Mertkan Kantarmaci back in New York with sights set on stakes races
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci is back in New York hoping to return to the success he enjoyed for several meets when he first started here eight years ago.
Kantarmaci, who took 11 months off from training from October 2024 to September 2025 because he said he was tired, has about a dozen horses in New York, all based at Saratoga. He won a $16,000 claimer on Saturday at Aqueduct with Kunshan Bridge, his first win from three starts since returning to this circuit.
Kantarmaci, 35, launched his comeback last September at Churchill before spending the winter at Oaklawn Park. He went 4 for 22 at three meets last fall in Kentucky before going 0 for 38 at Oaklawn.
When he was here from 2018-24, Kantarmaci worked as the head trainer with his older brother Ilkay as his assistant. When Mertkan left training, Ilkay took over the stable and has done well for himself, winning 69 races the last 18 months. Ilkay, 38, is credited with 100 overall wins in North America and will continue training his own stable.
“He’s doing good right now. I better not get involved too much. I leave him alone,” Mertkan said. “I’ve been trying to do my own thing since last September getting new horses and trying to see what’s happening this summer . . . . I’m trying to find less numbers but better quality, if I can change to a higher level of horses.”
Mertkan Kantarmaci would like to get back to winning stakes races. In 2023, when assisted by his brother, Mertkan won four stakes with Evvie Jets, including the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga in 2023. Owner Robert Amendola claimed Evvie Jets for $80,000 in 2021. Amendola has since passed away.
“When you deal with cheaper horses you are [viewed as] that level of trainer, but you are not,” Mertkan said. “We showed we can be in the stakes races, it’s just about finding the right horse to run in those kinds of races.”
Kantarmaci has claimed five horses since May in New York. He is running several this week, including Three Technique and City Blocks on Thursday and four horses on Friday’s card. In four of the races Mertkan is in, he will compete against his brother.
“It’s a different feeling now, we’re rivals, we’re both trying to win the race,” Mertkan said. “Of course, if someone else wins the race besides me, I’d rather have him win the race.”
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