Cutting back a furlong after finishing runner-up in the Feb. 17 Ruthless S., the bay was away from stall one without incident, but was beaten for speed by Reconcile (War Front). Manny Franco elected to take a tug on Ghalia Princess, easing her back and into the two path to do the chasing through an opening quarter in :22.15. Content to race with that target ahead of her rounding the turn, Ghalia Princess began to pour on the pressure into the stretch, claimed the front-runner for good with about a furlong and a half to travel and was punched out hands and heels to take it by six lengths in a sharp clocking.

“They broke good and I thought it was the right call to let [Reconcile] go on,” said Dustin Dugas, assistant to trainer Brad Cox. “I thought she [Ghalia Princess] ran on and let her big stride kind of unfold the way it does and [didn't] press her too much. It kind of went the way we thought. I didn't think she'd be quite as quick to keep up with these guys, but she could if she was pressed. I think Manny [Franco] made the right call by just letting the race unfold the way it did.”

Oussama Aboughazale's International Equities Holdings acquired the winner's dam for $600,000 as a weanling at the 2014 Keeneland November sale and she became a three-time winner at the races, including the 2017 Sunland Park Oaks. Ghalia is a daughter of Grade III winner Verdana Bold–also the dam of the multiple stakes-placed Copperplate (Curlin)–and is represented by a yearling colt by Constitution. She visited Not This Time for her most recent covering.

CICADA S., $93,000, Aqueduct, 3-16, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:09.85, ft.
1–GHALIA PRINCESS, 118, f, 3, by American Pharoah
                1st Dam: Ghalia (SW, $168,800), by Medaglia d'Oro
                2nd Dam: Verdana Bold, by Rahy
                3rd Dam: True Legacy (GB), by A.P. Indy
($575,000 RNA Ylg '22 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN.
O-Sumaya U.S. Stable; B-International Equities Holding, Inc.
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Manuel Franco. $55,000. Lifetime
Record: 3-2-1-0, $111,000.
2–Reconcile, 118, f, 3, War Front–Welcoming, by Tapit.
O/B-Robert S. Evans (KY); T-Adam Rice. $20,000.
3–Anna's Wish, 118, f, 3, Dialed In–I'm Cozy, by Grand Slam.
($14,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $45,000 RNA 2yo '23 OBSMAR).
1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Triple M Racing Stable LLC; B-Pope, Marc,
& Pope McLean Jr. (KY); T-George Weaver. $12,000.
Margins: 6, 6 3/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 0.40, 5.50, 10.90.
Also Ran: Miss Harriett. Scratched: Value Area.

Ghalia Princess (AMERICAN PHAROAH) backs favoritism to take the Cicada Stakes with a dominant performance at Aqueduct for @bradcoxracing and Sumaya Farm.
Congratulations to connections!#HomeOfChampions#CoolmoreSires https://t.co/D6FDAaSZu3

— Coolmore America (@coolmoreamerica) March 16, 2024

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Excited about our Vino Rosso colt TUSCAN SKY who impressively won on debut at @TheNYRA for @PletcherRacing https://t.co/iPgfPNgD69

— Spendthrift Farm (@spendthriftfarm) January 13, 2024

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The 47-day Big A winter meet, which will feature 26 stakes races worth $3.5 million in purses, begins Monday, Jan. 1 and runs through Saturday, Mar. 30. Live racing will be conducted Thursday-Sunday for the first three weeks of January and Friday-Sunday from Jan. 26 through the first week of March. Aqueduct will host a Presidents' Day card on Monday, Feb. 19. Four-day race weeks resume on March 7.

A total of six stakes received a purse increase at the winter meet, topped by the Listed $150,000 Interborough, which saw it's purse improved by $50,000. Five other featured events received an increment of $25,000 in the GIII Toboggan and GIII Tom Fool H. along with three Listed stakes now worth $150,000, including the Heavenly Prize, Stymie and Excelsior.

The centerpiece of the March stakes calendar is the one-mile Grade III, $300,000 Gotham March 2, providing 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The Gotham Day card includes the Listed one-mile $200,000 Busher for 3-year-old fillies, offering 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.

Click here for a complete stakes list.

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Drawn the fence with Manny Franco at the controls for the first time, the $125,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase was away without incident and raced a touch keen into the first turn as 53-1 Precious Avary (Divining Rod) showed the way at a moderate pace. Saving every inch of ground down the back, Franco went for Implicated midway on the turn and rode for some luck as Precious Avary was still going well enough up front. But the pacesetter rolled away from the fence in upper stretch, giving Implicated the room she required and she punched through before holding Sacred Wish (Not This Time) at bay. Startup Mentality (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) was second-last to make the stretch and might have caught Sacred Wish for second but for having to steady when off that one's heels a sixteenth of a mile from home.

