Ny Traffic runs away with Hudson Handicap
Ny Traffic captured his first stakes victory in his 12th try, galloping to an 8 3/4 length victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Hudson Handicap for New York-bred male sprinters at sloppy Belmont Park.
Under Irad Ortiz Jr., Ny Traffic was an outside stalking presence as Foolish Ghost and Amundson dueled through a half-mile in 45.18 seconds. Ny Traffic, under some encouragement from Ortiz, forged to the lead before the three-sixteenths pole and was geared down approaching the wire.
“The horse did everything so easy, he broke good, put me in a great position, and he did the rest, honestly,” Ortiz said after the race. “When he made the lead, he looked around, so I hit him a couple of times to keep his attention.”
Chestertown rallied for second, 3 1/2 lengths clear of Jemography, who nosed out Foolish Ghost for third.
Ny Traffic, a 4-year-old son of Cross Traffic owned by John Fannelli, Cash is King, and LC Racing and trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., covered the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.51 over a sloppy track and returned $3.90 as the favorite.
“He was doing really good, the slop was an unknown variable you don’t want to deal with, but I was glad to see him handle it,” Joseph said by phone from Florida. “He’s definitely best around one turn.”
Joseph said Ny Traffic had been dealing with a quarter crack during the summer that may have impacted his performance. Joseph said he would likely point Ny Traffic to the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 5.
The Important One gallops in Iroquois
The Important One ran her winning streak to three with a powerful, front-running 6 1/4-length victory in the $150,000 Iroquois Handicap for female New York-bred sprinters.
In a race that appeared to have ample speed, Jose Lezcano hustled The Important One out of the gate from post 2, dictated terms through a quarter in 23.04 seconds and a half-mile in 45.70, and then continued to open up when roused approaching the top of the lane.
Miss Jimmy, who looked like one of the other speeds, railed from fourth to get second by a neck over Espresso Shot, who was the favorite among that trio of 2-1 shots.
The Important One, a 4-year-old daughter of Majestic City owned by Bloom Racing and trained by Steve Asmussen, covered the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:18.03 and returned $6.20 as the second choice.
“She broke so well I was able to get to the rail,” Lezcano said. “She was very comfortable going the first quarter-mile. After that, she started picking things up a little bit, but I had plenty of horse the whole way around.”
Shipsational by a neck in Sleepy Hollow
Shipsational, a two-length winner of the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes last month, held off odds-on favorite Overstep to win the $250,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes. It was 1 3/4 lengths back to Who Hoo That’s Me.
In a race where no one was intent on the lead, Luis Saez let Shipsational make the front and set comfortable fractions of 24.09 for the quarter, 47.74 for the half and 1:12.45 for six furlongs.
Who Hoo That’s Me loomed a threat four wide, but couldn’t sustain his bid while Overstep, the 4-5 favorite off an impressive debut victory, was in tight along the rail until midstretch. Irad Ortiz Jr. got Overstep to the outside but he was only able to marginally cut into Shipsational’s lead at the finish.
Saez said he thought Overstep “was going to go to the lead and I was going to sit right there, but when you break from the gate everything changes. We broke from there, it was clear and we took it."
Shipsational, a son of Midshipman owned by Irish Smith and trained by Ed Barker, covered the mile in 1:38.32 and returned $4.60 to win.
Barker said he would look at stretching Shipsational out in the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct on Dec. 4.
Venti Valentine takes Maid of the Mist
Venti Valentine started slow, but finished fast to win the $250,000 Maid of the Mist for New-York-bred juvenile fillies by 3 3/4 lengths over a late-running Captainsdaughter. Dufresne finished third.
It was the second victory in as many starts for Venti Valentine, a daughter of Firing Line owned by NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds and trained by Jorge Abreu. She broke poorly in her maiden as well, that day circling wide to get up by a nose.
On Saturday, Venti Valentine stayed on the inside under Irad Ortiz Jr., after her slow start, advanced quickly into fourth position, came outside of favored pacesetting Sandy’s Garden at the quarter pole and took over in upper stretch.
“We broke from the one-hole and she’s not a quick horse,” Ortiz said. “I put her right there and tried to stay close. Last time, she was far back and wide and I wanted to give her an advantage, so we saved some ground today and I ended up getting a perfect trip.”
Venti Valentine covered the mile in the slop 1:39.78 and returned $8.70 to win.