Back on his favorite turf course and back with his New York-bred friends, Spirit of St Louis was back in the winner’s circle Sunday at Aqueduct. Needing all of his class and talent, Spirit of St Louis rallied strongly under Manny Franco to beat City Man by 1 1/4 lengths in the $200,000 Mohawk Stakes at Aqueduct. It was one length back to Jerry the Nipper, as the top three finishers in this year’s Mohawk were the same as last year. It was the ninth victory, sixth in a stakes, from 13 career starts for Spirit of St Louis. He actually had lost his previous two races, a nose defeat to Dakota Gold in the West Point at Saratoga and a fifth-place finish to stablemate Carl Spackler in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 5. Co-owner Michael Dubb admitted to being a little concerned about running Spirt of St Lois back in three weeks while having to carry co-highweight of 126 pounds, but this was the last turf stakes of the year restricted to New York breds. Spirit of St Louis won the Kingston and Hudson Valley  for New York breds - as well as the open company Dangers Hour - earlier in the year. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. On Sunday, under Manny Franco, Spirit of St Louis raced in fifth position down the backside while longshot Ruse set a modest pace of 25.42 seconds for the quarter, 50.31 for the half and 1:14.07 for six furlongs. Franco rallied Spirit of St Louis several paths wide turning for home and he was kept in the seven path by City Man, who, under Joel Rosario, was wide himself. But Spirit of St Louis was just too good for City Man, a 10-time stakes winner who was making what was expected to be the final start of his career in this spot. “He had it against him a bit - short rest, 126 pounds, dawdling pace - his class got him there,” said Dubb, who co-owns Spirit of St Louis with Madaket Stables and Richard Schermerhorn. Spirit of St Louis, a 5-year-old of Medaglia d’Oro, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.09 and returned $3.20 as the 3-5 favorite. Moonage Daydream wins Ticonderoga Moonage Daydream made it three consecutive New York-bred turf stakes wins by rallying from third position this time to outfinish Collaboration and win the $150,000 Ticondoerga Stakes by a half-length. Collaboration, who muscled past a stubborn pacesetting Silver Skillet inside the sixteenth pole, got second by a half-length over Silver Skillet, who was a neck better than Stonewall Star. Whatlovelookslike, the 2-1 favorite, finished fifth, followed by  Caldwell Luvs Gold, New Ginya and Masterof the Tunes. Moonage Daydream was ridden by Flavien Prat, who picked up his 70th stakes win of the year. Irad Ortiz Jr. owns the record for most stakes wins in a single year by a jockey, 79, set in 2022. In August, Moonage Daydream won the Yaddo at Saratoga when she stalked the pace from second. Last month, Moonage Daydream won the John Hettinger in gate-to-wire fashion. On Sunday, Prat kept Moonage Daydream in third position, about 3 1/2 lengths off the early pace as Silver Skillet set splits of 23.60 seconds for the quarter, 48.36 for the half and 1:11.38 for six furlongs. Collaboration, who raced in second under Jose Ortiz, went after Silver Skillet, but had to really work hard to nudge by that rival. By that time, Prat had gotten Moonage Daydream out and into the clear and she outfinished Collaboration. "I was on the lead last time, but the pace was very slow,” Prat said in a post-race interview with NYRA publicity. “I felt like today there could be a few horses that could go. I felt like she wanted a target. It worked out good today." Moonage Daydream, owned by Chris Larsen, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.87 and returned $7.30 as the second choice. Moonage Daydream gave trainer Jorge Abreu his second stakes win on the card as he also captured the $250,000 Empire Distaff with Venti Valentine. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.