A distant third on main-track debut at Saratoga last August, Implicated won her maiden in her grass debut and closed the season with a victory in this track's Chelsey Flower S. Oct. 28. Away nearly a year thereafter, the gray ran out of fitness late when fourth in a nine-furlong allowance Oct. 19.

“Last year when she ran covered up, she was better,” said Brown. “I told Manny in the paddock, 'You drew a nice, cozy post here. If you can get a pocket trip, let's test her out.' I thought I had her ready last time but sure enough, a covered trip worked for her and Manny did a great job.”

Pedigree Notes:

Implicated is the third graded winner for Connect, who has now been represented by graded scorers on dirt (Rattle N Roll), synthetic (Witwatersrand) and now the grass.

Somewhere Stable Kentucky paid $200,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale for Wysteria, a half-sister to Kallio (Scat Daddy), a Grade III winner on turf, SW Clear the Runway (Broken Vow) and MSP Sallisaw (Exchange Rate). The mare is represented by a yearling The Factor colt that sold for $155,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale, and her weanling colt by Knicks Go was bought back for $75,000 Friday at KEENOV. Wysteria was most recently bred to Golden Pal.

Saturday, Aqueduct
PEBBLES S.-GIII, $200,000, Aqueduct, 11-11, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:35.82, fm.
1–IMPLICATED, 120, f, 3, by Connect
1st Dam: Wysteria, by Tale of the Cat
2nd Dam: Smokey Diplomacy, by Dynaformer
3rd Dam: Attractive Missile, by Relaunch
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($125,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT).    O-Bradley Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, LLC,  Cambron Equine, LLC and Laura Leigh Stable; B-Somewhere  Stables KY, LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Manuel Franco.  $110,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-1, $246,970. Werk Nick  Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Sacred Wish, 122, f, 3, Not This Time–Indian Wish, by Indian  Charlie. ($80,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $70,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $50,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Steve Adkisson, Christopher T. Dunn and Anthony Spinazzola; B-John R. Penn (KY); T-George Weaver. $40,000.
3–Startup Mentality (Ire), 118, f, 3, Kingman (GB)–Fine Time  (GB), by Dansili (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK  TYPE. (300,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;  B-Mount Armstrong Stud. (IRE); T-Chad C. Brown. $24,000.
Margins: HF, NK, NO. Odds: 10.80, 3.25, 3.80.
Also Ran: Silver Skillet, Rhiannon, On the Shortlist, Plentitude, Precious Avary, Stephanie's Charm. Scratched: Just Katherine.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

IMPLICATED, by @LanesEndFarms stallion Connect, shows off down the stretch to take the Pebbles Stakes (G3) under @jockeyfranco! pic.twitter.com/pUERUpVp8t

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) November 11, 2023

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“I feel great,” Franco, who also won the day's opener, said. “I had that on me the whole week, so I'm glad to do it early. I'm a little calm now and happy to do it. I just let him do what he wanted to do because I know the pace wasn't fast in front. I just kept my position and he was there for me the whole way.”

Franco, 28, won three races at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet finale Sunday to secure his third NYRA riding title of the year. Franco earned 34 wins at the stand to take a three-way battle for the riding title over Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Jose Ortiz, who tied for second with 31 wins.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown won his 30th training title at a NYRA meet and 12th consecutive Belmont fall title when leading all trainers with 28 wins, giving him back-to-back meet titles after tying with Linda Rice at this year's Saratoga meet.

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Evvie Jets broke like a jet when the gates flew, but stepped aside as Sister Bridget and the accomplished Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB})–a 'TDN Rising Star', MGSW, and MGISP–fought for the lead. Those two pulled more than a half dozen lengths clear of the field with Sister Bridget getting the first fractions of :23.50 and :48.67 as Technical Analysis backed off. As the field closed in and swarmed the two leaders in the stretch, Evvie Jets snuck up the inside from fifth under Manny Franco and collared Technical Analysis, who had taken over from a tiring Sister Bridget as MGSW Gam's Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) attacked from the outside. It looked to be anyone's race a sixteenth from home, but Evvie Jets kept her head in front, despite being on her wrong lead, as Fluffy Socks and Jumbly closed in. Less than a length and a half covered the first seven under the wire in a wild blanket finish. Final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.06, a new course record.

Franco picked up the ride on Evvie Jets from Luis Saez, who was injured Wednesday and is out indefinitely.

