Mark My Way tops Spectacular Bid for Rice

ELMONT, N.Y – Linda Rice continued her recent hot streak while Russell Cash did something he hadn’t done in two decades in separate divisions of the New York Stallion Stakes Sunday at Belmont Park.

Rice won the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Division for 3-year-old males with Mark My Way, giving Rice her 10th win in the last 16 days at Belmont Park. She would later add an 11th victory when Four Directions won a maiden race later on the card.

Meanwhile, Cash won his first stakes race in 21 years when Old Harbor roared by pace-setting Henry’s Gal to win the Cupecoy’s Joy Division for 3-year-old fillies by 4 1/2 lengths. Her final time of 1:20.97 for seven furlongs was 1.22 seconds faster than that of Mark My Way.

Cash took blinkers off Old Harbor, and she settled nicely into fifth position under Angel Arroyo as Henry’s Gal opened up a clear advantage through fractions of 22.02 for the quarter and 45.09 for the half-mile.

Old Harbor, owned and bred by Joseph Birnbaum, advanced three wide around the turn and went out another path in the stretch and ran by Henry’s Gal inside the eighth pole to win going away. Funky Munky Fever, at 80-1 the longest shot on the board, rallied to get second, making for a $950 exacta. Old Harbor, one of six horses on the board between 9-2 and 6-1, returned $14.80 to win.

The last stakes victory for Cash came with Go Cuervo in the T.J Malley Stakes at Monmouth in 1993.

Mark My Way, under Cornelio Velasquez, took advantage of a contested pace between her stablemates, A Marked Man and Bambisfrostyracer, to rally for a half-length victory in the Spectacular Bid.

He held off a late-running Free Mugatu in deep stretch. Mark My Way, a son of Noonmark owned and bred by Chester and Mary Broman, covered the seven furlongs in 1:22.19 and returned $5.80 as the favorite.

Rice’s recent hot streak gave her 16 wins for the meet, moving her into third place in the trainer standings behind Todd Pletcher (23) and Chad Brown (19).