Full Screen powers to another dominant score in Queens County
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Manny Franco didn’t want to move Full Screen when he did, but he really had no choice.
When Full Screen saw an inviting opening along the rail at the three-furlong marker of Saturday’s Queens County Stakes, Franco let Full Screen run through it and off the pair went to a five-length victory in the $145,500 race for older males at Aqueduct. Cooke Creek, who was part of a contested early pace, held second by 8 1/4 lengths over Bourbon Day. Kinetic and Film Star completed the order of finish. Classicist was scratched.
It was the second straight dominant victory for Full Screen, a 6-year-old Ontario-bred gelding by Big Screen who was claimed in July for $100,000 by trainer Brad Cox on behalf of Sandy Goldfarb and Seven Speranza, Crown Stable and Michael Greenberg. Last month, he won an optional-claimer by six lengths, earning a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.
Saturday, Full Screen was eight lengths off the early pace as Film Star and Cooke Creek threw it down early, speeding clear while setting fractions of 23.18 seconds for the quarter and 47.20 for the half-mile.
Franco had Full Screen along the inside and he advanced towards the leaders at the half-mile pole. Around the far turn, Full Screen picked up the bridle, went through an opening leaving the three-furlong pole and the race was basically over from there.
Full Screen, taken in hand late by Franco, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.26 and returned $3.64 as the favorite.
“I didn’t want to go too early because sometimes he likes to hang a little bit, but he’s doing so good right now, he just keeps improving,” said Franco, who won three races on Saturday’s 11-race card. “I didn’t expect that pace early on, but it was good for me because I sit right off them and when they stopped my horse just took off.”
The victory was the 58th stakes win of the year for Cox and helped him surpass the $30 million mark in earnings for 2025. Cox leads all North American-based trainers in those categories for the year.
Full Screen’s last two impressive victories have come at 1 1/8 miles. If New York Racing Association’s 2026 stakes schedule is anything like 2025, there will not be another 1 1/8-mile stakes opportunity for older males on dirt on this circuit until the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga in August.
Moe Eighty Eight impresses in allowance
One day after Doc Sullivan won the Alex M. Robb Stakes for trainer John Ortiz and TriStar Farm, those connections struck again with another talented New York-bred as Moe Eighty Eight won a second-level New York-bred allowance by 12 1/4 lengths.
Under Flavien Prat, Moe Eighty Eight made a wide move around the far turn and finished with a flourish as he covered seven furlongs in a solid 1:22.65 for this track. This win came four weeks after he won a first-level allowance by 8 1/2 lengths.
“We expected a good horse to perform again, just kind of shocked and amazed that he’s developed after each start,” Ortiz said. “Came back and did it even easier than I thought he would have. I wanted him to have a little challenge today, I thought it was a competitive race, but it’s always good to see a good horse develop.”
Ortiz said both Doc Sullivan and Moe Eighty Eight, who in 2026 will be eligible for the same races, at least in the New York-bred division, would get about a two- to three-week break before plans are made for their 2026 campaigns.
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