“Manny [Franco] did the right thing–just save and save and our plan was only stick to the rail, and he did–and save in the second turn also,” said Kantarmaci. “She just made the stretch run today after the hot pace. She can do that. She showed that a long time ago already, but she ends up in fights in the slower pace. Today was the day for her to close.”

The winning trainer continued: “Since the first day, we took care of her like a stakes horse because I knew she was going to come to that level, but we wanted to go step by step with her. Now, of course, she's extra special after this race. Unbelievable she did that today.”

A winner two back of Belmont's July 2 Perfect Sting S. over Ballston Spa 6-5 favorite Technical Analysis, Evvie Jets was winning the second graded race of her career following a 2022 win in the GIII Noble Damsel S. She'd kicked off her 2023 campaign Apr. 16 at Aqueduct with a win in the Plenty of Grace S. and was last seen Aug. 2 in defeat to Technical Analysis in the De La Rose S. Originally trained by Anthony Dutrow until claimed for $80,000 in 2021, Evvie Jets has run exclusively in stakes company for the past 11 months and also placed in the GIII Athenia S. last fall.

EVVIE JETS, by @LanesEndFarms stallion Twirling Candy, flies down the stretch in the @MoheganSun Ballston Spa Stakes (G2) under @jockeyfranco! #Saratoga @mertkantarmaci pic.twitter.com/ROg57rouXD

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) August 24, 2023

Pedigree Notes:

Evvie Jets is one of 18 graded winners for Lane's End sire Twirling Candy, a son of fellow Lane's End stallion Candy Ride (Arg). With 43 black-type winners bred in the Northern Hemisphere and eight Grade I winners spread from coast to coast, Twirling Candy last had a graded winner at the Spa in 2018 with GII Honorable Miss H. scorer Finley'sluckycharm. Although Evvie Jets is his only stakes winner out of a Consolidator mare, Twirling Candy has a number of his top stakes winners out of mares by Consolidator's extended Storm Cat sire line. Consolidator himself was exported to stand in the Philippines ahead of the 2012 season and has 10 stakes winners out of his daughters.

From the family of MGISW and $1.85-million Keeneland broodmare Kalookan Queen (Lost Code), the Ballston Spa winner's dam was unraced and is, like her daughter, a Farfellow Farms-bred. Natchez Trace's 2-year-old colt by Catalina Cruiser was a $240,000 OBS March juvenile and has since been sent to Japan after being purchased by Katsumi Yoshida. With no foals in the meantime, Natchez Trace was bred to Airdrie's Upstart for next term.

Thursday, Saratoga
MOHEGAN SUN BALLSTON SPA S.-GII, $300,000, Saratoga, 8-24, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.06 (NCR), fm.
1–EVVIE JETS, 120, m, 5, by Twirling Candy
                1st Dam: Natchez Trace, by Consolidator
                2nd Dam: Crystal Cream, by Secretariat
                3rd Dam: Clear Copy, by Copy Chief
($75,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-The Estate of Robert J. Amendola;
B-Farfellow Farms Ltd. (KY); T-Mertkan Kantarmaci; J-Manuel
Franco. $165,000. Lifetime Record: 22-7-6-2, $698,680. *1/2
to Forever Mo (Uncle Mo), MSP, $248,315. Werk Nick Rating:
A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Fluffy Socks, 122, m, 5, Slumber (GB)–Breakfast Time, by
Kitten's Joy. O/B-Head Of Plains Partners (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown. $60,000.
3–Jumbly (GB), 120, f, 4, Gleneagles (Ire)–Thistle Bird (GB), by
Selkirk. (1,250,000gns 3yo '22 TATMA). O-Doreen Tabor;
B-Emily Rothschild (GB); T-Joseph Patrick O'Brien. $36,000.
Margins: HD, HF, NK. Odds: 29.25, 6.30, 5.60.
Also Ran: Gam's Mission, Technical Analysis (Ire), Consumer Spending, Surprisingly, Sister Bridget (Ire). Scratched: Into Happiness, Speak of the Devil (Fr).
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Franco, a 28-year-old native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, earned the eighth riding title of his career.

“I'm very grateful for the help of every owner and every trainer,” said Franco. “I'm just happy to keep with the momentum. It means a lot and I try to take advantage of every opportunity I have. It's been paying off.”

Jose Ortiz finished second with a record of 65-16-17-10 while Kendrick Carmouche secured third with a record of 82-14-10-15.

