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‘No Evidence’ of Issues with Tracks, According to NYRA’s O’Rourke

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY. – In the wake of two fatal breakdowns during the Travers day program Saturday, New York Racing Association officials faced the questions of if they should immediately cancel the remaining races on the card at Saratoga Race Course and whether to run on Sunday. After fact-finding sessions both days, NYRA President and CEO David O'Rourke said the courses were deemed safe for competition–the jockeys were in agreement–and racing continued as scheduled.

The catastrophic leg injuries that led to two horses being euthanized Saturday brought the total of equine deaths to 12 since the start of the unusually rainy season July 13. According to the New York State Gaming Commission's Breakdown, Death, Injury and Incident Database, four of the fatalities were related to training injuries and eight to racing. Six of the eight deaths were from incidents in races run on the turf courses. Seven were musculoskeletal injuries and one was believed to be a heart attack.

The two dirt breakdowns were horrific, taking place in the stretch, with unbeaten, high-profile 3-year-old horses well on their way to victories in seven-furlong Grade I races: Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) in the GI Test S. on Aug. 5 and New York Thunder (Nyquist) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Saturday.

In the minutes after the New York Thunder injury, O'Rourke said NYRA had to consider whether to immediately close on the biggest day of the Saratoga season.

“Everything is going through your mind at that point,” he said.

After consulting with his staff and a number of other people, O'Rourke elected to run the remainder of the card, including the $1.25-million GI Travers S.

“I was speaking with the Gaming Commission at the same time, the stewards at the same time, about the situation that we're in,” he said. “Obviously, there's board members here. Many of them, if not most of them, are horsemen. The decision was made to continue the card because we have no evidence that there's anything going on with these racetracks.”

There were no further injuries.

After what he described as a sleepless night, O'Rourke said that he and Glen Kozak, NYRA executive vice president and track superintendent, started talking with trainers at 6:30 a.m. Sunday and later talked with jockeys and veterinarians. At 12:45 p.m., NYRA announced that the 11-race program would be held.

John Velazquez, co-chairman of the Jockeys Guild, said the riders met with O'Rourke and expressed confidence in the conditions.

“We didn't find any issues at all,” Velazquez said. “The tracks feel safe. We didn't come up with anything that we were concerned with.”

Velzaquez acknowledged that the injuries are unsettling and said that NYRA should continue its reviews.

“We've definitely had some really horrendous breakdowns,” he said. “We are very saddened about it. There are going to be more investigations and more things we have to do and hopefully we find more answers. It will be days or weeks, whatever it is, but right now the tracks feel safe and let's continue.”

Saturday, Nobel (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), an Irish-bred 4-year-old was injured in the gallop-out after the fifth race on turf. Two hours and 20 minutes later, New York Thunder broke bones in his left front leg in the Jerkens.

Immediately after Nobel's injury, O'Rourke said he, staff members and Dr. Scott Palmer, the Equine Medical Director for the Gaming Commission walked the turf course to look for problems. Since more than 11 inches of rain have fallen during the meet, prompting NYRA to move 59 races off the grass to the dirt, the rail has been placed far out in the middle of the course. On Saturday, the rails were down and the horses were running on very good turf. Still, Nobel was injured.

“We wanted to take a look at it,” O'Rourke said. “One easy solution was to pull everything off the turf. They were on fresh ground. I'm out there with experts and what I'm looking for is unanimous consensus. Not a majority. Everyone's consensus of opinion was that the turf course was in immaculate condition in the lanes we were in.”

When New York Thunder went down between the eighth pole and the sixteenth pole, O'Rourke said Kozak reviewed the surface.

“Glen installed this track and is quite familiar with moisture and the measurements and everything,” O'Rourke said. “It's nothing off about the track. I'm convinced, I'm confident in that moment of that, but I want more information. Sometimes you need more time. We made the decision to continue the card.”

Afterward, O'Rourke said the NYRA staff continued to look at the two turf courses and the dirt main track to help develop data that could be useful in Sunday's review

“This has been a tough meet, so this has been a topic,” he said. “It's not like all of a sudden we started taking a second look. After racing, the track guys are doing their thing. Some of them, I think, were here all night.”

Sunday's card was completed without incident, but O'Rourke said the investigation is far from complete. Noting that NYRA is a non-profit, he said continuing to race on Saturday and Sunday was not related to revenue, but to safety.

