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Somelikeithotbrown Holds Off Sanctuary City To Get Second Mohawk Win

In a postponed renewal of the 1 1/16-mile $200,000 Mohawk for New York-breds 3-years-old and up on the turf, which was washed off its intended surface earlier in the meet, odds-on favorite Somelikeithotbrown made all the running and fended off longshot Sanctuary City's menacing late rally to capture his second straight edition of the race by posting a half-length score at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Skychai Racing and David Koenig's Somelikeithotbrown, a 5-year-old son of Big Brown, was making his first appearance against state-bred company since winning last year's Mohawk in October 2020. The Mike Maker trainee had run exclusively against graded stakes competition in 2021 spanning his first five starts, including a win in the Grade 2 Dinner Party at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., in May and a third-place finish last out in the Grade 1 Keeneland Turf Mile at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., on October 9.

Keen on the class relief despite the quality New York-bred competition, bettors sent off Somelikeithotbrown as the prohibitive 1-2 favorite in the Mohawk. He looked the part, breaking from post and surging to the front under Jorge Vargas, Jr. With Klickitat providing only token pressure off his flank, the bay horse ambled down the backstretch through an opening quarter-mile in :24.23 and a half in :49.15 over firm going on the Widener turf.

Somelikeithotbrown and Vargas kept up the moderate tempo, going three-quarters in 1:13.49, and it wasn't until leaving the far turn that they received their first serious test in the form of the Christophe Clement-trained City Man, who ranged up on their outside leaving the bend. Shrugging that one off with little opposition, the pair again opened up a daylight lead in mid-stretch. A hard-charging Sanctuary City then picked up the chase. Coming with a burst of energy down the middle of the Widener Turf Course, Sanctuary City looked poised to go by the frontrunner in the final eighth of a mile, but Somelikeithotbrown was unrelenting and dug in late to hit the wire in 1:42.39.

“He was [originally] pointing to the Breeders' Cup so you had to feel confident,” said Vargas, Jr. of the suspenseful finish. “He was traveling easily throughout. When they got to me I asked a little bit and he jumped on them right away. When it was time to run he fought to the end.

“He's a nice horse,” the winning jockey added. “Nice horses make multiple moves. They know what they're capable of, and that's what he does. He still had something left; I could barely pull him up he was feeling so good.”

Somelikeithotbrown returned $3 on a $2 win wager, while his career earnings now stand just shy of $1.2 million.

Sanctuary City, trained by James Ferraro for the owner/breeder combo of Edward Messina and William Butler, came alive again in the Mohawk, having run shockingly well in this race last year at odds of 41-1, and finished a clear second ahead of City Man, who was 2 ½ lengths back in third. It was another 1 ½ lengths back to Therapist in fourth, who was followed home by Cross Border and Klickitat. Rinaldi was scratched, as was main-track only entrant Tiergan.

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Live racing resumes Sunday with Closing Day of the Belmont fall meet. The 10-race card, which features an 11:50 a.m. first post, will feature a pair of stakes in the $150,000 Zagora for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/2 miles on the turf in Race 4 at 1:18 p.m. and the Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua for 2-year-olds in a one-turn mile on the main track in Race 9 at 3:43 p.m.

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.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, 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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Somelikeithotbrown Among Top Choices For Labor Day’s Mint Million At Kentucky Downs

Louisville's Harvey Diamond and his partners in Skychai Racing will finally run their stable star Somelikeithotbrown at Kentucky Downs, with the multiple graded-stakes winner among the favorites for Monday's $1 million, Grade 3 WinStar Mint Million.

Last year's winner, Juddmonte Farm's Flavius, also is among the 11 older horses entered Tuesday for the Labor Day featured attraction, previously known as the Tourist Mile. The Chad Brown-trained Flavius won Saratoga's restricted Lure Stakes in his last start.

