Trainer Horacio De Paz has enjoyed a nice year with his New York-bred turf division, and Saturday’s Empire Showcase Day gives the stable one more opportunity for more stakes success in 2025. DePaz has strong contenders in all three of the $200,000 statebred turf stakes being run Saturday – Twenty Six Black in the inaugural New York Turf Sprint Championship, Sounds Like a Plan in the the Mohawk for males, and Awesome Czech in the Ticonderoga for females. Twenty Six Black enters the New York Turf Sprint Championship, race 3, off a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Championship, where he was beaten just 1 1/4 lengths by Alogon. That race came after Twenty Six Black put forth two strong efforts in Saratoga, finishing second to Bring Theband Home in the Grade 2 Troy on Aug. 3, then winning the Disco Partner for New York-breds on Aug. 31. Twenty Six Black earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in both of those races, so De Paz believes there might have been a little regression when Twenty Six Black ran in the Belmont Turf Sprint. Perhaps a half-mile workout in 47 seconds – the fastest of 237 at the distance over the Belmont training track last Saturday – is a sign Twenty Six Black is ready to rebound. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “That was a very solid work, and he seems to do well when we do that with him,” De Paz said. “It was all in hand, too.” Joel Rosario rides Twenty Six Black from the rail. Bold Journey was beaten a neck by Alogon and finished a length in front of Twenty Six Black in the Belmont Turf Sprint Championship. It was his third second-place finish in as many tries sprinting over the Aqueduct turf course. One of those runner-up finishes was a half-length defeat to Senbei in the Ashley T. Cole in June. Senbei came back to run fifth in the Troy and fourth in the Belmont Turf Sprint and is back with statebreds here. Dancing Buck won the 2022 Belmont Turf Sprint and was a front-running winner of the 2024 Elusive Quality here. He set the pace before ending up fifth in the Belmont Turf Sprint, just his second race this year. Waralo, trained by Chris Englehart, has earned a stakes try after finding a home on turf with three wins and a second from his last four starts. His front-running style may conflict with Dancing Buck and the speedy Twisted Filagree, perhaps creating a scenario that will favor Twenty Six Black. Mohawk Sounds Like a Plan, a 3-year-old son of Twirling Candy, has won two straight statebred allowance races, including a second-level allowance in front-running fashion on Oct. 11. Sounds Like a Plan looms the controlling speed in the 1 1/16-mile Mohawk from the outside post. De Paz is just worried about the quick turnaround. “I think he can be fine in that field. It doesn’t seem it like came up too salty,” De Paz said. “The question mark is do we have enough in the tank coming back in two weeks?” ON SALE NOW: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages! Get everything you need to win and save big. Sounds Like a Plan is one of three 3-year-olds in the field. Another is George Briggs, trained by Chad Brown, who has run only three times. George Briggs won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race at Aqueduct last November and finished third in the Colonel Liam Stakes at Gulfstream Park in March. In his lone race since, George Briggs won the off-the-turf Cab Calloway division of the New York Stallion Series at Saratoga. Outsource, who may be compromised by a lack of pace, is the other 3-year-old in the field. Slapintheface, trained by Tony Dutrow, showed a strong turn of foot to rally from 12 lengths back to win a second-level statebred allowance on Sept. 13. He just may not get the right pace scenario to be able to repeat that effort in the Mohawk. Clear Conscience upset the Kingston Stakes at 10-1 at Aqueduct in May, beating Itsallcomintogetha. Both horses are part of this field. Ticonderoga Awesome Czech won two races at Saratoga, including the Yaddo Stakes, before coming back in 23 days and finishing third in the Athenia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 14. She’s had a month to recover from that race and is back in with New York-breds and back at 1 1/16 miles – a distance at which she is a four-time winner – in the Ticonderoga, which goes as race 9. In reviewing Awesome Czech’s effort in the Athenia, De Paz said, “I was very pleased with it. She’s always one that doesn’t quit, she tries, shows that she fits with open company. She’s been really good to us this year.” In the Yaddo, Awesome Czech beat Moonage Daydream, who was making her first start off a 10-month layoff. Moonage Daydream, who won last year’s Ticonderoga, came out of the Yaddo to run fifth in the Athenia but may appreciate the slight cutback to 1 1/16 miles. Trainer Jorge Abreu said that Moonage Daydream came out of the Athenia a little sick, and in hindsight believes something may have been brewing going into that race. “This filly is now 100 percent ready to run,” Abreu said. “I feel like she is now the way she was when I ran her in the Yaddo.” Spinning Colors used her speed to win the Mount Vernon for statebreds in June. She finished second in the open-company De La Rose and was only beaten a half-length by Awesome Czech in the Yaddo. Breaking from the rail and shortening to 1 1/16 miles, Spinning Colors should make her presence felt again in a race without much speed. Gallant Gerta, trained by Mike Maker, has two wins and two seconds from four starts, including overcoming a stumbling start to win a first-level allowance at Saratoga in August. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.