“This is about how do we get it right, when and how we're making decisions and why,” he said. “And my first job right now is to check off the tracks because that's the question I'm getting quite a bit. I came out of that, on that aspect, confident that every piece of information or resource that I think is applicable, that we have access to, is telling me the same thing.”

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The Week in Review: Will Maple Leaf Mel Rest Alongside Go For Wand?

Sunday dawned emotionally overcast for a racing world still trying to process Saturday's stunning, life-ending injury to the unbeaten New York-bred filly Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), who was steps from victory in the GI Test S. at Saratoga when she crashed to the track with a catastrophic injury to her right foreleg. She was euthanized on the spot, while jockey Joel Rosario escaped serious injury (three lip stitches) and was off his Sunday mounts.

The very public, deep-stretch tragedy on a huge day of racing is comparable to the fatal fall of Go For Wand, who shattered her right front ankle while holding a slim lead and battling at the sixteenth pole in the 1990 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Belmont Park.

The next evening, in an unannounced ceremony that was closed to the public, Go For Wand was buried in the infield at Saratoga. Her connections had declined a New York Racing Association offer to inter the two-time champion filly in the Belmont infield, wishing instead to have her final resting place be the site of her two greatest triumphs, nine days apart in August 1990, in the Test S. and GI Alabama S.

Thirty-three summers later, the way this sort of heart-wrenching racetrack news spreads is vastly different.

In 1990, Sunday newspapers provided the bulk of next-day coverage nationwide, with racing's two weeklies and a long-form piece in Sports Illustrated anchoring the follow-up coverage.

In 2023, both the news of Maple Leaf Mel's demise–and public commentary on it–were available via social media within seconds of the tragedy.

Although that particular medium in this day and age is notorious for amplifying the most cruel and callous aspects of any subject it touches, acts of compassion and class have managed to shine through, and Maple Leaf Mel's owner (retired football coach Bill Parcells's August Dawn Farm) and namesake trainer (Melanie Giddings) were flooded with online condolences.

One poignant show of kindness and respect involved the connections of 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), who inherited the Test win when Maple Leaf Mel fell, opting not to enter the winner's circle after the race and pose for celebratory photos.

The next morning, those same connections–owner/breeder Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh–honored the fallen filly by placing the unworn Test floral wreath in front of Maple Leaf Mel's empty stall in Giddings's barn 69 on the Saratoga backstretch.

“Thank you everyone for your messages. I can't even pull myself together right now or know when I will ever be able to,” Giddings wrote Sunday morning on Twitter, punctuating her gratitude and mourning with a broken-heart emoji. “Maple Leaf Mel's health and happiness took priority over my own for the last two years and now I'm lost without her. She was a true Grade I champion.”

Maple Leaf Mel won her first two races at the Spa last summer before breaking through the New York-bred ranks and beating Grade III company in back-to-back starts at Pimlico and Belmont. She won every single one of her first five starts on the lead, and died trying the same way in her first attempt against Grade I company.

Perhaps NYRA will consider extending an invitation to Maple Leaf Mel's connections to have this special filly, too, grace Saratoga in perpetuity with a burial spot alongside Go For Wand in the track's infield.

Classic next for White Abarrio

Cody's Wish (Curlin), sent off at .45-1 in the wagering while seeking his first win beyond a mile, had the look of an overbet favorite in Saturday's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga.

Trouble was, it was difficult to discern which of his five rivals was going to step up and produce the triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure that seemed required to halt the middle-distance specialist's six-race win streak that extended back 15 months.

Bettors who landed on White Abarrio (Race Day) got rewarded at 10-1 for figuring out he was going to uncork the race of his life (110 Beyer).

At his best when prominently paced, White Abarrio sat just off the pacemaker under Irad Ortiz, Jr., stalking opening splits of :24.21, :23.86 and :23.54 before seizing the lead just before the quarter pole.

Cody's Wish was winding up for another one of his patented loop-the-group moves from last, but jockey Junior Alvarado would later concede he was “very worried” on the far turn that the favorite wasn't travelling as confidently as he usually did.

White Abarrio surged in the stretch, extending his margin to 6 1/4 lengths at the wire for a 1:48.45 finish. He was ridden out through a :24.48 fourth quarter and a :12.16 final furlong.

With the Whitney carrying “Win and You're In” berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, White Abarrio's connections are now mulling training him up to 10 furlongs on the first Saturday in November.