Rice enjoyed a record of 66-17-13-7 with $1,055,253 in total earnings, giving her a strike rate of 25.76% and in-the-money percentage of 56.06%. It was the 10th overall training title for Rice.

“It's been a very good winter and spring,” she said. “New York is a tough place, so I'm very excited about it. Once we got through the winter meet I thought, 'well that will be it for a while,' but things fell into place and went well at the spring meet.”

Rob Atras finished second with a record of 37-9-5-4 while Chad Brown finished third with a 37-8-7-9 record.

Klaravich Stables ended the meet with a record of 18-4-4-3 and earnings of $270,622. It was a five-way tie for second between Peter Brant, Beast Mode Racing, Ten Strike Racing, Madaket Stables and Roger Cimbora, Jr., who each posted three wins at the meet.

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“It means a lot to me. This is what we're here for,” said Franco, who is represented by agent John Panagot. “I want to be one of the top riders here on the New York circuit, and I work hard to make it happen. I want to thank all the trainers and owners that support me during the year. I'm happy to be back on top again.”

“It's been a really good winter,” added Rice. “We've had a good fall and we had a good meet before that as well. Then to come back and have a really good winter meet was great. We had a couple stakes winners, Betsy Blue and Downtown Mischief. But, in general, the whole barn and my entire staff has been working real hard and it showed up in the afternoon.”

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Looking to build on a strong 3 1/2-length allowance victory going Oaklawn's short-stretch mile Dec. 17, the homebred gray was quietly ridden and was content to save ground after a clean break, as Arctic Arrogance–runner-up in the local GII Remsen S. and Jerome S. in his two most recent appearances–set a pressured pace from 80-1 Prove Right (Justify) and 'TDN Rising Star' Andiamo a Firenze (Speightstown) over the heavy surface. Working his way into it nicely with an inside move leaving the three-furlong marker, Hit Show had his sights set on the pacemaker as they hit the stretch, grabbed him at the eighth pole and drew off while weaving in and out to the line.

Hit Show was a fast-finishing, 5 1/2-length debut winner going seven furlongs at Keeneland Oct. 9 and bobbled at the start of his first two-turn try at Churchill Nov. 26, running on some to be fourth as the favorite behind the promising Confidence Game (Candy Ride–Eblouissante)–subsequently third in the GIII Lecomte S.–and Rocket Can (Into Mischief), winner of the GIII Holy Bull S. on his sophomore debut Feb. 4.

“We're all proud of the horse, proud of the performance,” said trainer Brad Cox, whose charge picked up 20 Kentucky Derby points. “He had an opportunity to breeze at Belmont on Monday and we're happy with how the horse was doing leading up to the race. He had plenty of time to recover from his last one at Oaklawn in December and it set up well. He ran a big race.”

Pedigree Notes:

Hit Show is the 109th stakes winner and 52nd graded winner for Candy Ride and is the first graded stakes winner (five stakes winners overall) bred on the cross of Candy Ride over Tapit mares. Twirling Candy is the sire of Grade III winner Gear Jockey, who is out of a Tapit dam.

The Wests also bred and raced Hit Show's dam, winner of the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. and this track's GIII Comely S. at three and placed twice at the graded level in 2018. A daughter of Sovereign Award-winning 3-year-old filly Milwaukee Appeal, herself a three-time stakes winner and placed in the GI Alabama S. and GI Juddmonte Spinster S., Hit Show is kin to the winning 4-year-old filly Hot Rumor (Medaglia d'Oro), a juvenile filly by Curlin and a yearling filly by Medaglia d'Oro. Actress is due for a full-sibling to Hit Show this season.

Saturday, Aqueduct
WITHERS S.-GIII, $250,000, Aqueduct, 2-11, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:54.71, ft.
1–HIT SHOW, 118, c, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg)
                1st Dam: Actress (MGSW, $545,150), by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Milwaukee Appeal, by Milwaukee Brew
                3rd Dam: Appealing Forum, by Open Forum
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Gary &
Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Manuel Franco.
$137,500. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $264,375. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Arctic Arrogance, 118, c, 3, Frosted–Modest Maven,
by Uncle Mo. O/B-Chester & Mary R. Broman (NY); T-Linda
Rice. $50,000.
3–General Banker, 118, c, 3, Central Banker–Elusive Jozi,
by Johannesburg. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Seacoast
Thoroughbreds of New England (NY); T-James W. Ferraro.
$30,000.
Margins: 5HF, 6 1/4, 14 3/4. Odds: 1.30, 1.75, 8.80.
Also Ran: Andiamo a Firenze, Prove Right, Jungfrau, Ninetyprcentmaddie.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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