With the mile stakes enjoying Grade 3 status for the first time in 2021, the purse was increased from $750,000 and the name changed to reflect that amount and as a shout to The Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs.

Diamond, Skychai co-managing partner Jim Shircliff and frequent partner David Koenig of Sand Dollar Stable all love Kentucky Downs. Not only do they like to have a good time in a festive outdoor atmosphere at the races, but they won the $1 million Calumet Turf Cup in 2015 and 2016 with Da Big Hoss.

However, Somelikeithotbrown previously has raced in the summer at Saratoga, where he's eligible for New York-bred races and his owners earn additional incentives as the horse's breeder. The Big Apple has been very good to Somelikeithotbrown, including winning Saratoga's Grade 2 Bernard Baruch and Belmont's $150,000 Mohawk for New York-breds last year, along with an eight-length maiden victory and a pair of seconds in Grade 3 stakes as a 2-year-old in 2018.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund is channeling millions of dollars into purse supplements at the six-date FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs for horses born in the commonwealth and by a stallion standing in the state. But the stakes' base purses — for which all horses can compete — alone would rank among some of the most lucrative in the country.

So while Somelikeithotbrown isn't eligible to compete for the $450,000 KTDF component of the Mint Million, “$550,000 isn't exactly chopped liver,” Diamond said. “It just seemed like the proper spot for him.”

Somelikeithotbrown last ran when a close second to Set Piece in Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Wise Dan on June 26.

“I thought he tried really hard all the way to the wire,” said Diamond, a retired occupational physician. “That race was a mile and a sixteenth around two turns. This will be a one-turn race, so we're looking forward to giving it a shot down there. We think he's a really nice horse, and he doesn't owe us a thing. So let's see how he runs at Kentucky Downs. Hotbrown doesn't need to take his track with him. He's won at multiple tracks, and he's good at the distance. So we're looking forward to running him at this European-style course. We love to come down there. We're excited the turf course has been renovated and can't wait to see it. And it's in an outdoor atmosphere that will fit with our COVID restrictions.”

The cleverly named Somelikeithotbrown is from the first foal crop sired by 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown in his first breeding season in New York. His dam is the Tapit mare Marilyn Monroan, her name a play on her gray color, who raced for Skychai's affiliated Hot Pink Stables and Sand Dollar. Overall he's 7-5-2 in 20 starts, earning $899,838.

Somelikeithotbrown spent the summer in Louisville at trainer Mike Maker's Trackside training center base, where he has uncorked four very strong workouts. Jose Ortiz, the 2018-2019 Kentucky Downs meet titlist, has the mount and is skipping closing day at Saratoga.

Alluding to bypassing Saratoga's $250,000 Albany for New York-breds to run in the Mint Million, Maker said the New York-bred turf horses “are no cupcakes, either. So, we figured with the difference in the purses, we might as well stay home where he's doing well. He's run on hard ground, yielding ground and performed well at different places. I do like the one turn for him.”

As Kentucky Downs' all-time winningest trainer with 63 victories, Maker's 356 starters also are a track record. Those horses have earned $8,259,886 at the all-grass meet, with no one else close.

Maker is coming off a huge meet at Saratoga, with 24 wins and $1.97 million in purse earnings and still having horses for that meet's final week. But it's a sign of how important the Kentucky Downs' meet is to the trainer that he's back in Kentucky. He has nine horses entered in six races on the Labor Day card.

That includes another Mint Million entrant in Michael Hui's Monarchs Glen, a $62,500 claim who in his last three starts won a second-level allowance race and Indiana Grand's Jon B. Schuster Memorial and finished second by a neck in the West Virginia Speaker's Cup.

Other contenders in the Mint Million include Chicago invader Betwithbothhands, who earned a fees-paid berth in the race by virtue of winning the stakes prep at Ellis Park; last year's Grade 2 Del Mar Derby winner Pixelate; and Bizzee Channel, who won the Grade 3 Arlington Stakes before finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Mr. D (formerly the Arlington Million).

