Ten Strike Racing and Four Corners Racing Stable's Sea Foam provided trainer Michelle Giangiulio a memorable first career win by capturing the nine-furlong $100,000 Evan Shipman Handicap, a nine-furlong test for New York-breds 3-years-old and up in August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Last out, Sea Foam finished a distant eighth after setting the pace under Joel Rosario in the 12-furlong Grade 3 Greenwood Cup on September 25 at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa.
The 6-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro breezed a half-mile in :50.09 Friday over Big Sandy in preparation for a start in the $300,000 Empire Classic, a nine-furlong test for state-breds 3-years-old and up on October 30.
“He had a good work. He came out of his last race really well,” Giangiulio said. “He set a perfect pace and I think he handled the distance fine, but Joel told me the 7-horse [Sheer Flattery] moved so early that he really had to ride him for quite a bit. It messed up the race for us. Going a mile and a half, you can't move early but he really didn't have a choice. We'll put a line through that race and head for the Empire Classic.”
Giangiulio, who took out her license late last year, had previously worked with a number of trainers including Tom Morley, Horacio DePaz, Joe Sharp, and her uncle, Carlos Guerrero.
The up-and-coming conditioner sent out her first starter, Parade Field, to a third-place finish in February at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., and the gelding was claimed for $25,000. Her second [Easy Shot] and fourth [Wagon Boss] starters were also claimed.
Giangiulio went to the claim box in order to restock her barn but said she initially struggled to halter new talent before landing Sea Foam for $45,000 out of a winning effort in a nine-furlong state-bred optional-claiming route on July 30 at the Spa
“Before we got Sea Foam, I was losing a lot of shakes up at Saratoga. I must have lost at least 12 shakes in a row,” Giangiulio said. “And then one day, I won a two-way shake to claim a filly off of Bruce Brown and the following day I dropped on Sea Foam and won a two-way shake. It's funny how it worked out because if I'd won some of those shakes at the beginning of the meet, I probably wouldn't have ended up with Sea Foam.”
Bred in the Empire State by Waterville Lake Stables, Sea Foam is out of the graded-stakes winning Unbridled's Song mare Strike It Rich.
Sea Foam boasts significant back class having captured the 2017 Notebook at Aqueduct and a year later won the New York Derby at Finger Lakes in Farmington, N.Y., and the Albany at Saratoga.
On August 5, Joey Loose Lips, claimed by Giangiulio for $25,000, ran a game second in a Saratoga allowance route as a live longshot. The dark bay Effinex gelding opened up a three-length lead at the top of the stretch but was nailed at the wire by Bingo John, who had been a regular workmate of Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality.
Six days later, Sea Foam was sent to the lead in the Evan Shipman and extended a two-length lead at the stretch call to an impressive five-length score providing Giangiulio her first win in just her sixth career start.
“It's like a story you read about. It's not something you expect to experience yourself and it was amazing to have that as my first career win,” Giangiulio said. “I had almost won an allowance race the week before with a horse I had claimed and he ran a super race but we just got nicked at the wire. I thought that was going to be my first win, but the following week we went and won the stake. It was just meant to be.”
Giangiulio, who currently oversees five horses at Belmont, said she will look to add to her stable as she prepares for a fall/winter campaign at the Big A.
“Hopefully, we can keep the ball rolling,” Giangiulio said.
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