White Abarrio, who hammered for relatively affordable prices at auction ($7,500 OBSWIN; $40,000 OBSMAR), was an underdog Triple Crown prospect last season. His pros have always been efficiency, athleticism, and a knack for finding ways to win even when overmatched on paper. A chief con, though, was that up until Saturday, he was strictly a horse-for-course at Gulfstream, where he was 5-for-6 lifetime while going 0-for-7 at all other tracks.

White Abarrio now owns two Grade I victories over nine furlongs (the other was the 2022 Florida Derby).

Skeptics might question his ability to get 10 furlongs in the Classic based on his only other try at that distance, a 16th-place finish in last year's GI Kentucky Derby.

But that Derby effort wasn't as poor as it appears on paper. White Abarrio got lost in the shuffle early on when a couple of bigger horses outmuscled him for position, then journeyed five- and seven-wide through both turns before getting hooked 10 wide for the drive. He kept plugging away until the eighth pole, but got wrapped up for safekeeping when it was apparent he wouldn't attain a significant placing.

Months Morph into Years

Jockey Juan Hernandez, currently topping the Del Mar standings in both wins and purse earnings going into Sunday's racing, made the most of his one and only riding opportunity there on Saturday when he guided Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) to an easy win in the GI Clement L. Hirsch S.

Hernandez would have been in demand for additional mounts, but he was serving the first of a three-day riding suspension on Saturday for altering course without sufficient clearance that resulted in a disqualification earlier in the Del Mar meet. California rules, however, allow suspended riders to participate in “designated” stakes races.

The informative Twitter site Racing Stats & Info (@GaryDougherty) comes up with the occasional esoteric data nugget that you won't find anywhere else, and a posting from last week highlighted the longest current streaks by jockeys in terms of consecutive months in which they've won a graded stakes.

Updating Dougherty's list through Saturday's races, Irad Ortiz now leads with 26 straight months winning at least one graded stakes. Hernandez is second with 23. Flavien Prat ranks third with 12. Luis Saez is fourth with 10.

Those are remarkable numbers considering it takes not only horsepower, but the good fortune to remain injury-free for such an extended period of time in such a dangerous profession.

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Background Check: Test

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is the GI Longines Test S., a prestigious 3-year old filly event on the Saratoga calendar for the past century.

Ah, the Test, the glorious Test. Remember the scintillating call–already 20 years ago–by Tom Durkin during the epic stretch battle between You and Carson Hollow? This race has been so good for so long. At seven furlongs since its second edition, it has delivered pulsating stretch drives year after year and a number of top fillies–both sprinters and routers–have won it. With a few years skipped since it was inaugurated in 1922 and multiple divisions other years, history has recorded 109 individual winners of the Test. How have they fared as broodmares?

Following are the most compelling Test winners in reverse chronological order. They are not reviewed here by their own pedigrees or race records, but simply by what impact they have delivered through their sons and daughters.

Cavorting (2012, Bernardini–Promenade Girl, by Carson City): Normally, we wouldn't have such a young mare with so few foals on this list, but the sky is clearly the limit for Cavorting. Her first foal is Stonestreet's MGISW Clairiere, who put herself atop the mares in the country in the July 24 GII Shuvee S. at the Spa and is headed next to the Aug. 27 GI Personal Ensign S. Cavorting is by the nation's current leading broodmare sire and her second foal, 3-year-old La Crete, was a stakes winner before suffering a condylar fracture in February. She's got one more waiting in the wings, a 2-year-old Curlin full-brother to Clairiere named Judge Miller. She was also bred back to Curlin for 2023.

Dream Rush (2004, Wild Rush–Turbo Dream, by Unbridled): This is another still-active Stonestreet mare who has done enough to merit a mention. Her first foal was 2012 GI Frizette S. winner Dreaming of Julia, who in turn produced last year's 3-year-old filly champion and MGISW Malathaat. Dream Rush has also added three more stakes performers to her tally, including MGSW Dream Pauline.

November Snow (1989, Storm Cat–Princess Alydar, by Alydar): Although she didn't produce a stakes winner herself, her daughters and granddaughters have already produced Irish champion Anthony Van Dyck (Ire), New Zealand champion Bounding (Aus), and U.S. GISWs Morning Line and Express Train.

Gold Beauty (1979, Mr. Prospector–Stick to Beauty, by Illustrious): From her four starters, Gold Beauty hit home runs with multiple European champion Dayjur and MGISW Maplejinsky. Among her descendants are champion Sky Beauty; MGISWs Tale of Ekati, Point of Entry, and Pine Island; Breeders' Cup winner Pleasant Home; and a number of other top-notch GSWs.