Skychai, in partnership with Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher, also is running Saratoga maiden-winner Kiss the Sky in Monday's $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile. As a Kentucky-bred son of Twirling Candy, the Maker-trained Kiss the Sky will compete for the whole purse.

“He's shown some ability with that Saratoga win,” Diamond said.

The Kentucky Downs Juvenile also drew a field of 11, including the Kenny McPeek-trained Tiz the Bomb, who romped by 14 1/4 lengths in a mile maiden race that came off the grass at Ellis Park. Larry Rivelli will send out 2-for-2 Nobals, who won the Arlington-Washington Futurity winner this past Saturday. Mark Casse brings up On Thin Ice, an impressive debut winner on grass, up from Gulfstream Park for the stakes. Maker also entered the maiden Fan the Fire in the stakes.

Brad Cox has a strong 1-2 punch in the $500,000 Aristocrat Juvenile Fillies, running Turnerloose and Yin Yang, both Ellis Park debut winners at a mile on grass. The Randy Morse-trained Verylittlecents, winner of the RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Juvenile Fillies, makes her first start on turf in the mile stakes, which attracted a field of ten 2-year-old fillies.

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Maker Talks Next Starts For Cross Border, Somelikeithotbrown

Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border continued his dominance on the Saratoga turf with a decisive 1 1/4-length score in Saturday's $250,000 Grade 2 Bowling Green at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 7-year-old New York-bred tracked in third position as Channel Maker and Channel Cat – fellow progeny of English Channel – set the early pace over the inner turf. Luis Saez tipped Cross Border out a path for the stretch run and the dark bay ridgling responded with a powerful turn of foot to secure the win and a 100 Beyer.

Trained by Mike Maker, who tops the Spa trainer standings with 12 wins heading into Sunday's card, Cross Border boasts a record of 7-6-1-0 on the Saratoga turf, including four wins on the inner course.

“The race shaped up like it looked on paper,” Maker said. “We had a great trip and we were fortunate enough to get the job done. He came back super.”

Bred in the Empire State by Berkshire Stud and B.D. Gibbs, Cross Border went 3-for-3 over the local turf in 2019, led by an open allowance score.

Last year, Cross Border stepped things up a notch, winning the state-bred Lubash ahead of a win in the Bowling Green by disqualification. He completed his 2020 Spa campaign with a runner-up effort to Channel Maker in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer.

Maker said Cross Border will now target a return engagement in the $750,000 Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer on August 28. The 1 1/2-mile turf contest for 4-year-olds and up is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifier to the $4 million Longines Turf in November at Del Mar.

Maker said he is hoping to send out another New York-bred for a stakes win this summer when he saddles multiple graded stakes winner Somelikeithotbrown in the $150,000 West Point presented by Trustco Bank, a 1 1/16-mile test for state-breds 3-years-old and up on August 27.

“We have another New York-bred, Somelikeithotbrown, who will show up in the West Point and Cross Border will come back in the Sword Dancer,” Maker said.

Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable's Somelikeithotbrown has made three starts on the Saratoga turf, including a maiden win ahead of a runner-up effort in the 2018 Grade 3 With Anticipation. Last year, the talented bay, bred in the Empire State by Hot Pink Stables and Sand Dollar Stables, won the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch in gate-to-wire fashion.

Maker will also look to secure a Grade 1 win later in the meet with Three Diamonds Farm's Kentucky-bred Army Wife in the $600,000 Alabama, a 10-furlong test for sophomore fillies on August 21.

By Declaration of War, Army Wife will be in search of a graded-stakes hat trick following scores in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., and the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks on July 2 at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa.

Maker, who is four wins clear of Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher heading into Day 14 of the summer meet, credited his staff for the strong start to the meet.

“We have a lot of horses that fit the book well and we're fortunate enough to get some wins,” Maker said. “I know we're on top but we've got a long way to go. It would be great for the staff [to win the meet] and they deserve it.”

