Twenty Six Black finally gets a chance for first stakes win
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ELMONT, N.Y. – Twenty Six Black was the workmate of Be Your Best last summer at Saratoga. While Be Your Best became a stakes winner in her second start – and was beaten just a neck in last Sunday’s Grade 2 Wonder Again – Twenty Six Black finally gets his chance to win a stakes Sunday in the $150,000 Spectacular Bid division of the New York Stallion Series at Belmont Park.
The Spectacular Bid and the co-featured Cupecoy’s Joy are for 3-year-olds and 3-year-old fillies, respectively, by New York-based stallions.
Twenty Six Black finished third with some trouble in his debut last summer at Saratoga. A subsequent race for which he was entered came off the turf and Twenty Six Black scratched and then the horse got sick and was sidelined the remainder of the year.
Twenty Six Black came off the layoff with a hard-fought neck victory at Aqueduct on April 7 before cruising to a 4 3/4-length score in a first-level statebred allowance here on May 13.
“I thought Manny [Franco] may have kept him inside a little too long but then he got him out and he was able to get up,” trainer Horacio De Paz said of Twenty Six Black’s first start. “He moved forward for his second start, matured and has been training forwardly. Hopefully it keeps repeating. He’s training very well.”
De Paz said Franco, who rides Twenty Six Black for a third straight time, said moving out in distance should not be an issue.
“Because you can do whatever you want with him,” De Paz said. “He has speed but he’s controllable. Manny said when he galloped out he had a lot of horse left over.”
Gem Mint Tint has improved his game since moving to the turf, winning a maiden race going six furlongs and just getting beat a half-length in a one-mile, first-level allowance. Those two races have come since trainer Ray Handal added blinkers to the son of Laoban’s equipment.
Vacation Dance is a two-time winner on turf, including a victory in the Atlantic Beach Stakes at Aqueduct last November. He comes off a third-place finish versus open company in the Paradise Creek Stakes.
Other contenders in the Spectacular Bid division include Ramblin’ Wreck, who returns to turf for his 3-year-old debut, and Itsallcomintogetha, who came out of a third-place finish to Twenty Six Black on April 7 with a maiden win of her own here on May 6.
The Spectacular Bid goes as race 5.
Cupecoy’s Joy division
Mz Big Bucks lost her one start on turf and won her one start on dirt, making her form quite similar to that of her 10 opponents in the $150,000 Cupecoy’s Joy division of the New York Stallion Series for 3-year-old fillies.
The combined turf record of the field is 3 for 19.
Mz Big Bucks, by War Dancer, is a full sister to Dancing Buck, a multiple turf winner who posted a strong victory in last fall’s Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint, which was actually held at Aqueduct.
Mz Big Bucks, trained by Michelle Nevin, finished fourth in her debut, which came on turf at Aqueduct. She finished 4 1/2 lengths behind Stolen Future, arguably the horse to beat in this race.
Her second start was rained off the turf to the dirt and Mz Big Bucks rolled to 1 1/2-length victory over Loon Cry, who came back to win her maiden on turf on May 27.
“It was her first start and she probably needed the run for the experience,” Nevin said of Mz Big Bucks’ debut. “Broke sharp the next time and was on her way. The couple of races have really woken her up now. She’s a lot sharper.”
Jose Gomez, aboard for the first two races, is back aboard on Sunday.
After beating Miz Big Bucks in that April 8 race, Stolen Future faced winners on May 14, set a strong pace and was beaten a head by Masterof the Tunes.
Les Bon Temps tries turf for the first time after going 4 for 10 on dirt, including a victory in the Park Avenue division of the NYSS in which she finished second but was put up following the disqualification of Little Linzee, who is back in this field. Little Linzee won her career debut on turf versus statebreds last July at Saratoga.
Midtown Lights comes out of a pair of third-place finishes in restricted stakes on dirt. He did make his first two starts on turf last fall, with fifth- and third-place finishes.
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