Blitey (1976, Riva Ridge–Lady Pitt, by Sword Dancer): Mares don't come grander than this Phipps matriarch. Among the top runners in her dynasty are champion Heavenly Prize; MGISWs Dancing Spree, Finder's Fee, Good Reward, and Flightline; and GISWs Furlong, Fantastic Find, Oh What a Windfall, Dancing Forever, Persistently, and Instilled Regard.

More Than Ready is a product of the 1977 Test winner's son | Louise Reinagel

Northern Sea (1974, Northern Dancer–Sea Saga, by Sea-Bird {Fr}): Although the Grade I winners tracing to her include General Challenge, Notable Career, and Evening Jewel, it's her MGISP son, Southern Halo, who is cemented in many pedigrees of today. The Argentinean sire sensation's biggest contribution to American and Australian racing is his own son, the eternally youthful WinStar stallion More Than Ready.

Ivory Wand (1973, Sir Ivor–Natashka, by Dedicate): If she had done nothing else than produce the unraced dam of 2004's leading U.S. sire Elusive Quality–in turn the sire of current leading U.S. sire Quality Road–she would have been a success. However, Ivory Wand also had other notable descendants including U.S. champion Anees, Irish champion Rossini, and MGISW Grand Couturier (GB).

Numbered Account (1969, Buckpasser–Intriguing, by Swaps): Like Blitey (above), Numbered Account will forever be labeled as a Phipps blue hen. Her foals included MGISW Private Account (also sire of Phipps champion and eventual Broodmare of the Year Personal Ensign) and GISW Dance Number (dam of champion Rhythm). Numbered Account's tail-female descendants include Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and GISWs Imagining, Girolamo, Bluegrass Cat, Frost Giant, and Got Lucky. In addition to Private Account, sires tracing to her range from Maryland sensations Not for Love and Polish Numbers to Dramedy, sire of 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year Mighty Heart.

Ta Wee (1966, Intentionally–Aspidistra, by Better Self): This stellar handicapper produced four stakes winners from her five named foals, including Great Above, most appreciated as sire of Horse of the Year Holy Bull, and Tweak, great-granddam of GSW Miss Macy Sue. The latter has produced four stakes winners from five foals to race, including runaway leading third-crop sire Not This Time and current top five fourth-crop sire Liam's Map.

Not This Time's dam traces to 1969 Test winner Ta Wee | Jon Siegel

Moccasin (1963, Nantallah–Rough Shod II {GB}, by Shimmer): Although she didn't launch quite the dynasty of her full-sister, Thong, without whom there would be no Sadler's Wells, Galileo (Ire), Frankel (GB), or even Nureyev, Moccasin was no slouch in the breeding shed. Her seven–yes, seven–stakes winners from eight starters included English and Irish champion Apalachee and Irish champion Belted Earl. Among the next generation out of her daughters and granddaughters are GISW Hail Atlantis, dam of sire Stormy Atlantic and granddam of GISW Bandini, and Australian G1SW and ill-fated young sire sensation Northern Meteor (Aus).

Discipline (1962, Princequillo {GB}–Lady Be Good, by Better Self): A slew of nice horses trace to this Wheatley Stable/Phipps mare, including champion Finest City, MGISWs Goodbye Halo and Val's Prince, and GISWs Squander and Burning Roma.

Glamour (1953, Nasrullah {GB}–Striking, by War Admiral): The matriarch Numbered Account (above) is a granddaughter of Glamour, as is Playmate, dam of Irish champion and influential sire Woodman. Her son, Poker, is best remembered as broodmare sire of both Horse of the Year/breed-shaping sire Seattle Slew and champion Silver Charm. A number of other top horses trace to her, including GISW Lady Shirl, who has started her own legacy in the last two decades with GISW descendants Lady Speightspeare (also a Canadian champion), Shakespeare, Perfect Shirl, and Shirl's Speight.

Blue Banner (1952, War Admiral–Risque Blue, by Blue Larkspur): Her daughter, Key Bridge, was Broodmare of the Year in 1980 after producing 1970 Horse of the Year Fort Marcy, 1972 champion and stellar stallion Key to the Mint, and two other stakes winners. Among those tracing to Blue Banner is current European sire phenomenon Wootton Bassett (GB).