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Somelikeithotbrown Vindicated In Second Run At Dinner Party Stakes, Sets Course Record

The second time in the Grade 2 Dinner Party Stakes was the charm for Somelikeithotbrown, who vindicated last year's runner-up effort in the race on Saturday. Jockey Jose Ortiz tucked the 5-year-old horse in behind 25-1 early leader Flying Scotsman, stalking his pace just outside and poking a nose out in front on the final turn. Somelikeithotbrown faced down a stubborn Flying Scotsman in the stretch under a calculated ride by Ortiz and held off late charges from Talk or Listen and favored Sacred Life to prevail by one length.

The victory was trainer Mike Maker's fourth graded stakes win in the previous two days.

Talk or Listen was second, followed by Midnight Tea Time. Bye Bye Melvin and Flying Scotsman finished in a dead heat for fourth.

Somelikeithotbrown went off at odds of 3-1 and paid $7.60 to win.

The final time of 1:40.09 was a course record for the 1 1/16 miles on the Pimlico turf course. Fractions were :23.78, :47.33, 1:10.52, and 1:34.17.

Mike Maker trains Somelikeithotbrown for owners Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stables. The horse came to the race after a disappointing seventh in the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile earlier this year. He also has wins in the G2 Bernard Baruch and the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks to his credit.

Somelikeithotbrown was bred in New York by Sand Dollar Stables and Hot Pink Stables and is the son of Big Brown and Tapit mare Marilyn Monroan.

See the full chart here.

$250,000 Dinner Party (G2) Quotes, courtesy Pimlico press office

Winning trainer Mike Maker (Somelikeithotbrown): “Jose and I talked about it. Last time that horse [Flying Scotsman] broke a step slow, came to our outside and he never settled in the Maker's Mark and it cost him in the end. I told Jose, 'If the horse goes, let's see if we can't get to the outside of him and see you in the winner's circle.'”

“He just doesn't seem to fire his A game at Gulfstream. After [the Dec. 12 Fort Lauderdale], we decided just to give him the winter off and point to this year.”

(On thinking this might have clinched the $50K trainer's bonus) “Well, Steve Asmussen has a lot more starters and placings so it might be a lot closer than people think.”

“I did like most of our horses. We had a couple of others that ran up the track.”

“We have a lot of options. He's run well at Saratoga multiple times. He's a New York-bred, so we'll look at a couple of those races as well.”

Winning jockey Jose Ortiz (Somelikeithotbrown): “I have ridden this horse before in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf as a 2-year-old, and it has been a long time since I have ridden him. He's matured a lot. He showed me some speed early on, and I got him to relax on the first turn and that was the key. He relaxed nicely and from the half-mile pole to the 3/8ths pole I was just waiting and waiting and when I asked him to go he did.”

Trainer Arnaud Delacour (Talk Or Listen; 2^nd): “They were all bunched up together. I thought we had a great trip. Flavien [Prat] did a great job and the horse was there for him, so I'm delighted. I'll have to see how he comes back. I wouldn't mind to run him a little bit longer.”

Jockey Flavien Prat (Talk Or Listen; 2^nd): “We had a really good trip. No troubles at all. He made a good move around the turn. He ran a great race.”

Trainer Joe Sharp (Midnight Tea Time; 3^rd): “We were really happy. Obviously, this was a big step up from his last race, but he's just a horse that has continued to move forward as he's gotten older. [Owner] Frank [Corigliano] has been patient with him and given him the right amount to time and spacing and breaks when he needed them. He just keeps on taking us to fun places and showing up every time. That's all you can ask for.”

Jockey Javier Castellano (Sacred Life, beaten favorite, 4^th): “He tried really hard. Today just wasn't his day. He is developing himself. I tried hard to get him closer, but he is a European horse and you can't rush him too much. All his races, he comes from behind. They just didn't come back to me.”

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