Soontobeking (inside) captures the Gander (NYRA/Coglianese)
By Mary Eddy/NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After five previous stakes placings, Saturday was finally the day for Our Blue Streaks Stable, SGV Thoroughbreds and trainer George Weaver’s Soontobeking as he narrowly prevailed in the $125,000 Gander, a one-turn mile for sophomore New York-breds, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The King for a Day bay, who entered from a distant third in the local seven-furlong Damon Runyon on February 8, notched the thrilling nose victory with a strong turn-of-foot in deep stretch under regular pilot Eric Cancel in just his second attempt at the distance. The win was rewarding for the colt’s connections after he finished fourth in the $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way in December with a troubled trip that saw him cut off and steadied late after rolling down the lane with a similar momentum to Saturday.
“He shows up and tries every time,” Weaver said. “There’s a good chance he would have won the Stallion Series race, which was setting up well for him. It’s nice to see him win this race.”
Soontobeking bobbled a touch at the start of the Gander and raced in sixth-of-8 exiting the chute while the trio of Givememythememusic, Skytown and Grade 3-winner Mo Plex all vied for command through the opening quarter-mile in 23.87 seconds over the fast main track.
The favored National Identity pursued four-wide into the turn from just off the pace while Givememythememusic backpedaled along the rail and left Mo Plex the one to chase through the half-mile in 47.98. Mo Plex and National Identity quickly drew well clear of the rest of the field through three-quarters in 1:13.88 while Cancel coaxed Soontobeking around tiring foes and set his sights at the embattled duo up front.
“I saw the other two horses in front of me battling it out and they were kind of getting out a little bit in the stretch, so I decided to tip in and if I get there, I get there and if not, at least I did the right thing,” Cancel explained.
Mo Plex and National Identity were shoulder-to-shoulder in upper stretch and the gap between them and their rivals appeared almost insurmountable, but Soontobeking was gaining with every stride and ducked down to the inside path with a sixteenth left to run. National Identity inched clear of a determined Mo Plex and dug in gamely under Kendrick Carmouche, but could not outlast the momentum of Soontobeking as he nabbed the victory in a final time of 1:41.26.
SOONTOBEKING wins the Gander Stakes, rallying late to score his first stakes victory under @Ericcancel85 for trainer George Weaver at Aqueduct. pic.twitter.com/Fcft84s6KZ
— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) March 8, 2025
Mo Plex, who entered off a more than four-month layoff, finished a half-length back of National Identity in third with the Weaver-trained Swift Magic completing the superfecta another 9 1/2 lengths back. Corvus, Skytown, Resilient Hero and Givememythememusic completed the order of finish. Grand Cash and Sunday Gilt, who is entered in a claiming tilt here tomorrow, were scratched.
Cancel, aboard for all of Soontobeking’s starts except the aforementioned Great White Way, said his mount is game in every race.
“He’s a pretty tricky horse. You just have to let him be wherever he wants to be and sit patient with him. Once you think it’s time to go and you start asking him, he picks it up,” Cancel said. “He knows his job and I’m really happy he got the job done today.
“He’s very hard-knocking. Every time he comes out to run, he shows up,” Cancel continued. “It doesn’t matter the competition he runs in; he always gives 200 percent. I have a lot of confidence in him. It was just a matter of the timing and today the timing was right.”
Weaver said the Gander’s pace setup was ideal for his rallying colt.
“Going down the backside, they were stacked three or four across kind of scrumming a bit and I was happy to see that because we needed some pace,” Weaver said. “I was just happy to see the horse sustain the rally. I’ve never been quite sure if the mile is his best distance, but he just kept coming and that’s what we love about the horse. He just gives 110 percent every time and doesn’t stop trying and fighting. He wants to win, so he’s earned a special place in our hearts winning that race, man. He’s a cool dude.”
Bred by Our Blue Streaks Stable and SGV Thoroughbreds, Soontobeking sold for $80,000 at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the Weaver-trained Freud mare Swayed.
“She was a sway-backed filly that Sanford Bacon had bred and he didn’t want to stay in on her, so she was kind of a house horse,” Weaver said of the dam. “She was a hard-trier as well and she knocked out her races at a lower level for the most part. She was hard-trying and put that in this horse. We got him from the 2-year-old sale and he worked well there, and he’s been straightforward ever since.”
Weaver added the next start for Soontobeking is likely the 6 1/2-furlong $200,000 NYSSS Times Square on April 13 here.
Soontobeking banked $68,750 in victory while improving his record to 11-3-2-4 and returning $14.80 on a $2 win ticket.
The Danny Gargan-trained National Identity finished a narrow second in a stake for the third consecutive time following a head defeat in the Great White Way and a neck loss in the Damon Runyon. Carmouche, aboard for all of the colt’s starts, said he once again put forth a winning effort.
“My horse ran good – that’s all we can ask for,” Carmouche said. “I had everything his way, no excuse. Maybe next time we should put him on the lead instead of sitting, but that’s hindsight.”
Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with a nine-race program. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