Vulcania (1948, Some Chance–Vagrancy, by Sir Gallahad III {Fr}): It's partially her doing that Vagrancy (below) is regarded as a top-flight broodmare. Vulcania is responsible for a number of outstanding tail-female performers, in particular through her daughter, Legato, who was a heck of a producer. Tracing to her is Broodmare of the Year Banja Luka, Horse of the Year Ferdinand, Breeders' Cup winner Artie Schiller, and MGISWs Tallahto, Prince True, and Hidden Light.

Candy Ride's sire is inbred 4×3 to the 1948 Test winner | Lane's End

Alablue (1945, Blue Larkspur–Double Time, by Sir Gallahad III {Fr}): The dam of Spinaway winner Alanesian and Bernard Baruch winner Middle Brother, as well as great-granddam of champion Revidere, Alablue has a number of top-class stakes winners and highly influential sires among her descendants. They include Boldnesian (grandsire of Seattle Slew) and Cryptoclearance (grandsire of Candy Ride {Arg}). Candy Ride's sire, Ride the Rails, is actually inbred 4×3 to Alablue.

Miss Disco (1944, Discovery–Outdone, by Pompey): The 1958 Broodmare of the Year gave us a giant of the breed: Horse of the Year and eight-time leading sire Bold Ruler.

Vagrancy (1939, Sir Gallahad III {Fr}–Valkyr, by Man o' War): She is responsible for English champion Black Tarquin and important broodmare Vulcania (above); her daughters and granddaughters produced Broodmares of the Year Banja Luka and Natashka, as well as Ivory Wand (above); and champions Ferdinand, Distant Relative (Ire), and Questing, among others, all trace to her.

Imperatrice (1938, Caruso–Cinquepace, by Brown Bud): In addition to her six stakes winners, Imperatrice is the dam of Broodmare of the Year Somethingroyal, who produced two-time Horse of the Year Secretariat and excellent sire Sir Gaylord. She is also an influence in the Quarter Horse breed through her Coaching Club American Oaks-winning daughter, Scattered, whose great-grandson, Dash for Cash, is the Northern Dancer of racing Quarter Horses.

Speed Boat (1930, Man o' War–Friar's Carse, by Friar Rock): Take a look at this mare's pedigree if you'd like to see some really interesting inbreeding, which must have worked because the female lineage she left was responsible for Horse of the Year Sword Dancer (who sired not only Damascus, but also Lady Pitt, who was a big part of the Phipps breeding empire through her daughter, Blitey {above}), Belmont/Travers winner Hail to All, champion Level Best, and a number of other high-caliber winners.

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Test Winner Bella Sofia Headlines Sunday’s Gallant Bloom Handicap

Following a breakthrough triumph against her sophomore counterparts in the Grade 1 Longines Test at Saratoga Race Course, Bella Sofia will face older fillies and mares at stakes level for the first time in Sunday's 27th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at 6 ½ furlongs over the Belmont Park main track.

Bella Sofia, a Rudy Rodriguez-trained daughter of Awesome Patriot, has won 3-of-4 lifetime starts by a combined 22 lengths and registered a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for her triumph in the seven-furlong Longines Test on Aug. 7.

The dark bay or brown filly displayed stalking tactics down the backstretch in the Test, establishing command in upper stretch and drawing off to a decisive 4 ¼-length conquest against four graded stakes winners.

Bella Sofia broke her maiden at first asking against older company, winning by 11 ¼-lengths going six furlongs on May 6 at Belmont Park. She won a first-level allowance against elders at the same distance and track on July 11 by 6 ½ lengths. Her lone defeat was a runner-up effort in the June 6 Jersey Girl over Big Sandy.

Rodriguez said he considered two-turn options out of town for Bella Sofia, but decided the Gallant Bloom was the best spot given the distance and the homefield advantage.

“This was the best race for her coming up,” Rodriguez said. “We could have run her in the Cotillion or gone to the Spinster, but it made more sense for us to run her here at home. We know she likes Belmont. She's been here all along. We're just happy she's coming into the race in good shape.”

Bella Sofia is owned by Michael Imperio, Vincent Scuderi [the owner of 2016 Gallant Bloom winner Paulassilverlining], Sofia Soares, Gabrielle Farm, Mazel Stable Partners and Matthew Mercutio.

“The Test was a huge, huge win for us, because we don't have these kinds of horses in the barn,” Rodriguez said. “To win a Grade 1 at Saratoga, especially a prestigious race like the Test, everything was amazing. We're still dreaming.”

