By Mary Eddy – NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and SunsetRidge Racing Stable’s 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 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
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 Speed Figure.
“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 seeks her second career stakes conquest after graduating in the state-bred Lady Finger two starts back on September 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 Race Course.
“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, Inc., 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.
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown sends out a pair of contenders in stakes-placed Boston’s Phinest [post 7, Manny Franco] and the maiden Material Girl [post 11, Dylan Davis].
ERJ Racing and Madaket Stables’ Boston’s Phinest enters from a runner-up effort to With the Angels in the state-bred Maid of the Mist on October 27 here, finishing 3 1/4 lengths back after stalking the winner throughout under Flavien Prat.
A $190,000 purchase from the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Boston’s Phinest seeks to add to a second-out graduation sprinting six furlongs on September 20 here. The Honest Mischief bay was bred in the Empire State by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Cypress Creek Equine and is out of the Curlin mare All in Time.
Team Hanley and Thirty Year Farm’s Material Girl was last seen finishing a distant third in a November 3 state-bred maiden tilt sprinting seven furlongs here. The Central Banker bay trailed in ninth-of-12 in the early stages and bumped with foes at the three-eighths pole before tiring in the lane and finishing 10 lengths back of Bernieandtherose.
Bred in New York by Spruce Lane Farm, Edition Farm, Mashnee Stables and Copper Beach Stables et al., Material Girl finished a close fourth in her October 5 debut sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs here. She is out of the unraced Candy Ride mare Tanmawwy and was a $140,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
Trainer Paul Barrow will also send out two prospects in the stakes-placed Idyll Gossip [post 4, Romero Maragh] and maiden-winner Stunning Sugar [post 2, Lane Luzzi].
Francis Paolangeli’s New York homebred Idyll Gossip enters from a neck victory in the six-furlong Shesastonecoldfox on November 11 at Finger Lakes. There, she was seven lengths back in fifth at the half-mile call, but closed strongly to get up in time and collar April Storm at the wire.
“She’s been a little bit of a challenge in the races, but she’s finally learning to settle and how to run,” Barrow said. “I was very impressed with her effort being able to sit off the pace and close the way she did.”
The Central Banker chestnut graduated at second asking after a troubled debut that saw her hold a strong lead over five rivals before bolting near the quarter pole and losing jockey Jeremias Flores. That rider returned to pilot her to her 1 3/4-length maiden victory on August 26 at the Farmington oval.
“It had poured before her first race and something on the inside rail spooked her,” Barrow said. “We worked with her a lot in the mornings and put some blinkers on her, and she’s done well since then.”
Richie Rich Racing Stable’s Stunning Sugar was a pacesetting six-length winner last out at second asking in a six-furlong maiden sprint on November 18 at Finger Lakes. The Central Banker bay, bred in New York by Spruce Lane Farm, Becker, Empire Equines, Conley, Copper Beech and Gib, improved from a distant fifth in her October 28 debut where she was unsettled in the gate and ran evenly.
“I was very surprised she got beat the first time – she had the one hole in a 12-horse field and some of the horses on the outside acted up and then she acted up,” Barrow explained. “She broke in a tangle and needed the experience. The second start she was clear the whole way and was impressive.”
Barrow added it is meaningful to New York-based conditioners like himself to be able to run for a purse of $500,000 in the Stallion Stakes Series.
“It’s exciting to have one horse in it, but to have two horses that look like they might have a chance is very exciting,” Barrow said. “I love the program and these owners have trusted me with their best horses, so it’s fun to see them get a change at the big money.”
Completing the field are stakes-placed Mischief Lady [post 3, Ruben Silvera] for trainer Edward Barker; and maiden winners Bam’s Bliss Kiss [post 1, Luis Rivera, Jr.] for trainer David Duggan, Blossoming Erudite [post 5, Eliseo Ruiz] for conditioner Carlos David, the pair of Queen Atlas [post 6, Eric Cancel] and Princess Mischief [post 10, Javier Castellano] for trainer Chris Englehart, Storm Changer [post 8, Fernando Jara] for trainer Dimitrios Synnefias and D’s a Rock [post 9, Katie Davis] for trainer Chad Summers.
The Fifth Avenue is slated as Race 9 on Saturday’s 10-race card, which co-features the $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series in Race 8. First post is 11:40 a.m. Eastern.
