Mama's Gold ($82.50) leads all the way en route to Empire Classic upset

Mama’s Gold sped off to a clear early lead under Romero Maragh and never relinquished it as he scored a 4 1/4-length victory at 40-1 in the $250,000 Empire Classic to steal the show on Empire Classic Day at Aqueduct.

As the longest shot on the board in the nine-horse field, Mama’s Gold returned $82.50 and kept intact the uncanny streak of no winning pick-6 tickets sold on Sundays at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. No one has hit the pick-6 on six Sundays and the wager was not offered on the other Sunday at the meet as a turf race in the sequence was canceled.

Thus, there is a pick-6 carryover of $49,757 into Thursday’s Aqueduct program.

Mama’s Gold last won a race in December 2023, when he went gate to wire under Maragh for then-trainer Chad Summers. That race, at 1 1/8 miles, was against New York-breds and run over a sloppy track. Mama’s Gold made three more starts for Summers and was well beaten in his last two, the last one being in February.

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Given time off and turned over to Jimmy Ferraro by owner Joseph Hardoon, Mama’s Gold ran a strong second in an open-company allowance race at Aqueduct on Sept. 20. He came back on Oct. 12 and finished seventh in another open allowance run at a one-turn mile.

On Sunday, breaking from post 8 in the nine-horse field, Mama’s Gold was hustled by Maragh to clear the field into the first turn, which he did by running a quarter in 23.96 seconds. Mama’s Gold maintained a clear lead through a half-mile in 47.24 and six furlongs in 1:11.29.

Bank Frenzy, the 2-1 favorite, launched a wide bid under Irad Ortiz Jr. and got within two lengths of Mama’s Gold at the three-sixteenths pole. But Mama’s Gold had more to give and he ran away for the upset victory.

“I'm not sure what [time] I went, but with him, it is all about comfort,” Maragh told NYRA publicity. “He was doing it all comfortably. I'd estimate we went 47-and-change, for him, that is okay. That is reasonable. I'm happy we got him into a nice comfort zone and he finished up well, like he always does when he gets to the lead."

Mama’s Gold, a 4-year-old son of Bolt d’Oro, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.01.

Ferraro believes the horse bounced, or regressed, in his last effort, since he ran so hard in his Sept. 20 race.

“I have a great crew and they worked hard on him,” Ferraro told NYRA. “The distance suits him, he can get a little more of a relaxed trip.”

Bank Frenzy finished second by 4 1/2 lengths over Donegal Surges. Olympic Dreams was fourth, followed by General Banker, also trained by Ferraro, Jackson Heights, Russian Realm, Drake’s Passage and Cicciobello.

Venti Valentine wins Empire Distaff

Venti Valentine nosed out Sterling Silver to win the $250,000 Empire Distaff as she topped the $1 million mark in career earnings.

Sitting fifth down the backside under Irad Ortiz Jr., Venti Valentine launched her bid just before the three-furlong pole and, though she had to go four wide, she got the jump on Sterling Silver, who, under John Velazquez, was stuck behind horses. Sterling Silver split horses while three wide at the quarter pole and then made a run along the rail in the stretch at Venti Valentine, but came up just short.

Sterling Silver finished second by 7 1/4 lengths over Amanda’s Folly. Bon Adieu, Call Her Bluff and Smokin’ Hot Kitty completed the order of finish.

It was the eighth victory, seventh in a stakes for Venti Valentine, who has now amassed $1,056,100 in career earnings. Venti Valentine, a daughter of Firing Line, is owned by NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds. She is trained by Jorge Abreu.

“All year long we were saying we wanted to get to the million dollars,” Dan Zanatta, co-managing partner of NY Final Furlong Stable, told NYRA publicity. “That was Jorge Abreu’s goal for the past two years. I kept on saying ‘it all runs through the Empire Distaff. We have to win the Empire Distaff to get the million.’ “

Venti Valentine, who is catalogued to be sold at Fasig-Tipton on Nov. 4, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.43 and returned $9.90 to win.

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