General Banker breaks his maiden in the $500K NYSSS Great White Way (Joe Labozzetta)
NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Seacoast Thoroughbreds of New England’s New York homebred General Banker, who was last seen finishing a closing third in the Jerome on January 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack, had his first breeze back over the Belmont Park dirt training track Sunday. The son of Central Banker covered a half-mile solo in 49.65 seconds.
“I had him a few ticks faster than the clockers did, but he galloped out five-eighths pretty good,” said trainer Jimmy Ferraro.
General Banker earned his first stakes victory two starts back with an emphatic maiden-breaking score in the $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way, dominating his 10 rivals by 8 1/2 lengths with a rallying trip under Eric Cancel. He made his open company debut in the Jerome and finished third after racing keenly and running up on the heels of a foe down the backstretch.
“He was a little on the muscle last time,” said Ferraro. “I don’t know if he would have won, but he would have been closer if he hadn’t been [so keen].”
Ferraro said General Banker has been nominated to the nine-furlong Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on February 4 at the Big A, which offers 20-8-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.
“We’re going to take a good look at that,” said Ferraro. “They’ve got the [state-bred] Gander on February 25 going a mile, too.”
General Banker boasts a 9-1-3-1 record with total earnings of $363,600.
