rego park stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Paradise Farm and David Staudacher's Barese came home the best of nine state-bred sophomores to win his first stakes in Sunday's 6 1/2-furlong $100,000 Rego Park at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Mike Maker, the son of Laoban was making his first start since a debut maiden special weight win at Belmont Park on May 21, taking a five-furlong sprint for state-breds by a half-length under Irad Ortiz, Jr. from just off the pace.

Eight months later, Barese, piloted by Dylan Davis, was kept a bit farther off the pace than in his debut, breaking last in the field of nine and unhurried by Davis to track in sixth behind pacesetter Unique Unions through an opening quarter-mile in 22.64 seconds over the good and harrowed main track.

Barese continued to hold in fourth going four-wide down the backstretch as Unique Unions held his lead a length the better of Daufuskie Island and 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Agility with Kendrick Carmouche up.

Barese began to kick into gear entering the turn with slight urging from Davis, who was still content to bide his time with plenty of horse underneath him. Swinging wide to the center of the racetrack, Davis showed Barese a right-handed crop and gave him one tap as the field straightened for the drive to the wire, grinding away to the outside of Agility as Unique Unions began to toil along the rail.

Matching strides with Agility and Daufuskie Island just before the sixteenth pole, Barese pulled away under left-handed encouragement from Davis and secured the second win of his career by 2 3/4 lengths, stopping the clock in 1:19.13. Agility held on to finish second by a neck over Daufuskie Island.

Davis, who rode Barese for the first time in the Rego Park, said the bay colt was full of run.

“He's a big boy and coming off the layoff, I was just trying to get a nice, comfortable break and that's what he got,” Davis said. “They ran away from him which I thought would happen, but he was handling the kickback well.

“Nearing the five-eighths pole, he started getting a little aggressive with me and I thought it was better to not keep him behind those horses,” Davis added. “I gave him a nice, clear spot in the four-path and just let him do his thing into the turn. Turning for home, he had plenty left and his big stride was able to keep going and going. He might want to handle more distance, but he handled this great.”

Davis, who currently sits in second behind Carmouche [22 wins] in the jockey standings at the Big A winter meet with 19 wins, gave credit to agent Mike Migliore for his success this meet.

“I'm doing the best I can. I want to win this title,” said Davis. “I've been top-three or top-four for the past five years and I really want to get this title. It would be a real accomplishment for me. Mike has been working really hard behind the scenes.”

The Jorge Abreu-trained Agility stayed on well for place honors, holding off a stubborn Daufuskie Island, who finished third a head in front of Unique Unions in fourth.

“The horse ran a great race,” Carmouche said of Agility. “He lugged in a little, but I think he needs blinkers. Maybe that will straighten him up and get him going, but I thought he ran a game race. The whole way I was in good position, just second best today.”

Completing the order of finish were Cut the Cord, Doin'ittherightway, G Munning, Always Charming, and Bali's Shade.

Bred in New York by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Lakland Farm, Barese earned $55,000 in victory and improved his record to a perfect 2-2-0-0. A $2 wager on Barese returned $11.

Live racing returns to the Big A on Thursday with a nine-race card. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter 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 winter 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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Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out a trio of contenders in Sunday's $100,000 Rego Park Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.. While Pletcher conditioned the favorite in Uno, his other two entries completed the exacta, with Perfect Munnings besting Storm Shooter by two lengths.

Owned by JP Racing Stable, Perfect Munnings shined in his main track debut, building on his two-length debut score on November 29 over the Big A turf. The Munnings sophomore broke well from the outermost post and was forwardly placed by jockey Manny Franco in third position as stablemate Storm Shooter led the eight-horse field through a contested opening quarter-mile in 23.35 seconds and the half in 47.81 on the fast track under pressure from Lookin for Trouble.

In the final furlong, Franco kept Perfect Munnings to task, overtaking Lookin for Trouble to his immediate inside and Storm Shooter along the rail and completed the 6 1/2-furlong sprint in a final time of 1:20.24.

“We were pretty optimistic because of the way he breezes on the dirt,” Pletcher assistant Byron Hughes said. “He showed that ability today. He had a good post and Manny [Franco] kept him in the clear and he ran well. Obviously, he's won on turf and dirt. We'll keep him up here for now and then we can go back to turf if we have to.

“I told Manny before the race that we probably should use the post to our advantage,” he added. “He got a clean trip and Manny did a good job keeping him out there.”

Perfect Munnings, bred by Tammy and Robert Kilmasewski, improved to 2-for-2 overall. The $50,000 purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-bred Sale, more than doubled his career earnings to $93,500.

Franco said he has benefitted from the brisk pace battle.

“I was really happy stalking the two horses and when I asked my horse to go before the quarter-pole, he started running for me,” Franco said.

My RaceHorse Stable's Storm Shooter, bred by Dr. Jerry Bilinski and ridden by Dylan Davis, bested Lookin for Trouble by 1 ¼ lengths for second.

“It was contentious, but I wanted to lead here. He does well on the lead,” Davis said. “I had to get into him early around the three-eighths pole. I didn't want to get him collared too early because he doesn't like too much company early.

“He keep finding more and more and for a second I thought we were going to get there but the other Pletcher horse had to come and grab me,” he added. “He ran a great race.”

Said Hughes: “He keep finding more and more and for a second I thought we were going to get there but the other Pletcher horse had to come and grab me,” he added. “He ran a great race.”

Uno gave Pletcher three-quarters of the superfecta with his fourth-place effort.

“He broke just a tick slow and looked like he got shuffled back,” Hughes said. “He also made a good run and I thought he got third when I first saw it. I thought he ran a big race, considering the start.”

Windy Nations, Blue Gator, New York One and Halpert completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Friday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday card is slated for Monday, January 18 and features the $100,000 Interborough for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up. There will be no live racing on Thursday, January 14 to accommodate the special holiday card.

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