Rodriguez said Bella Sofia is not as enthusiastic during morning training as she is on race day in the afternoon.

“We've been very, very lucky with her,” Rodriguez said. “She just destroyed the field in her first race. She doesn't put much into her training in the mornings, but in the afternoon she's a completely different horse. We just have to keep her happy, stay out of her way and let her do all the talking. She's still young so there's still plenty of growing ahead of her.”

Luis Saez, the leading rider at Saratoga this summer, will return to the irons from post 1. Bella Sofia will carry 119 pounds.

Coming off a triumph against fellow Pennsylvania-breds is Don't Call Me Mary, a winner of three of her last four starts, including a last-out win in the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial on August 23 over a sloppy and sealed track at Parx.

Owned by Stuart Grant's The Elkstone Group and trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 4-year-old El Padrino chestnut made her lone start at Belmont a winning one, defeating a second-level allowance optional claiming event at the Gallant Bloom distance by 4 ½ lengths over next-out stakes winner Truth Hurts.

In her recent stakes coup, Don't Call Me Mary handed ultra-consistent Chub Wagon, a five-time stakes-winner, her only loss in ten starts.

“She beat a good filly who was undefeated and came back and won an open company stake after that, so I thought it was a good race,” said Pletcher, who saddled Harmony Lodge to victory in the 2003 Gallant Bloom.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, a five-time winner of the Gallant Bloom, will ride Don't Call Me Mary [118 pounds] from post 5.

Godolphin's Lake Avenue seeks her first graded stakes victory since capturing the Grade 2 Demoiselle in December 2019 for Hall of Famer Bill Mott, a two-time winning trainer of the Gallant Bloom.

The regally-bred Tapit chestnut, out of two-time Grade 1 winner Seventh Street, was a last out second to Gamine in the Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina, where she finished 1 ¾ lengths behind the defending Champion Female Sprinter.

Winless in five starts during her sophomore season, Lake Avenue recaptured her winning form in her 2021 bow going a one-turn mile against optional claimers at Gulfstream Park en route to a stakes score in the Heavenly Prize Invitational on April 3 at Aqueduct. She added black type later in the year with two second-place finishes in the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses at Belmont and Grade 2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga.

Lake Avenue, carrying a field-high 121 pounds, will exit post 4 under Jose Ortiz.

Frank Fletcher Racing Operations won last year's Gallant Bloom with Frank's Rockette and will look to double up with Lady Rocket, a 4-year-old Tale of the Cat filly. Trained by Brad Cox, the four-time winner from eight starts took the Pink Ribbon on August 27 at Charles Town in wire-to-wire fashion in her most recent start.

A winner over four different tracks, Lady Rocket defeated second-level allowance optional claiming company at Churchill Downs prior to her last out win. She made her career debut a winning one travelling 6 ½ furlongs in August 2020 at Saratoga en route to a next-out score against winners in October at Keeneland.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will pilot Lady Rocket [118 pounds] from post 2.

Saul Kupferberg's veteran mare Honor Way, second in last year's Gallant Bloom, rounds out the field as she seeks to make amends following two fifth-place finishes at stakes level for trainer Charlton Baker.

The 7-year-old daughter of Caleb's Posse racked up two stakes victories on the NYRA circuit following last year's Gallant Bloom, including a 4 ½-length win in the seven-furlong Pumpkin Pie on November 1 at Belmont, and a 1 1/2-length score in the six-furlong Garland of Roses on December 6 at Aqueduct.

Through a record of 44-13-8-8, Honor Way boasts a field-best $717,692 in lifetime earnings.

Honor Way [118 pounds] will break from post 3 under Jorge Vargas, Jr.

The Gallant Bloom is named in honor of King Ranch's multiple champion filly, who won 12 straight races, including an unbeaten season in seven starts in 1969 when she was named Champion 3-Year-Old Filly over that year's Triple Tiara winner Shuvee. Trained by the late Hall of Famer Max Hirsch, Gallant Bloom was named 1968 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly with victories in the Matron and Gardenia, and put together an illustrious sophomore campaign, capturing the Gazelle, Delaware Oaks, Monmouth Oaks, and Spinster. She was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1977.

The Gallant Bloom is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race card, which also features the $150,000 Bertram F. Bongard for New York-bred juveniles travelling seven furlongs over the main track in Race 4. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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.

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