Trust Fund, Tall Paul clash again in New York Breeders' Futurity

Trust Fund and Tall Paul were second and third in a blanket finish in a stakes race last month at Finger Lakes. On Monday, they get a rematch in one of the Farmington, N.Y., track’s biggest races, the $161,547 New York Breeders’ Futurity for statebred 2-year-olds.

The nine-race Monday card, which begins at 1:15 p.m., was already one of the biggest at the season at the track, but gets another boost from the $50,000 Leon Reed Memorial. The race for New York-bred sprinters, originally scheduled for last week, was brought back in the condition book and now highlights the undercard.

Trust Fund, trained by Todd Pletcher, was second by a head in the $99,388 Aspirant Stakes on Sept. 25 at Finger Lakes to Canigetaloan, who earned an automatic berth in the Futurity with that win in the local prep, but has pointed elsewhere. Tall Paul, favored off a maiden win at Saratoga, was just another head back in third, as the first Finger Lakes starter for trainer Bob Baffert.

Trust Fund won his debut on Aug. 11 at Saratoga, defeating Canigetaloan. Two weeks later, he finished sixth in what has emerged as a key renewal of the Funny Cide Stakes for statebreds at the Spa. The winner, The Wine Steward, previously took the Bashford Manor against open company and has since finished a close second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Funny Cide runner-up El Grande O went on to win the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes against statebreds at Aqueduct. One more New York Breeders’ Futurity entrant emerging from this strong Funny Cide field is Whatchatalkinabout, who was third for Wesley Ward after winning on debut at Belmont.

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Trust Fund will have the services of Jose Ortiz on Monday, while his brother Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount on Tall Paul. Joel Rosario is named to ride Whatchatalkinabout, the narrow 2-1 favorite on the morning line over the locally prepping pair. Drawn in the outside post, 7, Rosario will have to work to avoid being hung wide around the turn on his front-running mount in this six-furlong sprint. The speedy Tall Paul is more ideally drawn in post 2.

Unicorn Cake, a Saratoga debut winner, faces the boys in the New York Breeders’ Futurity off a local prep. In the $103,159 Lady Finger, the sister race to the Aspirant, the filly hopped at the start and made up ground to be third.

The consistent Mischief Joke, second or third in each of his first five starts, finally broke through with a maiden score on Sept. 21 at Aqueduct. Hal Away and Yo Banana Boy, each second in their first two starts, complete the field.

Earlier on the card, in the Reed Memorial for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs, Jak N Burny makes his stakes debut against some seasoned veterans, including one from his own barn.

Jak N Burny, Sherry Washburn’s homebred 3-year-old trained by Debra Breed, has won his three starts at Finger Lakes, all against older horses, by a combined 27 1/2 lengths, and all with strong Beyer Speed Figures – 82, 83, and 91 last out. The front-runner has landed in post 2 in this field of seven under regular rider Joel Cruz.

Lady’s Golden Guy, owned and trained by Breed, and Allure of Money, for Michael S. Ferraro, are both local stakes winners who will try to stay with the speedy upstart on the front end. Lady’s Golden Guy is the two-time defending winner of the Reed Memorial. Most recently, he was second in the Genesee Valley Breeders’ Stakes after setting the pace, then was a well-beaten second in a local allowance behind Lobsta, a multiple New York-bred stakes winner downstate.

Allure of Money, front-running winner of the 2022 Tin Cup Chalice Stakes at six furlongs at Finger Lakes, is cutting back to that distance after more recently running in longer races. Winner of the New York Derby in July, he is coming off an allowance/optional-claiming win going 1 1/16 miles at Finger Lakes.

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