Half-brothers finish 1-2 in Saratoga allowance race

A racing rarity occurred as He’s No Lemon edged his older half-brother Midnight Tea Time by a neck in a third-level allowance race Sunday on the Saratoga turf.

Both geldings are out of It’s Tea Time, a versatile Dynaformer mare who raced as a homebred for Alex G. Campbell Jr. A maiden and allowance winner on turf, the mare was a stakes performer on both dirt and synthetic surfaces. It’s Tea Time finished second by a neck in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, racing during the years when that track had a synthetic surface. Later that season, she won an off-the-turf edition of the Grade 3 Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga. As a 4-year-old, It’s Tea Time finished in a dead heat for third in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland and third in the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap on the main track at Churchill Downs.

It’s Tea Time has produced two winners from three starters – her two sons who dueled it out at Saratoga on Sunday. He’s No Lemon, a 4-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid, also races as a homebred for Campbell and is trained by Graham Motion. He’s No Lemon is now 4 for 11 after besting his half-brother Sunday. The winner of the Bald Eagle Stakes last September at Laurel, he was third in the Grade 3 Louisville Stakes in June at Churchill Downs.

Midnight Tea Time, a 5-year-old son of Midnight Lute, has been trained by Joe Sharp since he was claimed for $75,000 out of a maiden-claiming event in August 2018 at Saratoga. Owned by Bella Cavello Stables, he has won 3 of 25 starts. He finished second in the Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes in January at Fair Grounds.

It’s Tea Time produced a full brother to Midnight Tea Time on May 12 in Kentucky.