Thunder Rumble brings together unusual group of specialists

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though for the most part they have traveled in different circles, My Boy Tate, Bankit, and Somelikeithotbrown have been poster boys for the New York-bred program. From 99 combined starts, they’ve won 28 races – including 20 stakes – finished in the top three 38 additional times, and earned $3,661,461.

Sunday, the sprinter My Boy Tate, the middle-distance runner Bankit, and the [primarily] turf horse Somelikeithotbrown will be all in the same starting gate for the $125,000 Thunder Rumble division of the New York Stallion Stakes going seven furlongs on dirt at Aqueduct.

My Boy Tate, an 8-year-old gelding by Boys at Tosconova, will be making his fourth straight appearance in this race. He won it in 2019 and finished second in both 2020 and 2021. My Boy Tate appeared to be slowing down this year before he popped a 98 Beyer Speed Figure winning the Hudson Stakes by two lengths here Oct. 30.

“He’s a real live wire, he’s determined to show everybody something whether he’s galloping or breezing, he’s going to do it his own way,” trainer and part-owner Michelle Nevin said. “He came out of that race good, training real forwardly; he’s been himself.”

My Boy Tate will break from post 5 and carry 124 pounds under Manny Franco.

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Bankit, a 6-year-old by Central Banker, has been a jack-of-all-trades throughout his career in which he’s won seven times and earned $1.1 million. After a trip to Dubai didn’t work out earlier this year – he finished sixth in the Godolphin Mile – and then a race didn’t fill at Belmont Park, Bankit won the Evan Shipman by a nose at Saratoga and finished second, beaten six lengths, to Somelikeithotbrown in the off-the-turf, three-horse West Point just two weeks later.

An administrative issue involving the Estate of Willis Horton forced Bankit to scratch from the Hudson on Oct. 30, so he will have 100 days between starts this time.

Jose Lezcano rides from the outside draw.

In his 29-race career, Somelikeithotbrown has only made three starts on dirt. Since his West Point win in the mud, he won the Grade 3 Mint Million at Kentucky Downs and finished last in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile on Oct. 8 at Keeneland.

Of the remaining five runners, Dreamer’s Disease would have the best résumé, coming off a win in the Delta Mile on dirt Nov. 5 at Delta Downs. In his lone try at Aqueduct, however, he finished seventh as the 3-5 favorite in a $250,000 NYSS race in December 2020. He will likely try to wire this group under Kendrick Carmouche.

Ocala Dream, Cicciobello, Neuro, and Chowda complete the field.

Staten Island Stakes

Their last races notwithstanding, Galaxina and Yo Cuz are two of the top contenders in Sunday’s $125,000 Staten Island division of the New York Stallion Stakes for females at seven furlongs. Six of the seven entrants are 3-year-olds with Impazible Donna, a 5-year-old mare.

Galaxina won a New York Stallion Stakes race here in April, floundered in a similar race on the turf, and then won the New York Oaks at Finger Lakes. She went to the sidelines after a last-place finish in the Fleet Indian, run at 1 1/8 miles in the mud at Saratoga in August.

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“We tried a mile and an eighth and two turns and that didn’t fit her, so we reprogramed her a little bit and I think the one turn, seven-eighths hits her right between the eyes,” trainer James Bond said.

Yo Cuz , a need-the-lead type trained by Bill Mott, reeled off three straight wins from December to March but then had a couple of races where she didn’t break well and finished out of the money as an odds-on favorite. This will be her first start since finishing last in the Bouwerie Stakes in May.

Bank On Anna is another coming off a bad race, finishing last in a second-level open-company allowance. Trainer Phil Serpe was pointing her to the Iroquois Stakes in late October, but she got sick and did not make the race.

“She’s training well, I think she’s ready to run here,” Serpe said. “We like her at six furlongs better, but we’ll try this.”

Impazible Donna is 0 for 6 this year but twice finished behind the in-form Mosienko in allowance races. Silken Dollar, Sedona Rocks, and Bunty Windermere complete the field.

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