Aqueduct: New York 2-year-olds shine in Saturday stakes

Sacrosanct is 3-for-3 with two stakes wins and seeks his biggest prize to date in Saturday’s $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a seven-furlong sprint for eligible state-sired 2-at Aqueduct.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox for Lady Sheila Stable, Net Birdie and Schwing Thoroughbreds, the New York-bred Honest Mischief bay was dominant in his one effort at seven furlongs two starts back in the local state-bred Bertram F. Bongard on Sept. 22. He led narrowly early under Manny Franco before extending to a 6 3/4-length advantage at the stretch call and winning by 12 widening lengths, earning a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure in victory, according to Daily Racing Form.

Sacrosanct’s next effort was a bit tighter when a prominent 1 1/2-length victor over graded-stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Mo Plex in the state-bred Sleepy Hollow going a one-turn mile on October 27 here.

“He is doing well. We’ve been pointing him to this race since he broke his maiden. He had a good run at seven-eighths then one mile,” Cox said. “We are cutting him back from one mile to seven-eighths, so we know he can handle it. If he gets a good set up, he should be tough.”

Cox said the lucrative purse was another reason to return to Saturday’s sprint distance.

“With the cutback here, there are 500,000 reasons to cut him back to seven-eighths,” said Cox, with a laugh. “After that, we will see how he does and go from there. We will give him an opportunity to go long and stretch out, but obviously cut back here.”

Sacrosanct also bested state-breds sprinting six-furlongs in his August 21 debut at Saratoga. Cox said that the horse, who breaks from post 2 under Manny Franco, looks like a future candidate for open company.

“You never know until you try. At some point we will give him the opportunity, if everything goes well on Saturday,” Cox said.

Bred in the Empire State by Burleson Farms, Mckenzie Bloodstock and Sequel Thoroughbreds, Sacrosanct, out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Vibrato, was a $260,000 purchase at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale. His second dam is dual stakes winner Cuff Me.

Stone Smuggler seeks to bounce back in Fifth Avenue

New York-bred stakes winner Stone Smuggler will look to regroup from a third-place effort in the state-bred Key Cents when taking on 11 rivals in Saturday’s $500,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series.

The seven-furlong sprint for eligible New York-sired juvenile fillies will see Stone Smuggler stretch out one furlong from her last effort on November 17 here. The daughter of Honest Mischief attended the pace when a half-length back through the early stages under Irad Ortiz Jr. and took a head advantage at the top of the lane, but could not fend off the late turn of foot from undefeated With the Angels and Nina Kay, finishing 2 1/2 lengths back of the winner and a half-length back of the runner-up. She earned a field-best 74 Beyer.

“We just got beat for second on the wire, and Irad gave her a good ride,” trainer Jorge Abreu said. “She was just facing better horses, and it’s not like she got beat a ton. She’s been pretty straightforward and has done everything the right way.”

Stone Smuggler, who is owned by NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and SunsetRidge Racing Stable, seeks her second career stakes conquest. She graduated in the state-bred Lady Finger two starts back on Sept. 23 at Finger Lakes Racetrack, with returning rivals Mischief Lady and Idyll Gossip a respective second and third. The 3 1/2-length romp came in wire-to-wire fashion after she made the early lead for the first time. She improved from a distant second on debut to familiar foe With the Angels in August at Saratoga.

“For us, it was important and it was pretty cool,” Abreu said of the filly graduating in stakes company. “She looked like she had potential early on, and I liked her at Saratoga. Unfortunately, we had to run against that beast With the Angels. That’s one of the best 2-year-old fillies in the country right now.”

Abreu said he would be pleased to see Stone Smuggler assume the early lead again.

“I think that would be a good key for her to take the lead, and if she runs 23 (seconds) and change, then we’d probably be in with a good shot,” Abreu said.

Stone Smuggler worked Saturday over the Belmont Park dirt training track, covering five furlongs in 1:02 flat.

“She went with two other horses and she handled it fine,” Abreu said. “My only concern is, can she handle seven-eighths? In the past few races, she looked like maybe her distance is limited.”

Bred in New York by Eaton and Thorne, Stone Smuggler is out of the Bustin Stones mare Bustinattheseams. She was a $57,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-bred yearling sale.

Stone Smuggler is one of four entrants sired by promising young stallion Honest Mischief, who stands at Sequel Stallions in Hudson, N.Y. for a 2025 fee of $7,500.

Jose Lezcano has the call from the outermost post 12.