My Boy Tate makes first trip to Finger Lakes for Leon Reed Memorial
You don’t have to look far to find the favorite for Monday’s $50,000 Leon Reed Memorial, a sprint for New York-breds at Finger Lakes. My Boy Tate is even money on the morning line after spending his entire career acquitting himself well against the best of this division.
My Boy Tate is trained by Michelle Nevin, who co-owns him with Little Red Feather Racing. The 7-year-old gelding is a five-time New York-bred stakes winner on the New York Racing Association circuit, with seven additional stakes placings. One of his biggest scores came just this March, when he posted a neck victory in the Haynesfield Stakes at Aqueduct over Bankit. The latter is a millionaire and is multiple graded stakes-placed against open company.
More recently, My Boy Tate was third in the John Morrissey Handicap and second in the Tale of the Cat Stakes, both at Saratoga. He got back in the win column with a 5 3/4-length allowance victory on Oct. 4 at Parx. He will start from post 1 in the nine-horse field.
Hold the Salsa, bred, owned, and trained by Richard Lugovich, also has statebred stakes form on the NYRA circuit. He won the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes in fall 2020 at Belmont, and a New York Stallion Series division last December at Aqueduct.
He proceeded to finish third against open-company 3-year-olds in the Jerome Stakes in January at Aqueduct. Since then, Hold the Salsa has been unplaced in two stakes outings while trying the turf in another New York Stallion Series division, and then stretching out for the New York Derby at Finger Lakes. He gets back to his preferred trip in a dirt sprint on Monday.
Lady’s Golden Guy comes into the Leon Reed off a pair of allowance wins at Finger Lakes. Disco Deano has won three of four outings this season, including a pair of allowance races in June at Finger Lakes. His only loss came by a neck in a Presque Isle Downs allowance.
The veterans Winston’s Chance and P J Advantage were second and third, respectively, in this race in 2019.
The Leon Reed Memorial is named for an assistant starter at Finger Lakes who died in November 2005 due to injuries suffered when he was kicked in the chest by a horse he was loading in the gate. Reed, 47, had worked at Finger Lakes for more than two decades.
The Leon Reed Memorial is preceded on the nine-race Columbus Day card by a $29,500 allowance for New York-breds. Conformist, an 11-length winner of the Ontario County Stakes in June at Finger Lakes in his most recent outing, looms a heavy favorite. The card also includes another allowance race for fillies and mares, and a pair of statebred maiden special weights.