later through the help of a mutual friend, who introduced the two.

“I met Jeff through a friend who is an owner in New Jersey,” said Gyarmati. “Jeff had a piece of a horse there and he wanted to race in New York, so she introduced us. We started feeling it out and he's a super smart guy who follows the whole industry and really studies it.”

Gyarmati bought her first 2-year-old for Treadway at the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for $90,000. Named Thunder Chief, the New York-bred son of Thunder Gulch was a consistent runner throughout his career and remains a central part of Gyarmati's barn to this day as her working stable pony.

Through the years the pair have shared several successes, mainly with fillies. Their best performer to date was Sweet Reason (by Street Sense), who won the G1 Spinaway Stakes, G1 Acorn Stakes, and G1 Test Stakes, and placed fourth in the 2014 G1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Consigned to the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale in 2015, the mare commanded $2.7 million from Katsumi Yoshida, and has gone on to an equally strong career as a broodmare.

Gyarmati credits the mare's racing career as one of the catalysts to Darley bringing stallion Street Sense back to stand in the United States.

“She was the best horse I've had for Jeff,” said Gyarmati. “She won the Test, the Acorn, and the Spinaway. She was the best filly I ever claimed, and she was actually responsible for Street Sense coming back to the United States. They wanted him back, but they needed one really good horse to jump start it and when she won the Spinaway, Darley jumped on it, and it really worked out.”

Sweet Reason's successes aside, Treadway and Gyarmati are no strangers to the pressures of the Breeders' Cup. The pair hit the board in the World Championships in 2014 with Wonder Gal, who ran third in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and again in 2016 when Coasted ran second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“We've had some really great horses like Noble Moon and Strike Midnight and Sweet Reason who were all stakes winners,” said Gyarmati. “We've done very, very well through the years. We've had good success together which I'm thankful for because Jeff is very sharp about buying and breeding horses. It's a learning process so when you move from one part of the business to another it can be tricky. He's been a great friend.”

Part of the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series, the Miss Grillo offers Sail By, Treadway, and Gyarmati a paid berth to this year's renewal of the Juvenile Fillies Turf. While her filly has yet to make a trip to the West Coast, Gyarmati has wasted no time booking her filly on an upcoming flight.

“That is the plan — God willing,” said Gyarmati. “Of course, man plans, and God laughs. That's how that works. We've got plane reservations so we will see how it goes. I'm hoping she will ship well but she's never been on a plane. She's done well so far, and I think she handles everything that we've thrown at her very well. She's super cool and I think that demeanor is an advantage. She's very intelligent so I think we're good.”

At the moment, Sail By is the only horse in Gyarmati's barn to carry the Treadway banner. The trainer said that likely won't change until next year, when another daughter of Astern will arrive after being turned out for the season. For now, their hopes hang on Sail By and the promise of another shot at a world title.

“It's an up and down business for pretty much everybody,” said Gyarmati. “You have great years and some not-so-great years, but you keep plugging away and something good happens and you're on the right track again. You just have to keep at it and never give up, and most importantly pay attention.”

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Sail By Breezes Ahead Of BC Juvenile Fillies Turf

Treadway Racing Stable's homebred Sail By breezed three-eighths in :37.40 over the inner turf at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., Sunday in preparation for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 5 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“It started off a little slower than I was anticipating, but that was fine. She's done everything and she's ready – she just needs to maintain herself,” trainer Leah Gyarmati said. “I had the rider on the radio and I said, 'You need to pick it up.' And she took off. She looked fantastic going down the stretch and galloped out great. I was happy with that.

“She's a nice filly and she's smart,” Gyarmati added. “She's almost too easy to ride. She's not rank. She's just going to do whatever you ask. I was happy with it. She came out of it great and cooled out great. She was squealing and happy.”

Sail By closed strongly to break her maiden at first asking in June at Belmont in a six-furlong maiden special weight and followed with a similar closing effort in the five-furlong Colleen on August 1 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Following a pace-setting third in the off-the-turf P.G. Johnson in September at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the Astern bay stalked and pounced to victory in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Miss Grillo last out on October 16 over firm going at Belmont.

“She has several races under her belt and they've been spaced nicely,” Gyarmati said. “She really just needs to maintain her fitness. We just have to keep her happy. She gallops very forwardly, too.”

Sail By will ship to California on October 31 and will be met there by Gyarmati, who saddled Treadway Racing Stable's Coasted to a game runner-up effort in the 2016 Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., rallying from last-of-14 under Hall of Famer Mike Smith to miss by a half-length to New Money Honey.

“I feel like it was one more jump and we had it. She ran huge,” Gyarmati recalled. “It was frustrating. She was sitting last and of course, there was traffic, so you just wonder how much that had to with the fact that we didn't get up there in time. That said, I can't complain about finishing second at the Breeders' Cup.”

Coasted won that year's P. G. Johnson and finished third in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo and although the two fillies have followed a similar path, Gyarmati said Sail By is handier.

“She's shown she can do whatever depending on the pace of the race,” Gyarmati said. “When she sprinted, she came from last first time out. She was as professional as could be – tipped out, took off and kept going.

“When there was no pace in the longer races, she ends up being closer,” Gyarmati added. “She's versatile and that's a good thing when you're not sure what you're going to be running against.”

Junior Alvarado, aboard for Sail By's last two efforts, is confirmed to ride at Del Mar.

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Sail By Upsets Miss Grillo With Stalking Trip

Sail By and Junior Alvarado bided their time in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 2, stalking an early pacesetter to score the filly's first graded stakes victory. Sail By gave chase to Charlee O out of the gate, with the pair opening several lengths on the rest of the field before Sail By settled back behind her rival. Charlee O proved a stubborn foe, maintaining her early lead through the final turn of the 1 1/16 miles and digging in when Sail By came up to challenge. Sail By dug in and passed to the outside of Charlee O with a furlong to go and held off late kicks from Kinchen (IRE) and McKulick (GB), who finished second and third.

McKulick was the favorite at 2-5.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.21. Fractional times were :23.59, :49.40, and 1:14.46.

Leah Gyarmati trains Sail By for owner/breeder Jeff Treadway. The filly came to the race off a third-place finish and front-running effort in the P.G. Johnson Stakes on Sept. 2 and a second in the Colleen Stakes before that.

Sail By is by Astern (AUS) and out of the Johar mare Fly By. She was bred in Kentucky.

Sail By paid $23.60, $8.70, and $3.00.

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