Barese stretches out to mile in Gander Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Barese was talented enough to win first time out going five furlongs. He was good enough to come off a 7 1/2-month layoff and win going 6 1/2 furlongs. Saturday, Barese will attempt to stretch out to a mile in the $100,000 Gander Stakes for 3-year-old New York-breds.
Dylan Davis, who rode Barese last time, is excited about the opportunity to ride this horse in a longer race.
“It took him a while to get his run going the last time,” Davis said Thursday morning. “That’s why I think a mile is going to be good for him. It’s going to suit him better.”
Following his debut win at Belmont in May, Barese was entered in the Rick Violette Stakes at Saratoga in mid-July. The day before the race, he came back from training a bit off and it was determined he needed surgery to remove a knee chip, according to trainer Mike Maker.
Barese came back in the $100,000 Rego Park Stakes on Jan. 9, and raced in midpack and was a bit wide. When he leveled off in the stretch, he lengthened his stride and his advantage as he drew away to win by 2 3/4 lengths.
Three of the horses he beat in the Rego Park are back in this spot – G Munning, Cut the Cord, and Doin’ittherightway. But there are three new faces that figure to give Barese the sternest challenge.
Perhaps the value of that trio is Bossmakinbossmoves, who comes off a 9 3/4-length victory in a one-mile maiden race on Dec. 31 in his fourth start.
Trainer Rick Schosberg gave serious consideration to running Bossmakinbossmoves back in last Saturday’s Grade 3 Withers Stakes. Ultimately, Schosberg opted to keep him with New York-breds, deciding that if he shows something Saturday there will be plenty of opportunities to try open company in the future.
“He has ability, but he didn’t know how to harness any of his energy,” Schosberg said. “To get him to relax and run the distance of ground that he’s bred to, it took a lot of work on my rider’s part.”
Trevor McCarthy rides Bossmakinbossmoves from post 2.
Geno, a son of Big Brown, comes off a narrow victory in the $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Series. That was his first time on dirt after three turf tries. That race was at seven furlongs, and he figures to have no issues stretching out to a mile.
Trainer David Donk felt Geno was pretty game in that race, exchanging a bump or two with runner-up Un Ojo, who came back to run second in the Withers.
“I think there’s more in the tank,” Donk said. “It was really encouraging how brave he was.”
The horse to catch is likely Bold Journey, who won a six-furlong maiden race by 6 3/4 lengths on Dec. 18. That result followed a second-place finish on debut and a private sale and switch to trainer Bill Mott. Bold Journey will break from post 7 under Kendrick Carmouche.